Pacquiao, Marquez Rematch Set

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will dance again. The two men agreed to a March 15 fight for Marquez’s junior lightweight (130 pounds) world title at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This will be a rematch of their May 8, 2004 fight that ended in a controversial split-draw. Pacquiao (45-3-2, 34 KOs) had to decide between facing Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) or moving up to battle 135-pound champ David Diaz. He ultimately chose Marquez and will look to finish what he started in the first round of their last match-up.

Pacquiao knocked Marquez down three times in the opening frame of the bout four years ago. In accordance with the rules two judges scored the round 10-6 for Pacquiao, the other (Burt Clements) scored it 10-7. The rest of the fight was a fierce battle, but Marquez won many of the middle rounds. As the final scorecards were read Guy Jutras scored it 115-110 for Marquez, John Stewart had it 115-100 for Pacquiao and Burt Clements ruled it 113-113. Had Clements scored the fight properly, Pacquiao would have won a split decision. Clements later admitted his mistake and apologized.

It is a classic battle of a technical counter-puncher in Marquez versus the powerful, often reckless knockout artist in Pacquiao. It is always an interesting fight when styles like this clash. Marquez is the last of the trio of legendary Mexican fighters from this era that Pacquiao must defeat. He’s beaten Erik Morales twice (in three bouts) and destroyed Marco Antonio Barrera twice. A win in this fight would establish his supremacy over the junior lightweight division and give him a serious claim to the title of the world’s pound-for-pound best.

I don’t mind telling you that Manny Pacquiao is by far my favorite boxer. His combination of power, speed, aggressiveness and courage make for essentially the perfect fighter. Many experts think that pound-for-pound he is the most powerful puncher since Mike Tyson was in his heyday. There are legendary stories of Pacquiao breaking the headgear of sparring partners because he hits so hard. He also throws tons of punches, never gives up and his fights are always among the most exciting each year. Plus, he never backs down from a challenge. He’ll fight anyone, anywhere, anytime. I rarely think paying exorbitant pay-per-view prices is worth it, but for Pacquiao’s fights I make an exception.

Pacquiao first came on my radar when he scored a second-round TKO over Jorge Eliecer Julio on the undercard of the June 8, 2002 Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight. His incredible power for his size wowed me then and it still does to this day.

I can’t emphasize enough how you need to check out one of Pacquiao’s fights if you never have or don’t even know who he is. I mean, he’s only the most popular man in the Philippines, geez. Here’s two videos, the first is the opening round of the first Marquez fight, the second is the 12th round of Pacquiao’s first fight with Erik Morales. He lost the Morales fight, but that final round was one of the best I’ve ever watched.