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HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

March 15, 2008

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino-Las Vegas, Nevada

Ring Junior Lightweight/WBC Super Featherweight (130 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Juan Manuel Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KO's, 130 pounds) (c) vs. Manny Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KO's, 129 pounds)

The Ring Magazine Championship at this weight class is currently vacant.

Marquez won this title via 12-round unanimous decision over Marco Antonio Barrera on March 17, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay. This is Marquez'second defense of this title.

The first match between these two was an epic and controversial draw on May 8, 2004. The judges scored that match 115-110 for Pacquiao, 115-110 for Marquez, and 113-113. Pacquiao opened the match byscoring 3 clean knockdowns in round 1 to take the round,10-6. However, in round 1 Marquez out-landed Pacquiao in total connects 13-11. All of Pacquiao's connects were power connects, but in a telling sign for the rest of the match Pacquiao landed 0 of the 42 jabs he threw in round 1. Statistically, Pacquiao's round 2 was much better.In round 2, Pacquiaolanded 18 total punches and 14 of those were power connects.

Rounds 3 through 6 were all Marquez. Marquez out-landed Pacquiao by a wide margin in both total connects and power connects. In round 6, Pacquiao appeared completely gassed. Pacquiao landed 5 total punches in round 6, and landed only 1 power punch. Marquez landed 13 power punches in round 6,which was 4more then the 9 more punches Pacquiao threw in the round.

Pacquiao rallied in round 7, and out-landed Marquez in total connects 19 to 16. However, Marquez landed 14 power punches, which was 1 more then the 13 Pacquiao landed in the round. Both landed 65 total punches in the final 5 rounds. Of the 65 punches Marquez landed in the final 5 rounds, 44 were power connects. Only 39 of Pacquiao's connects in the final 5 rounds were power connects.

When the final scores were read, even though it was a draw Marquez had actually won in the public's eyes by coming back from the 3 knockdowns in round 1. Pacquiao offered Marquez an immediate rematch, but Pacquiao would get the larger share of the purse. Marquez'would have received $750,000 plus all the usual incentives, but his management gave him the terrible advice to turn down the deal, and he did.

Instead of getting a pay-per-view main event rematch, Marquez was stuck boxing in PPV undercards, or worse. For a $30,000 pay day Marquez traveled to Indonesia to face Chris John on March 4, 2006. Marquez dominated the match, Marquez out-landed John 129 total connects to 95 total punches landed. The boxer from Mexico City was even more dominant out-landing John in the power connects category108 to 73. All this resulted in a blowout loss for Marquez. The judges scored the match an astonishing unanimous decision for John by the scores of 116-112, 116-110, 117-111. In the match Marquez was deducted 2 points for repeated low blows.According to boxrec.com, Marquez was only penalized for fouls in 1 of his other51 professional matches. Thatwas his first professional match on May 29, 1993. What happened to Marquez in thismatch is thereasonalmost every quality boxer with an option stays away from Indonesia.

Marquez' last match was a 12-round blowout unanimous decision victory over Rocky Juarez at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona on November 3, 2007. Juarez received a bad cut above his left eye from an unintentional clash of heads in round 1, and had his vision impaired the entire match. Marquez targeted the cut the rest of the match. The match arguably could have been stopped before the end of round 10 for Juarez' safety from the damage he was taking from Marquez. The champion was landing power punches at a high connect rate the entire match and his strong performance forced this rematch.

Marquez is currently The Ring's number 2 contender at 130 pounds. He is also ranked by the magazine as the third best boxer, pound-for-pound, in the world. The Ring has Floyd Mayweather, Jr. listed as the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Many people say they want to end war. A Pacquiao boxing match actually does. On days Pacquiao boxes the communist and Muslim rebels, who are waging separate wars on the Catholic government declare an unofficial cease fire. That way troops on all sides can watch their national hero compete. Special arrangements are made so that soldiers in the most isolated areas of the country can see Pacquiao in action. Police are pulled off the street, so they can watch Pacquiao box. That does not cause crime to go up on these days, becausethe criminals are watching Pacquiao in the ring, too.

Not only is Pacquiao the biggest sports star in the Philippines, but he is the biggest music and movie star, also. He's had a hit single focusing on nationalistic themes.Pacquiao has appeared in numerous television shows and advertisements. The national hero has already starred in 5 motion pictures with several more scheduled. Pacquiao even used all of his fame to try and help people by running forcongress. He failed to win election, however. Following the defeat, Pacquiao cited that his fans did not want to see him box less due to his congressional responsibilities as a possible reason for the loss.

He is also, the top subject of tabloid gossip in the country. Even though,Pacquiao is married he is alleged to have been romantically involved with a co-star from one of his recent films.A waitress at a Manila nightclub recently filed a $250,000 paternity suit against the boxer. Pacquiao is rumored to be a heavy gambler sometimes betting around $100,000 at casinos, and on billiards andcockfighting. (Cockfighting is legal in the Philippines, and Louisiana). However, no one has captured Pacquiao doing any of these activities on a cell phone camera (unlike Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez). This has allowed Pacquiao to vigorously defend his reputation by filing a lawsuit seeking in excess of $500,000 from 4 newspaper reporters who wrote about Pacquiao's alleged habits. These lawsuits have helped to stem the tide of negative stories about Pacquiao and insure anything bad about him is prefaced by the word "allegedly".

