It's Time to Erase the Marquez Stigma
By Manny Piñol
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 01 Dec 2010
If there is anything that gives boxing icon Manny Pacquiao an irritating sensation, it is the mention of the name Juan Manuel Marquez.
Marquez is a nightmare to Manny Pacquiao, a zombie who kept standing up even after he had absorbed the best shot that the Filipino boxing icon unleashed.
Three knockdowns in their first meeting which ended in a draw (Manny clearly won that fight) and one more knockdown in their second meeting (which many said Marquez won) but still the Mexican Dynamite is back following his demolition of Michael Katsidis to taunt Pacquiao with a shirt that says he beat Manny twice.
Of course, that is a lot of bull because in my view it's even-steven.
Everybody understands that Marquez is just trying to get the goat of Manny Pacquiao.
"Nang-iinis" as they say it in Pilipino. Marquez is rubbing it in.
But beyond simply being considered an irritating nightmare who keeps on popping up in Manny Pacquiao's dream, Marquez, with his victory over Katsidis, which was again marked by a knockdown that he recovered from, presents himself now as a legitimate opponent for the Filipino boxing icon.
Forget Sergio Martinez. Bob Arum perfectly said it: Manny Pacquiao is great, but he is not superman. How can you possibly allow your 146-lb. fighter to go up against a legitimate middleweight who weighs almost 160 lbs?
Forget Shane Mosley. He may be a nice guy who deserves to get a break and earn several millions by fighting Pacquiao, but he is over the hill and fighting him would only give credence to earlier accusations that Manny's last few fights have been mostly against aging boxers.
The man of the hour is Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao must face him.
It is a must fight not only because there is a score to settle but simply because in the absence of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Juan Manuel Marquez is the last man standing in a boxing field strewn with bodies of boxers felled by the Pacquiao whirlwind.
When Pacquiao is done with Marquez, which I expect Manny to accomplish when they meet at the welterweight level, he would have erased that discomfiting and omnipresent smirk in the Mexican Dynamite's face and the stigma in his incredible boxing career.
But most of all, Manny Pacquiao will at long last be able to face the nightmare that has kept on haunting him and once and for all slay the zombie who keeps on popping up in his dream.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Manny Piñol.
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