MANNY PACQUIAO W12 (maj.) JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ

One felt a sense of disappointment over Manny Pacquiao’s performance against Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night, a feeling that the Filipino superstar should have done better.
 
In a fight where finality was expected, a sense of closure, Pacquiao once again had to settle for a decision that divided then judges and was open to debate.
 
It could be that Marquez has the sort of style that will always trouble Pacquiao, the way that Ken Norton pushed Muhammad Ali to the limit in three fights.
 
Yet, frankly, much more was expected from Pacquiao. After all, his archrival Floyd Mayweather Jr. outclassed Marquez when they met two years ago. Pacquiao’s camp was talking about an overwhelming victory before the halfway mark. Instead, the welterweight title fight ended on a majority verdict, one round on one card from being a draw.
 
My TV view was that Pacquiao eked out the win. He was a bit more active than Marquez, a bit more insistent, and just seemed to be landing more punches. Marquez landed most of the eye-catching blows, though, especially the right hands that knocked back Pacquiao’s head and sent his hair flying around.
 
Pacquiao’s surging attacks were time and again halted by counter punches, and the Mexican fans roared when Marquez fired off combinations. Marquez’s left uppercut through the middle followed by the right hand was particularly impressive. Pacquiao’s darting right jabs from the southpaw stance were scoring points, though, and when he landed the straight left hand through the middle he was doing so with sufficient force to move Marquez back.
 
Instead of the fierce fight that was widely expected we got a nip-and-tuck, tactical boxing match that, by the middle rounds was clearly headed towards another tightly scored bout, a “drawish” type of fight as HBO PPV analyst Max Kellerman put it.
 
This was the first time in three fights that Pacquiao failed to knock Marquez down. Instead of being dynamic and dominant, Pacquiao was struggling and barely stealing rounds by sneaking in a few more punches than his opponent and being busier. Marquez’s punches were thrown in a more classical manner but Pacquiao was getting there with speedy deliveries, and Pacquiao seemed to be fighting with a greater urgency than Marquez in several rounds, perhaps impressing the judges by giving the appearance of being the fighter willing to take more chances.
 
Marquez, although 38, has the seasoning, durability and the solid boxing skills that allow him to remain an elite fighter, and he surprised me by offering such stern resistance.
 
For the second fight in succession, though, Pacquiao was booed. Fans didn’t appreciate his sparring match with Shane Mosley in the fight before this, and Pacquiao was lustily booed as he stood in the MGM Grand Garden Arena ring being interviewed by Max Kellerman after Saturday’s fight. The expression of disapproval was mainly, one suspects, from spectators who disagreed with the decision, but some of the booing might have been from disgruntled fans letting Pacquiao know what they thought of his performance. Promoter Bob Arum always maintained that this was going to be another worrisome night for Pacquiao, and he was right, but I think that the public might have been peeved at not getting a thrilling display of power and passion.
 
Pacquiao, to me, didn’t show the same relentless drive for victory that he did in his knockout wins over Erik Morales, two of his greatest performances. He has made millions and he has his political career in the Philippines and varied interests outside of boxing, and I don’t think he has the hunger for glory in the boxing ring that he once possessed. He was lacklustre against Mosley and many will feel he was a lucky winner on Saturday night. Pacquiao fought well enough to win, if barely, but I think the days when he was a “typhoon blowing across the Pacific”, as HBO’s Larry Merchant once described him, might now be just a memory.
 
For me, the star of the night was Mike Alvarado, who, despite being busted up and bloodied, outlasted, outgamed and sensationally stopped Breidis Prescott in the last round of their junior welterweight fight. It was one of the most impressive displays of grit and will-to-win that I have seen in a long time.