HOW MUST PACQUIAO DEAL WITH MARQUEZ THIS TIME AROUND?
By Reylan Loberternos
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 09 Nov 2011
Tungod, Inabanga, Bohol ? Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao of the Philippines and Juan Manuel ?Dinamita? Marquez of Mexico, two of the sport?s all-time greatest fighters, lock horns for the 3rd and final time this Saturday night (Sunday morning, Philippine time) for what could very well become a showdown that could rival the action and drama of ?Thrilla in Manila?, which featured ?the Greatest? himself Muhammad Ali and Smokin? Joe Frazier, who recently passed away after a battle with cancer. Before anything else, I would like to personally express my deepest sympathy to the bereaved. He was a great fighter and a great man. Thank you for the great boxing memories, Joe!
Now let?s go back to the war at hand. Apart from their 6-year age gap, Pacquiao and Marquez are just about the same on many fronts. They have the same reach and Pacquiao stands just about half-an-inch shorter than Marquez. Their win-loss-draw records are even stunningly similar. Pacquiao holds a record of 53-3-2, 38 KOs, while Marquez boasts of a 53-5-1, 39-KO record.
In their first fight, Pacquiao was in his all-out-war mode, dropping JMM thrice in the first canto, but failed to wrest the featherweight diadem from the Mexican champion who eked out a controversial draw, with two judges scoring it for opposite fighters and the third one scoring it even.
The second bout, like the first one, was close with back-and-forth action. Only this time around, Pacquiao was more calculating and less aggressive than their first encounter. The Pinoy ring sensation only managed to put Marquez on the canvass once. That lone knockdown, however, eventually became the big difference, as Pacquiao narrowly won via split decision.
Pacquiao has since racked up sensational victories, capturing championship belts in the heavier weight classes, beating much bigger foes to a pulp. Marquez, for his part, continues to thwart father time with impressive victories of his own, after an unsuccessful attempt at upsetting Mayweather, who tipped the scales two pounds heavier than the contracted weight limit during the weigh-in and may have weighed 20 lbs heavier than his older and slower Mexican foe at fight night.
It is a general concensus that Pacquiao has vastly improved and has become arguably the best fighter pound-for-pound on the planet today. Marquez, on the other hand, though still very potent and efficient, has shown minor signs of regression in speed. Speed, however, has never been Marquez?s greatest weapons. Cunning, timing, and vast boxing and counterpunching skills are indubitably the reasons for the Mexican?s staying power.
We now ask the question that only Pacquiao himself can answer: How must he deal with Marquez this time around? Will he go guns ablaze and go for an early kill or will he try to be more calculating and methodical about it? With all things considered barring any surprises, there are only two possible outcomes for the fight? both of which, however, will end with Pacquiao having his hands raised by the referee. How the Filipino firebomb approaches the fight will decide how convincing the victory will be for him.
Marquez loves a chessmatch and with his advanced age into consideration, he?s at a disadvantage when getting blitzed. Pacquiao?s body has now grown into a natural welterweight, keeping his vaunted speed and power, while bringing his pugilistic skills to an entirely new level. On the flip side, Marquez is years and several pounds separted from his prime. His best chance is to stay true to his counterpunching style ? the art of waiting. If Pacquiao becomes tentative, as he was in the later rounds of the first encounter and in most of the rounds in their second salvo, Marquez is definitely going to give him a good run for his money. But if Pacquiao goes for broke from the get-go, Marquez isn?t going to last that long.
Though it might be true that Pacquiao has had more trouble against Marquez?s patient and precise counterpunching strategy than with any other fighter he has faced inside the squared circle, truth be told that a much smaller and lesser version of today?s Pacquiao made the better and faster version of Marquez hit the deck a total four times in both fights. This bigger and better version of Pacquiao will certainly just run over this older and slower version of Marquez if the Pinoy fighting dynamo chooses to. The only question is? will he?
Comments are highly appreciated. You may send them to reylanloberternos@yahoo.com.ph. Follow me on twitter reylan_l
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