So, what can i say about the recent Pacquiao-Marquez fight?
I may not be a boxing expert but I understand the sport very well. Roberto Duran's fame was the primary reason why I gain interest for the sport. It really catches your attention when a sports icon or a famous person for that matter shares your last name. When I was a kid, i often hear the name Roberto Duran a.k.a. The Hands of Stone; so I researched about him on encyclopedias (I still don't know how to use the internet before.. waht do u expect from a typical Filipino 10 year old kid from the 8o's.) and asked some boxing fanatics in our place. The said curiosity eventually opened my eyes to the boxing world and fuel my appreciation to other boxing legends like Muhammad ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, and Lennox Lewis to name a few.
Then came Manny Pacquiao who further cemented my admiration for the sport not only because Pacquiao is a Filipino but because Manny is a freak of nature. I don't need to state his accomplishments. Everybody knows it. One of the things I appreciate about Pacquiao is his unorthodox yet effecive style.. throwing thunderous punches from hardly imaginable angles. It's like a side-step basketball move. You can't practice it but during the acual games, the move just comes to you. It's like your body is programmed to do it. (Yeah, right.. I'm a basketball addict.)
Let's go back to Pacquiao-Marquez topic.. Marquez has been a headache for Manny Pacquiao. If Ali has Joe frazier, Pacquiao has Marquez. Everyone knows how close and the first two fights between the two were.. so the two meet for the third time to supposedly answer all the doubts playing on everybody's mind. Marquez believe that he won both the first two fights BUT..
A MUCH-FORGOTTEN element of Pacquiao-Marquez 1st bout was that one of the judges scored the three-knockdown round 10-7 for Pacquiao rather than the CORRECT score 10-6.
Pacquiao should have won that fight. THAT ONE POINT scoring error would have erased much of the talk about further matchup fights. But still, it would be a close one.
Pacquiao floored Marquez, the defending champion that time (2004) three times in the first round but seemed to run out of fuel and was outboxed on the latter rounds. It appeared like the knockdown was a result of adrenaline rush. The fight ended in a draw.But again, Pacquiao should have won it if only the scoring mishap did not happen.
The 2nd fight (2008) was like a de ja vu of the first bout. Manny came out smoing and storming in the early rounds and had Marquez kiss the canvass during the 3rd round and yet lost his fire in the latter rounds. He still managed to won though by a controversial split decision.
After their second fight, the two faced different fighters but pacquiao garnered much attention. He kept moving up and destroyed larger and powerful opponents, en-route to an unprecendented 8-division tite champion. He was also declared as the pound for pound best fighter in the world and the fighter of the decade (much to the dismay of Floyd Mayweather).
Marquez was also successful on his own right but his fights were not as impressive compared to Pacquiao. This was further emphasized when marquez was outclassed by Mayweather. And yet because of the docking game being played by Mayweather, tehre's nothing much left for Pacquiao but to face Marquez once more and end all speculations that he should have lost the first two fights. Manny Pacquiao is a difefrent fighter now. He's a much complete boxer and seems like unvulnerable. He's no longer a one-handed puncher. He has power on both hands. He's right hand may eveen be stonger thatmost right handed boxers out there. There's no wonder why boxing analysts predict Pacquio to win over Marquez in a loopsided 10-1 fashion.
However, things did not turn out as what it was supposed to be. Marquez who was supposed to be 6 years older, a step (or even steps) slower, fought toe to toe with Pacquiao. That was the story of the fight. Marquez had a game plan and he played it perfectly. Pacquiao on the other hand was not the ferocious Pacman against David Díaz, Oscar De la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, and Shane Mosley. Statistics form CompuBox showed that Pacman threw more punches but not as accurate as Marquez.
For numbers and statistics sake, below is a more comprehensive report about punches thrown by the two fighters from ABS-CBN news.com (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/11/13/11/compubox-shows-pacquiao-landed-more-shots)
- - - - - Official fight statistics from CompuBox show that Filipino boxer Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao threw and landed more punches against Mexican rival, Juan Manuel Marquez in their WBO welterweight title clash at the MGM Grand Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).
CompuBox is a program that counts and categorizes punches in boxing matches. In the final statistics, it shows that Pacquiao threw more shots (578) than Marquez (435).Pacquiao connected with 176 punches (30%), while Marquez landed 138 (32%).
