Sabre Rattling for Pacquiao-Marquez IV Kicks Off
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 19 Sep 2012
MANILA (PNA) -- Both eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao and three-division belt-owner Juan Manuel Maquez vowed to end what has been perceived as their unfinished business by vowing to knock each other out when they meet for the fourth time on December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The two bitter rivals had met three times for a total 36 rounds in their previous trilogy with all the results ? a draw in the first fight, a Pacquiao split decision win in the second and a majority verdict, also in favor of the Filipino ring icon, in the third ? that left more questions than answer.
Thus, this Chapter IV of a rivalry that will enter the record books as the only fifth in the history of boxing to once and for all decide who between these two finest pound-for-pound fighters is the better gladiator atop the squared arena.
?I have to knock him out,? Pacquiao declared dramatically written on a piece of paper, which he repeated orally by way of answering a query from a sportswriter during Monday?s (Tuesday in Manila) first of the three-city media tour scheduled to hype the fight.
"It's very important for me to knock Pacquiao out. I don't want to be in the ring and worked so hard and know I won the fight and have my heart [broken] again. I need to knock him out this time," Marquez, for his part said, reiterating his old-age claim that he won all those three meetings.
The former pound-for-pound best Pacquiao echoed the same sentiment, saying further, "I want to erase the issue with the fans that I don't have no longer hungry, that I no longer displayed the same hunger I had when I was still 25."
"As always, I do want to fight; I do have that hunger." Pacquio, who will turn 34 on December proclaimed, adding that boxing is still his priority despite involving in a myriad of activities that includes politics, entertainment and bible study, all consuming his time that looked to have affected his preparations in previous fights.
Pacquiao, who has not won via stoppage since dropping Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto for good in the 12th-round on Nov. 14, 2009, admitted his failure to score a knockout since, including that November 2011 skirmish with Marquez, was his fault as he vowed to be focused on his training in this fight.
He reiterated his earlier decision to skip pitching camp in Baguio City for altitude training and instead spend all his eight-week preparation at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles which is owned by his trainer Freddie Roach.
Marquez, also known as ?Dinamita,? said he, at first, did not expect to fight ?The Pacman? again and why in Las Vegas, a place he promised not to fight anymore.
"People keep asking , 'Why again?' the Mexican legend said. "Because I want to prove who's better, and I want the referee to raise my hand."
He added he and trainer Ignacio ?Nacho? Beristain will be employing new tactics to win convincingly and not fall victim again to the judges boom decision, even mentioning the experience Pacquiao himself underwent in losing the controversial loss to undefeated American Timothy Bradley.
"We have to adjust, because what I did, even though I thought I won those fights, the judges didn't give them to me," Marquez lamented.
"He knows me, and I know him. But boxing is a sport you have to adjust and adapt.?
Roach, who was also in the press conference along with promoter Bob Arum, Beristain and Marquez promoter Fernando Beltran, expressed apprehension on Pacquiao?s loss of killer instinct displayed during the first fight where he dropped Marquez thrice in the first round, likewise, insinuated a change in strategy.
"I want to make this fight a slugfest," Roach said as quoted by the excerpts of the media tour proceedings. "Manny's knocked this guy down four times. If he wants to be the No. 1 guy in the sport (again), he needs a knockout."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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