Tomorrow, boxing fans will get to see 1 of the top 2 draws in the sport of boxing will hit the ring as Manny Pacquiao will square off against Juan Manuel Marquez for their 4th bout in 8 years on HBO PPV. When you are talking about these 2 fighters, there isn’t really much that you can bring up that you probably don’t know already. Marquez went down 3 times in the 1st rd of their 1st fight in 2004, yet came back strong to earn a draw.
Then 4 years later, they had a great technical fight in which Manny won by a split decision in a fight that many thought was also a draw. This brought them to their 3rd fight, approximately a year ago, in a fight that many people, including me thought it as at least a draw, if not a Marquez win. Now, we must now prepare for part 4 of the current best rivalry in boxing.
The soon to be 34 year old pride of the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2 with 38 KOs) comes into this fight with something to prove. Now most people will say he has proven enough in his career, he has nothing else to do but he hasn’t been able to stop anyone in over 3 years. He lost, in my opinion, to Marquez last year, and even though he won the fight, and lost on scorecards to Timothy Bradley, he still couldn’t finish him. I feel that he also wants to put his name back out there in the media as he has been bringing up Floyd Mayweather’s name a lot more recently, but I still don’t see any way that fight happens. I think he does realize that real fans have found other fights to be excited about and aren’t pushing for that fight like they did before.
The Mexican legend, Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1 with 39 KOs) is now 39 years old. He doesn’t have much more fights left in him. He will be a hall of famer and it’s amazing to look back at his career and realize that other than the 1st fight of his pro career, his only losses are2 to Manny Pacquiao, both debatable decisions, a loss to Floyd Mayweather at a catch weight, and 2 undefeated fighters at the time in 35-0 Freddie Norwood and 36-0 Chris John.
Now let’s imagine if one judge ruled one round in Marquez’s way instead of Manny’s, then maybe the roles would be switched and Marquez would be that #2 money earner in the sport. All of those possibilities are long gone, but what still lies ahead and is possible is for him to finally come out on top in a fight against Manny Pacquiao.
To be completely honest, a lot of true fans are not excited to see the 4th installment of this fight. However, you cannot deny that this fight will be a technical clinic. Both of these fighters really don’t do much dirty boxing and when you hear styles make fights, they are talking about fights like this. Pacquiao is an aggressive, high volume puncher and Marquez is one of the best counterpunchers in the world. When it comes down to the end, it’s all about what the judges like. If the judges like aggressive style fighting and initiating the battle, then they will take Pacquiao, if they are patient, and don’t mind counter-style fighting, then they will favor Marquez. It’s the type of fight that the fans of the person they are rooting for will be upset at one of the judge’s scores no matter what.
This is a prediction article, so I know that most of you are expecting to see whom I will choose to win this legendary battle. However, a prediction on this fight really doesn’t matter, as I said it will come down to the type of style that the judges prefer and because all judges are different, I can almost guarantee that it will be a split decision once again. Because I’ll be rooting for him, I’m going to pick, the newly more buffed up, Juan Manuel Marquez to win it by split decision. I felt he deserved the last fight, so I’m hoping that he doesn’t end his career without a win against Pacquiao. No matter who wins, you will get another 12 rounds of great technical skill with two guys that know each other better than anyone other two fighters do in the sport, enjoy the fight.
