By Gary Purfield
This Saturday Manny Pacquiao 53-3-2 (38 KO) and Juan Manuel Marquez 53-5-1 (39 KO) will square off for the third time to finish their bitter rivalry. The first two fights are highly entertaining and highly controversial. Their styles mesh to perfection. Pacquiao’s hard charging aggression vs. Marquez’s technical boxing and counter punching abilities. During each of the first two fights, they traded incredible power shots being kept alive only by great chins and a desire to be victorious. The first ended in a draw and the second was awarded to Pacquiao by narrow split decision.
Each fight has nearly four years in between. They first met at featherweight in 2004, again at junior lightweight in 2008, and now will meet at welterweight (catch weight of 144lbs) in late 2011. Both proud men want to settle the score once and for all and show who is the better man in this rivalry.
Before the fight Saturday night we take a look back at the first two bouts. In this first installment I will score and review the first fight and then analyze the second go round in the next article. Both fights are currently available on HBO on Demand. I will be on the email all week checking for comments from readers where I am sure there will be plenty to argue about in my opinions below. Or feel free to light up the comments or the Boxing Tribune’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/theboxing.tribune. Nothing like some barbershop arguing before a big fight. Now lets’ get into the first fight.
Round one is still a thing of legend for what happened to Marquez and what he did afterwards. Marquez came into the fight thinking he would cruise through Manny with superior boxing skills, having no real idea of the tremendous speed and power he was about to encounter. Marquez landed some good rights but Manny, using a back and forth body movement and exploding forward at unpredictable moments, blasted Marquez midway through the round with a straight left sending him to his ass. Pacquiao would drop Juan Manuel two more times, land a host of straight left bombs, and break the Mexican warriors nose.
Some thought the fight could have been stopped and it looked like the end would come sooner rather than later for Juan Manuel. But Marquez would build a legend on this night in terms of heart, as he not only survived but quickly got right into the fight. Larry Merchant of HBO said it best stating in round two, “Marquez is making the stand of his life because this is the fight of his life.” Marquez lost round two on my card but was certainly already back in the fight and setting the groundwork for the damage he would do in the upcoming rounds.
In rounds three and four the action slowed considerably to Marquez’s advantage. He began being able to time the Filipino’s onslaught, dodge the straight left, and counter with his straight right and left uppercut. Marquez had announced he not going away and he was still in it to win. He would rock Pacquiao several times but Manny to his credit stayed on his feet and would often fire right back
Round five started slow but with a little over a minute left exploded into action. Marquez landed a huge right that snapped Manny’s head back. Pacquiao then fought back to land another big left of his own. They fired away the rest of the round with Marquez getting the better of the action. He showed he could trade with Manny and be successful. In addition Marquez opened a cut over Manny’s right eye. Now both fighters were bleeding and had their moments of control.
In round six Marquez landed his biggest punch of the fight in the form of a looping right hand that threw Manny backwards and seemed to temporarily stun him. Marquez continued to get the better of the action the rest of the round. Marquez’s timing of the right hand and left hook to the body gave him the advantage in the round according to this writer.
At the halfway point not only was Marquez still standing, but on this writers scorecard had almost caught up in points despite the disastrous first round (I had it 56-55 Pacquiao at this point but round two is a very debatable round that I have to Manny).
Round seven was very close and could be scored either way if not even. They even traded stunners in the closing seconds as if to say to anyone scoring try and figure who to give this one to. I gave it to Marquez feeling he did just a little more and controlled the ring. I found round eight to be just as close (again could go either way or even) and went with Marquez again for the same reasons as the previous round. Again they started slow in round nine but Pacquiao stole the round in the final thirty seconds with a flurry of left hands down the stretch.
Round ten saw Pacquiao re-invigorated. He won the round charging forward with left hands (although it was far closer than the HBO commentator made it appear). Manny for the first time since round one seemed to be taking back the momentum. He charged forward with jab-jab-left as instructed by trainer Freddie Roach. For the first time since early in the fight Pacquiao had Marquez moving backward in a defensive mode.
Entering the championship rounds it was anyone’s fight on any card. This writer had Manny up 94-93 after his 10th round charge. Both men were bleeding in several areas and surviving on heart with the energy tank emptied from ten bruising rounds.
Round eleven each man was tired and settled for landing one punch at a time for the most part. Pacquiao landed his left but Marquez’s ability to use the right in addition to left hook or left uppercut, allowed him to be a just a little more effective and win the round. Just when Pacquiao had taken back control in the 10th, Marquez again established his tempo in the 11th. Now according to this observer it was even entering the final stanza 103-103.
Round twelve they dug deep to fight through fatigue. Each man tried to take the round with blistering straight shots one more time (as Jim Lampley stated during the fight “one more right from Marquez, one more left from Pacquiao, they trade shots down the stretch”). One more time they traded momentum as often as they traded straight power shots. In a very tough round to score I went Marquez feeling he controlled the first minute, fought on even terms the second minute, and then barely squeezed out the final minute but another round that could be seen various ways.
In the end I had it 113-112 for Marquez. Harold Lederman of HBO greatly differed giving it to Pacquiao 115-110. The judges had it a draw by scores of 115-110 Pacquiao, 115-110 Marquez, and 113-113 even. So many rounds could have gone either way which is what makes this fight so controversial and the wide scoring differential really not surprising at all.
It would be four years before they got back in the ring to settle the debate. Coming tomorrow we analyze the rematch before seeing the third installment live this Saturday.
Gary’s Card
Round |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Total |
Pacquiao |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
112 |
Marquez |
6 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
113 |
Notes
- I typically prefer not to do round by round commentary finding it boring mundane overkill when describing a fight. In this fight you have little choice. The back and forth momentum swings dictate that each round needs to be described.
- If you watch the fight I don’t want to say turn off the sound because Lampley has some great calls that add to the excitement but make the decision not to be influenced by the commentary. I am not attacking Jim Lampley, Emmanuel Steward, or Larry Merchant but this fight can be seen from so many angles and perspectives. Don’t allow what they are saying to influence what you are seeing and thinking. I found many times where I was seeing something completely different than the commentators and it takes a conscious effort not to be swayed by the announcing of the fight.
Question, comment, agree, disagree, or anything at all, send it to gboxing3@gmail.com
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