By Gordon Marino
For much of boxing history, multiple meetings between contenders were
common fare. Jake La Motta and Sugar Ray Robinson fought each other six
times, enough for La Motta to crack, "I fought Sugar so often he almost
gave me diabetes." Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, Joey Giardello
and Dick Tiger, Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott, among others,
fought four times.
Today major fights are less frequent and the promotional lead-ins
much longer, so fistic trilogies and tetralogies are very rare.
Nonetheless, as HBO analyst Larry Merchant observed, "Sometimes too much
of a good thing is a good thing."
Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, two of the best boxers of
their generation, will exchange punches again Saturday at the MGM Grand
in Las Vegas. They've already had three grueling bouts. This will be
their fourth.
The Pacquiao vs. Marquez saga has been a good thing both for boxing
fans and the box office. According to Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank
Promotions, the last battle between these two diminutive giants garnered
1.3 million pay-per-view buys.
In their 2004 fight, Marquez (54-6-1, 39 knockouts) visited the
canvas three times in the first round but the ever-resilient "El
Dinamita" regrouped and managed a draw. Pacquiao 54-4-2, 38 knockouts)
eeked out controversial split decisions in their 2008, and 2011
meetings. Marquez vehemently insists, "I won all three fights."
Marquez's resolve to beat Pacquiao verges on an obsession. Recently,
the Mexican icon emphasized that getting a win over his rival is "very,
very important. I have this opportunity and the victory will be mine on
Dec. 8 and I will be able to retire with a victory over Manny Pacquiao."
When they met in 2004 it was at 126 pounds, but this collision will
be take place at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds. At bottom, the
principals in this bout are Pacquiao's uniquely concussive left hand and
Marquez's counter-right. At various times, Pacquiao has come close to
turning Marquez's lights out with his bullet of a left. Neverthless,
Marquez has always had more success than anyone in answering Pacquiao's
power shot with own punishing straight right, which he sometimes manages
to chase with a left hook or uppercut.
When pressed as to how he will avoid the counter right this Saturday,
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach responds, "By being aggressive and
keeping Marquez backing up." Roach continued, "When we go back and look
at the tape at what worked and what didn't, it is clear that Manny did
his best when he was dictating the pace and keeping busy, using his
speed."
Longtime pound-for-pound stalwart, Roy Jones Jr. concurs: "Manny has
to attack, get Marquez to counter and then counter his counter." But
with a sharp shooter like Marquez "aggressive and busy" are easier to
talk about in press conferences than to execute in the squared circle.
For all the aggression that these two talk of conjouring, both are
gun-shy of boxing judges. Pacquiao and his team were appalled by a
split-decision loss to Timothy Bradley in June, in which Pacquiao landed
more blows and did more damage despite looking noticeably slower.
Moreover, there is a perception that the Pacman got a gift in his last
fight with Marquez, so Freddie Roach is plain: "Manny needs a knockout
to win this one."
True to Roach's prescription, Pacquiao is bringing the heavy leather
in training. Roach said, "Manny has knocked his sparring partners down
three or four times already. He hasn't done that since the Cotto camp."
Ray Beltran, Pacquiao's sparring mate for almost a decade, remarked,
"Manny always hits hard but this time around when we are sparring, he
doesn't take any breaks. There is no laying on the ropes."
Convinced that he has been thrice robbed in his bouts with Pacquiao,
Marquez believes that his victory would have to be decisive. He, no less
than Pacquiao, is promising an uptake in fury. "I am going to be
aggressive in this fight," said Marquez. "I won't go for the knockout
right away, but if I get the opportunity for the knockout I will go for
one."
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