PACQUIAO: MAYWEATHER REMATCH MEANS A LOT, WIN OVER DE LA HOYA IS MOST SATISFYING, MARQUEZ KO LOSS DOES NOT BOTHER HIM
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 14 Jul 2019
Pacquiao says a rematch with Floyd Mayweather means a lot to him. "If he really comes back and fights with me, then that?s good for me,? Pacquiao told The Press Telegram. ?We can show who is the real winner. I would be healthy.? Pacquiao reasoned out that he fought the biggest and richest boxing match with a shoulder injury and could not fight adequately when the injury was irritated in the fourth round. He underwent surgery after the fight.
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In the same interview Pacquiao said his victory over Oscar De La Hoya was most satisfying of all his triumphs. "The (Oscar) De La Hoya fight, because going from 135 to 147, it?s not easy,? said Pacquiao. ?Can you imagine? When moving up to 135, I only had one fight at 135 and then moved to 147. From 130 to 135, one fight, then moving up to 147. The superbout took place on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided to quit the fight before the start of the ninth round.
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Pacquiao was also asked by reporter Robert Morales how much pride he had for being a part of a historic four-fight series with Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao was 2-1-1 against Marquez, but Pacquiao was knocked out with one second remaining in the sixth round in the fourth and final meeting between the two arch rivals. The final bout was held on December 8, 2012, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and drew 1.15 million pay-per-view buys.
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?Oh, yeah, four good fights,? Pacquiao replied. ?That?s good. But the only sad thing is the ending of the series.? The senator laughed and accepted the defeat as part of the fighting profession. "But it?s part of boxing,? he said. ?It didn?t bother me. Don?t take it too hard, and chalk it up to experience and learn from what mistake you did and move past it.?
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With the fight ending in a merciless knockout, many fans want Pacquiao to retire and focus on his congressional duties. However Pacquiao announced his interest to fight Marquez a fifth time. Pacquiao's career has since resurrected by beating Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri. Marquez lost his next fight to Timothy Bradley, but rebounded by beating Mike Alvarado as he retained the WBO international welterweight crown.
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Amir Khan who just won by a fourth round knockout over replacement fighter Australian Billy Dib told ITV Boxing : "So the Pacquiao-Thurman fight, I think I favour more towards Pacquiao. Because Pacquiao has fought better opposition, he's got the speed and the movement." The former unified light welterweight world champion said Thurman's last fight against Josesito Lopez wasn't the best. He suspected that the American obviously had that shoulder injury and had to fight with rust because he had been out the ring for a long time.
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"I favour Pacquaio because he's been more active, and at the same time he's been in with bigger and better opposition," said the senator's former sparring partner. "I lean more towards Pacquaio, but Thurman's got the power and the strength to hurt Pacquiao so let's see if he can do that. " I just don't think he'll get to Pacquiao." Khan has been calling out the eight division champion to a fight come December in Saudi Arabia.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder produced two MVP awardees in Kevin Durant in 2014 and Russell Westbrook in 2017. James Harden was Sixth Man of the Year awardee in 2012. He later won the MVP award in 2018 when he played for the Houston Rockets.
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While in OKC, Durant was NBA four-time scoring champion, 2009?2010 (30.1 ppg), 2010?2011 (27.7 ppg), 2011?2012 (28.0 ppg), and 2013?2014 (32.0 ppg) while Westbrook was two-time scoring champion, 2014?2015 (28.1 ppg) and 2016?2017 (31.6 ppg).
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Durant was selected as the second overall pick by the OKC then known as the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. Westbrook was drafted as the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the SuperSonics, who then relocated to Oklahoma City six days later. Harden was selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Thunder.
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Westbrook and Harden are now reunited in the Houston Rockets. Durant is with the Brooklyn Nets. Sad to say, with the three superstars in the OKC Thunder lineup they were not able to win the NBA title. They reached the 2012 NBA Finals but they were defeated by the Miami Heat, 4-1 starring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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