MANNY PACQUIAO vs JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ

The boxing world hopes for a sense of finality, a definitive conclusion, when welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao meets his bitterest rival, Juan Manuel, Marquez, on PPV from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
 
Twice these proud warriors of the ring have fought down to the wire in compelling 12-round fights. Pacquiao has scored four knockdowns over Marquez, but the durable and accomplished Mexican veteran scored with such efficiency that an argument can be made that he was twice unlucky against Pacquiao — a draw and a heart-breaking one-point defeat.
 
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, tells me he expects Pacquiao to get Marquez out of the fight inside six rounds. This, to me, is highly unlikely, but I do think that the Filipino powerhouse can win before the final bell rings.

The first two fights between Pacquiao and Marquez were desperately close, and, from ringside, I had Marquez the narrow winner each time.
 
Those fights, though, were fought at 126 and 130 pounds respectively. Saturday’s fight is made at a catchweight of 144 pounds, and I believe that Pacquiao — who scaled 143 pounds at today’s weigh-in to Marquez’s 142 — will possess a significant power advantage at this weight.
 
Marquez looks strong in HBO’s 24/7 training-camp footage, having brought a somewhat controversial strength and conditioning coach on board, and the Mexican veteran has clearly bulked-up in a much more scientific manner than when he lost widely on points to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a welterweight mismatch two years ago.
 
The impression one has, though, is that Pacquiao is the faster man, more explosive and naturally stronger at this weight. Pacquiao was hurting Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley in dominating displays as a welterweight: I just cannot picture Marquez having anything like such overwhelming success against these fighters.
 
I agree with trainer Roach that Pacquiao has improved since the last fight with Marquez almost four years ago. He just looks a more complete all-around fighter, especially in the way that he jabs and hooks with the right hand from his southpaw stance.
 
Pacquiao has gone the full 12 rounds in three of his last four bouts but Clottey spent almost the whole 12 rounds covering up behind a defensive shield of arms and gloves, while Pacquiao seemed to ease up in his fights with Cotto, Margarito and especially Mosley. Freddie Roach assures me that Pacquiao will not be showing mercy if he gets Marquez in trouble.
 
It seems that Pacquiao was offended by Marquez wearing T-shirts with lettering of the “I beat Pacquiao twice” variety when the Mexican boxer visited the Philippines. Roach says he senses something a little different about Pacquiao heading into this fight, much more of a “taking care of business” type of mindset. Pacquiao, Roach tells me, wants to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind on Saturday night.
 
The 24/7 series has, of course, done a great job in building up the event. We saw Marquez knocking down a sparring partner and blasting a speed bag from its moorings. However, 24/7 is all about convincing sceptics that an underdog has a wonderful chance of victory. The reality, I believe, is that Pacquiao is poised to dish out the sort punishment that even the courageous and highly capable Marquez will not be able to withstand.
 
Marquez is 38 years old and in his last big fight he was knocked down by Michael Katsidis and needed to dig deeply to win — and this was against a 135-pound swarmer who for all his heart and endurance is a somewhat limited fighter (as was confirmed when Ricky Burns soundly outboxed Katsidis last weekend).
 
If Katsidis was able to floor Marquez and have him under pressure on the ropes in almost every round, one wonders what is going to happen when Marquez finds himself in the ring with the fighter that HBO sage Larry Merchant once referred to as “a typhoon blowing across the Pacific”.
 
I’m picking Pacquiao to win by stoppage, maybe somewhere around the ninth or 10^th round.