MANILA, Philippines — It is not a secret that Juan Manuel Marquez wants a third dance with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao so badly.
So bad that he even went out of his way to let the world know he beat Pacquiao twice in their two previous meetings.
Marquez, who is coming off a successful ninth round stoppage win against Michael Katsidis of Australia on Sunday (Manila time) to retain his WBA/WBO lightweight titles, has been talking nothing but “Pacquiao” right after the Filipino’s historic victory against Antonio Margarito — his eighth career title in as many divisions — earlier this month.
"Obviously, Pacquiao is my priority. I'll go up to 140 (pounds), it's no problem," Marquez said through a translator, as quoted by the Associated Press. "Stop making excuses, Manny. Fight me."
“I’ll consider any fighter if it’s not Pacquiao, but I feel I deserve to fight in the big fights,” Marquez said in a separate interview, as quoted by Lyle Fitzsimmons. “I feel like a broken record, but Pacquiao, Pacquiao, Pacquiao. That’s why I want the third fight; I thought I won the first fight and the second one as well, clearly.”
What amused —or probably, surprised — everybody was Marquez’s bold stunt during the post-fight press conference where he sported a lime green shirt that bore the words: “MARQUEZ BEAT PACQUIAO TWICE!!”
“I do not blame Manny Pacquiao for ducking me. He knows that no other boxer in the world has taken him to the edge,” said the 37-year-old Mexican, who now hiked his career record to 52-5-1 win-loss-draw slate with 38 knockouts, as quoted by Jhonny Gonzales. “He knows that I beat him and they ruled it a draw, and he also knows that I won the second fight by decision but the judges stole it away.”
Against the much younger Katsidis, Marquez bucked a third round knockout to come back and dominate the rest of the fight en route to winning via a ninth round stoppage — the same furious Marquez the world witnessed when he slugged it out with Pacquiao in 2004 and 2008.
“I have studied Pacquiao, and if you take a look, all of his recent opponents have the same characteristics — they all come forward and those are the kind that he prefers,” Marquez revealed, seemingly dissecting the Filipino’s string of thirteen straight victories, a major part of which were against bigger and heavier opponents.
“I’ll begin with Ricky Hatton, who was knocked out by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. He fought Oscar de la Hoya who in ten years had not gone to welterweight. Then Miguel Cotto, who got beaten by Antonio Margarito,” Marquez continued. “He beat Marco Antonio Barrera, who lost to me. He fought Joshua Clottey, who can’t punch. And now he battered Margarito, who had been knocked out by Shane Mosley and only had a single fight in two years.”
Regardless of whatever he says, Marquez seems to get the nod of most boxing experts as the only viable foe for Pacquiao, with the possible megabuck fight with the undefeated Mayweather, Jr. becoming a blurry thought in the horizon.
“Marquez gave a terrific performance — the kind of performance that was expected against the type of opponent he was fighting,” says the veteran boxing expert and HBO analyst Larry Merchant, summing up how Marquez handled Katsidis on his way to defending his titles. “A tough kid who would come right at him. That was designed for a veteran boxer-puncher like Marquez.”
Fitzsimmons gives us a closer look into Marquez biggest credentials as Pacquiao’s next top foe candidate:
"In the estimation of many, he’s right on target.
Out of the possible 36 rounds across three cards in the first bout six years ago, Marquez won 22. Four years late in the second go-round, he won 19-of-36. And of the six individual judges across the two fights — he won in the eyes of three, lost in two, and was even in one.."
That’s a valid point right there. And unless money talks point to nowhere near where Bob Arum’s eyes are fixed, the world knows that it deserves a third serving of the epic faceoff between the pride of Mexico and the pride of the Philippines.
Ericson Beco, Manila Bulletin