The jabs thrown favors Pacquiao, who connected with 59 of 304 jabs thrown, while Marquez connected with 38 of 182 jabs thrown. Marquez was more efficient, however, connecting 21% of his jabs while Pacquiao connecte 19%. Pacquiao has the lead in power punches, connecting on 117 of 274 attempts or 43%, while Marquez connected on 100 of 254 power punches thrown or 39%.
Per round, Pacquiao threw 49 punches and landed 14, while Marquez threw 36 punches and landed 11. While he landed fewer shots, Marquez was able to rattle Pacquiao with strong shots to the body in the middle rounds.
Nonetheless, Pacquiao eked out a majority decision win over Marquez in their trilogy bout, with judges scoring the bout 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112. - - - -
I watched the fight on a black and white reception (live telecast) and was not impressed by Manny's performance. I initially called it a draw. As I said, marquez played his game plan perfectly but was it enough to convincingly win over Pacquiao? (take note of the term CONVINCINGLY) Hell, no.. and so I watched GMA's fight coverage to see the bout in a colored perspective (with tons of advertisements between rounds). This time around I call it in favor of Pacquiao much like how CompuBox read the puches thrown. There's no way though that I will give a score of 116 - 112. (What fight was the 3rd judge watching?) 115-113 was more acceptable.
Pacquiao was the more active fighter and he threw more punches. However, he was not at his best during the fight.
Take it this way.. Pacquiao = L.A. Lakers.. Marquez = Brgy. Ginebra Kings.
Of course, everyone who knows basketball will bet that the Lakers will win convincingly over Ginebra, same as everyone who knows boxing expect that Pacman will dominate versus marquez. But don't forget Ginebra's do or die attitude much like Marquez'heart of a true fighter.
It's like Lakers shooting a horrible 40/100 while Ginebra shoot a much more acceptable 30/60 (I'm exaggerating by the way.. but still the comparison makes sense) and surprsingly got more points from the free-throw line . But then and agin, Lakers threw more shots and made more baskets. In the end of regulation time, lakers won by JUST 1 POINT!
Point of the matter is, basketball fans will say, how in the world did Ginebra match the Lakers.. with Bryant, Gasol, Bynum and all that.. same as boxing fans saying.. "How in the world did Marquez fought toe to toe with Pacquiao.. man, he won this fight.
Bottomline is, we just expect too much from Manny. That was the problem - People underestimated Marquez. We can't blame ouselves though. Manny earned his 8 division titles, KNOCKING THE HELL OUT OF EACH DIVISION CHAMPION. But he haven't brought that fire on his last fight. Nonetheless scorecards will NOT earn you a title nod if you are against a Champ like Manny.
Marquez just don't have 'It'. He played his gameplan well enough but he doesn't have the power to knock Pacquiao out." He did not have the power before when he was still younger and he will never have. He only landed cleaner and clearer shots. (That's it pancit. That's just it.)
Marquez was the challenger. You don't expect to win a fight if you only stick with your counter-punching technique. Not to take any points from him cause he was superb. He made all boxing analysts looked foolish. He exceeded all expectations but then and again, Counter-punching is a great technique but IS IT ENOUGH to make a challenger a champion? Not a Chance.
Counter-punching has to be mixed up with a KILLER's instinct. You got be be MORE AGGRESSIVE. Again, Marquez was the CHALLENGER. He should have pushed the action. If you want a sure win decision, you got to take risks. You got to have a THUNDEROUS KNOCK OUT to cast away all doubts.
Just because Manny did NOT knock Marquez out, means that Marquez won. It's like Manny shooting 10 highly contested-3 point shots which majority found there way through the net via shooter's bounce, while Marquez has 8 rim rattling dunks. The flair was there and the cheer from the jubilant crowd backed it up. But were these shots enough to make Marquez the winner? No and never.. no mater who the fighters will be. That's how boxing goes..
If both fighters are up on their feet, judges go to the scorecards. Pacquiao hit more jabs, more power shots and literally more punches. Marquez just happened to hit cleaner shots, so people assumes he hits more. The last shots (counter punches) are the usual onces people see.1 clear punch however will never edged 4 flashy cunning shots.
Again, the problem here was that we just expected TOO MUCH from Manny. He won, but it was not the way we expect the fight would be. Was the fight a sign that Manny is on a decline? I have no idea. Pacquiao - Marquez Trilogy plus 1 should happen for us to know.
Image sources: ABS-CBNnews.comLOS Angeles Times
Image URL:
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-11/66053918.jpg
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sites/default/files/a_images/topics/others/20111112_PacMar8.jpg
http://freelivestreaming.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pacquiao_vs_marquez3.jpg
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