The more things change the more they stay the same. Last saturday's third fight between WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and challenger Juan Manuel Marquez was virtually a mirror image of they're first two fights. No doubt saturday's fight will forever go down being just as disputed as the first two fights. The outcome of the first fight which took place in 2004 at 126 pounds was declared a draw, even with pacquiao knocking marquez down three times in the first round. Marquez rallied back from the second round on to the final bell of the twelfth round of the fight to make the outcome of the fight a draw. Also the fact that one judge scored the three knockdowns in the first round incorrectly (10-7 instead of 10-6) ultimately was the deciding factor of the fight being a draw.
In 2008 four years later the two warriors met again. This time the fight was at 130 pounds for marquez's 130 pound title. Early in the fight marquez was in control from the start until pacquiao knocked him down in the third round and then the see saw back and forth war was on yet again. The fight that saw marquez controlling a great portion of the fight was a close and tough fight to judge as marquez and pacquiao played tit for tat with trading punches. At the end of the fight pacquiao won by one point with the third round knockdown being the deciding factor. Marquez being the proud warrior he is couldnt accept defeat, at least not in his heart.
Which brings us to last saturday where controversy loomed yet again at the end of another great fight between the two great rivals. This time the third fight was fought at a catchweight of 144 pounds for manny pacquiao's WBO welterweight title. The fight started off slow but tatical with both fighter feeling each other out in rounds one and two. By round three both fighters were starting to loose'n up and starting to trade with each other more. Marquez looked sharp and was counterpunching as well as ever. Round four saw marquez really take control with effective counterpunching and combinations. Rounds five thru eight saw marquez really controlling the fight and fustrating pacquiao to the point where pacquiao's face had a look of uncertainty to it. Rounds nine thru twelve were complete toss up rounds (well at least to me) where if you were a judge it came down to whether or not u liked the counterpunching of marquez or the work rate of pacquiao. Nacho Beristain (marquez's trainer) told him from round nine on til the end of the fight that marquez was winning the fight, and that ironically may have cost marquez the biggest win of his career. The last two rounds were on the table for the taking and marquez let up off the gas. It seem like pacquiao's busyier style won the judges over for the last two rounds. At the end of the fight pacquiao's face did not look like he believe he was going to win. When micheal buffer was about to read the scores everyone who was at the fight and the fans watching across the world was on the edge of theyre seats waiting to hear the final scores. Emanual Steward said it best at the end of the twelfth round when he said "here we go again". Buffer read the scores as such... 114-114...115-113...116-112.... in favor of manny pacquiao by majority decsion. The place erupted in chorus of boo's and any other negative response u could think of. Regardless of the great counterpunching and combinations from marquez, it was still a very close fight (round by round) and he never totally dominated pacquiao to the point where manny never was into the fight. I personally had pacquiao winning 115-113, seven rounds to five. The only reason why i personally had pacquiao wit seven rounds cause there were some many toss up rounds that i gave him two of those rounds cause of his aggressiveness. I think two of the three judges did the same for the same reasons. Had marquez fought the last two rounds in the same way he fought juan diaz & michael katsidis, he would have won the fight of his career. But choosing to slow down at the end prove to be his downfall and have him reliving the same feeling he's been thru twice already from his two previous fights wit pacquiao.
Marquez clearly upset over the outcome left the ring before max kellerman could conduct a post fight interview. Marquez was as close as he ever was to beating pacquiao but nacho beristain telling him he's winning the fight was not the best thing a trainer could tell a fighter in such a close fight. As far as pacquiao goes even though in the post fight interview with max kellerman where he said he clearly won the fight, deep down pacquiao knows he dodged a bullet yet again in a fight wit marquez. Now for the first time in a long time pacquiao who as of late has been viewed as superhuman,is now being viewed as just human. The three judges that scored the fight saturday were different from the judges that scored the first two fights between pacquiao and marquez which leads me to believe something the great trainer of manny pacquiao, freddie roach always says..... no matter how many times they may fight, it will always be a close fight between them two. In many fans eyes the third fight between these two great fighters cause more questions than answers. Could a fourth fight be in the works for pacquiao and marquez in 2012 ? Only time will tell. As for now pacquiao fans get to rejoice in the fact that pacquiao escaped with another victory at the expense of juan manuel marquez, and marquez's fans now have another reason to hate manny pacquiao more than they ever haved before.
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