IT ENDS NOW
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 09 Dec 2012
LAS VEGAS(PNA via PCSO)? The historic, albeit bitterest and fiercest boxing rivalry in this era is about to end Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) when Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, both living legends in their own rights, confront each other for the fourth time in a span of nine years at the posh MGM Grand Arena here.
No title is at stake but prestige of emerging the better fighter after their previous three fights, with Pacquiao registering a 2-0-1 win-loss-draw edge, failed to produce definitive results that necessitated this forth chapter of their feud.
Both hope to close the book with only one standing, and in the process wipe out the doubts that had been in existence in both their minds, the respective believers, the ordinary fans and even members of the media.
Marquez said he is fighting for vindication, while Pacquiao to prove that his twin victories ? a split decision in fight no. 2 and majority verdict in the third were legal and came not as a courtesy by the judges, as the Mexican had been claximing.
?There should be no doubts this time,? Pacquiao blurted out Friday as he prepared to proceed to the Arena for the official weigh-in that saw him tip the scale in what his handlers said was an ideal welterweight limit 147 pounds and the now muscular Marquez at a surprisingly four pounds lighter at 143.
The same sentiment Marquez had been saying since he started preparations four months ago. Like Pacquiao, six years his junior, the 39-year-old four-division champion Marquez knows, there is only one way to do that: by knockout.
And both centered their preparations toward attaining their target.
For the Filipino eight-division world belt-owner by turning back the hands of time when he was a 24-year-old campaigner that was not as refined as he is today who relied on hand and foot quickness, superb athleticism and explosiveness that carried him through beating such legendary fighters Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Oscar DeLa Hoya, among others.
And for Marquez, by building up his physique that had, he and his handlers believed, gave him extra punching power which he had none before.
Both Pacquiao and Marquez made it known they will be employing new tactics they never used before. The Filipino ring idol could be abandoning a little of his intense and often times careless style, while Marquez his counterpunching way of fighting, which ironically, was his main weapon for what he believed was winning all the previous three fights.
Pacquiao, for a start, left Baguio City where he, in his previous four fights, pitched his camp before proceeding to the Freddie Roach-owned Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. He instead went back to his native General Santos City where he spent three weeks of his training at the People?s Champ Gym, built in the 90s by businessman-friend Rey Golingan.
The numerous distractions that were blamed for his lackluster performance in his third fight with Marquez last year were, likewise, abandoned. The volume of works as a Congressman of the Province of Sarangani have temporarily been shelved while in training. His turbulent relation with wife Jinkee is now a thing of the past.
These developments looked to have succeeded in making Pacquiao a new man, who, nowadays, wears that familiar wide smile that was his trademark before. This gladdened members of his team, of course, including and especially Roach.
?He?s back to his old self. He?s having fun,? Roach told People?s Journal after Wednesday?s press conference. ?And I?m sure he?ll have fun during fight night on Saturday. I?ve never seen him as happy as now for a very long time. ?
?While that our aim is to win convincingly, if possible via knockout, I told him don?t hurry. A knockout will come at a proper time. Just go up there and fight like you?ve been doing before. And I believe he understood me? the Hall of Fame trainer said.
?Masayang-masaya ako because of our successful camp,? Pacquiao, who spent the whole day Friday resting, for his part, said. ?I really feel I?m younger now. Para ngang 24 or 25 years old ako. Magaang ang katawan, maganda ang kondisyon at malinaw ang pag-i-isip. Which I?ve never felt for along time.?
The transformation in Marquez?s physique was very evident in Friday?s official weigh-in. For a man who never fought more than 135 pounds and weighed less than 130 pounds in 50 of his 55 fights three years ago before fighting and losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr,, Marquez looked really a ?hulk? as his handlers described him to be.
The Mexican great attributed his new-look to trainer angel ?Memo? Heredia, who, he said, helped him discover the ?Fountain of Youth. ?In working with angel, I?ve changed everything. I feel great because I?ve had a 20-year career doing the same things angel changed that.?
Marquez admitted he had grown bigger and stronger but, just the same, retained his speed and quickness. To beat Pacquiao and not leave the results for the judges, he said he needed to become more a threat as a puncher.
?I?ll be fighting to win and win impressively. When the opportunity arises for a knockout, I?ll take that,? Marquez vowed. ?My motivation is I want them to raise my hand in the ring. I don?t want people to simply say you beat him (Pacquiao). I want them to know that I beat him.?
(Photo above - Pacquiao and Marquez after the weigh-in, below, Pacquiao interviewed by the television mediaPhotos by Wendell Rupert Alinea (via PCSO)
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