To Slay A Zombie
By Manny Piñol
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 05 Jun 2011
There are three fighters in Manny Pacquiao's colorful and spectacular boxing career whose names, when mentioned, give him great discomfort: power-puncher Rustico Torrecampo, unheralded Medgoen 3K Battery Singsurat and Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez.
It was Torrecampo, a huge underdog going up against the young and undefeated Manny Pacquiao, who gave the Filipino boxing icon his only clear and devastating loss, knocking him out in the 3rd of their 8-round bout on Feb. 9, 1996.
It was Singsurat who dealt Pacquiao his second knockout loss in his second defense of the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight title he won from another Thai, Chatchai Sasakul a year earlier.
Manny does not want to talk about this fight because of insinuations in the past that he willingly gave away his title to the Thai after he failed to make the 112 pound limit.
Under the rules, when a champion fails to make the weight, he could still fight the challenger. If the champion wins, the title will be declared vacant but if the challenger wins, he will be declared the new champion.
But it was Marquez, after their two conrtroversial bouts, who gave Pacquiao nightmares.
Knocked down three times in the first round, Marquez kept on standing up like a zombie and punished Manny Pacquiao in the latter rounds of their first fight. In fairness to Manny, I really believe he should have won the first fight by split decision were it not for a bumbling boxing judge who scored the first round 10-7 in favor of the Filipino challenger, instead of 10-6 because of the three knockdowns.
You see, in professional boxing, fights are scored round by round with the boxer winning a round on points getting 10 points and his opponent 9. In case of a knockdown, the fighter who scores it gets 10 while the downed opponent gets 8 points. Two knockdowns will mean 10-7 and three knockdowns 10-6. It used to be that most boxing sanctioning bodies had a 3-knockdown rule where a fighter who is knocked down three times in one round, automatically loses the fight. However, in very important and evenly matched fights, the three knockdown rule is often waived.
That scoring blunder by boxing judge Burt Clements who submitted a scorecard of 113-even allowed Marquez to escape from a clear loss to post a draw, thus retaining his superfeatherweight (or junior lightweight) title. Had the fight been scored properly, there would have been no debate now on whether Manny Pacquiao really won 7 or 8 boxing titles in different divisions.
But as karma would have it, what was taken away from Manny Pacquiao in his first meeting with Marquez in May of 2004 was returned to him four years later. In their second meeting, the Filipino boxing icon eked out a split decision victory in what was obviously a fight many thought he lost.
What got Manny Pacquiao's goat was not the critical review of that fight but Marquez's efforts to ridicule him publicly. The Mexican warrior even had a T-Shirt emblazoned with a proclamation of his victory against the Filipino boxing great. He even pursued Pacquiao in the Philippines to call for a third match.
To Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez is a puzzle he could not solve because the Mexican's counter-punching style proves to be very difficult to handle for the Filipino boxing icon used to just rolling over and dominating his opponents.
Marquez has become Pacquiao's nightmare. How else would he describe an opponent whom he has knocked down four times in their two meetings - three in the first and once in the second - but who rises up after every thunderous knockdown, dusts off his gloves and unleashes punishing blows?
For Manny Pacquiao the third fight against Marquez in November is not just another opportunity to make no less than P500 million net, but a chance to once and for all end the nightmare that has haunted him for the last seven years.
And the cards are stacked up in his favor.
At the welterweight limit of 147, or even at a catchweight of 144 lbs., Marquez would be puny compared to Pacquiao who feels comfortable in the 140-plus pound zone.
Not only will Manny be bigger come November, he will also have the advantage in age. By November, Marquez would already be 38 years old while Pacquiao will be a month short of 33.
This time, Manny Pacquiao may finally succeed in slaying the Zombie that keeps on popping up in his dreams.
And that could be his most fulfilling achievement before he finally hangs up his gloves and retire.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Manny Piñol.
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