Pacquiao's last match was his fifth successful defense of the WBC International Super Featherweight Championshipin a12-round unanimous decision blowout victory over Barrera on October 15, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay. That title is not at stake in this match, however. It appears Pacquiao has vacated the championship, because it is meaningless.

Pacquiao's training for that match was inconsistent at best. The native of the Philippines left Los Angeles where he was supposed to train, without telling his trainer Freddie Roach after showing up to training camp weeks late. The entire situation became a circus, which at one point saw Roach threaten to quit if Pacquiao did not hold serious closed workouts in the Philippines, where Pacquiao had forced Roach to relocate for training camp. However for this match, Pacquiao has relocated to Roach's gym in Los Angeles and appears to be having a focused closed training camp.are able to have only closed practices.

Pacquiao is The Ring's number 1 contender at 130 pounds. The Ring also ranks Pacquiao as the number second best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

At 27-years-old Pacquiao is more then 7 years younger then the 34-year-oldMarquez. Marquez has the height advantage standing 5' 7" tall, while Pacquiao stands 5' 6.5" tall. Pacquiao has the reach advantage with an arm length of 25" measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to Marquez, who has a 24" arm length measured the same way. Approaching match time, Pacquiao has unofficially gained 16 pounds after the weigh-ins and will have the weight advantage in the match at 145 pounds. Marquez has put on 11 pounds rehydrating and is up to 141 pounds. These numbers indicate Pacquiao may have stamina issues from draining himself to cut that much weight, especiallyfor alighter boxer (more then 13% of his total body weight). The champion will box out of the orthodox stance and the challenger will box out of the southpaw stance. According to hbo.com, Pacquiao was nearly a 2-to-1 betting favorite before the match.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. The referee is Kenny Bayless. On replays HBO displays the official judges' scores after every round. The official judges' scores will be listed after every round in this recap. However, in a break from form due to the controversial nature of this decision, HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman's scores willbe listed after every round, as will my own.

Marquez throws several good counter right hands to win round 1 on my scorecard, 10-9. All of the judges score round 1 for Pacquiao, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for Pacquiao, 10-9. According to CompuBox, Pacquiao out-landed Marquez 12 to 6 in round 1. However, it appeared Marquez landed the much harder punches. Pacquiao was winning round 2, but with less then 10 seconds to go in the round a Marquez combination nearly sends Pacquiao down to the canvas. Unfortunately for Marquez, the bell rang to end the round before he could rush to finish Pacquiao, who was stumbling away from him. A very close round 2, still probably goes to Pacquiao, 10-9. Based on that final 10 seconds, all of the judges score round 2 for Marquez, 10-9. Lederman scores round 2 for Marquez, 10-9. Marquez was winning the first 2 minutes of round 3, behind more effective counter punching that was making Pacquiao hesitate to throw his left hand, because he is anticipating Marquez' right counter.Then with 22 seconds to go in round 3, a left hand caps a combination of power punches from Pacquiao and Marquez falls hardto the canvas. Marquez' answers the referee's count and is allowed to continue with 8 seconds to go in the round.The championwas badly hurt on that knockdown. When Marquez fell, he fell stiff and hit very hard on the mat doing additional damage to his body. With under 5 seconds to go in the round, more punches from Pacquiao had Marquez stumbling back and grabbing for the ropes. On replay it appears that Marquez was able to stand on his own, but only using the ropes for additional balance. It was not and probably should not have been ruled a knockdown. However, it could be argued that it was a knockdown. Pacquiao wins round 3 on everyone's scorecard, 10-8. The national hero of the Philippines is winning the match on everyone's scorecard after 3 rounds, 29-27. After round 3, Marquez went to the wrong corner. He is in bad shape.

Pacquiao wins an exciting round 4, 10-9. All of the judges score round 4 for Pacquiao, 10-9. Lederman scores round 4 for Pacquiao, 10-9. Not a lot of action in round 5, but Marquez may have won it, 10-9. This Pacquiao issubstantially improved over the one who faced Barrera in October. Marquez wins round 5 on all of the judges' scorecards, 10-9. Through 5 rounds both boxers have landed 63 punches. Marquez takes round 6 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Starting round 6, there is some swelling outside of Pacquiao's left eye. Marquez wins round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, Pacquiao leads on my scorecard, 57-56. In round 6, Pacquiao seemed unwilling to throw his left hand appearing to believe it would be countered every time. This took away Pacquiao power punch and made the round easier for Marquez, becauseMarquez also saw Pacquiao's reluctance to throw the left hand. Pacquiao is making wind up motions with his left hand and then mentally checks himself to not throw it, realizing it will be countered. Pacquiao looks completely frustrated going back to his corner following round 6 with a full grasp of the situation. He cannot throw the left hand or it will be countered. If he does not throw the left hand, Marquez has nothing to worry about and can punch freely without worrying about a power punch coming back at him from Pacquiao. Somehow, Pacquiao won round 6 on 2 of the judges' scorecards, 10-9. The other judge scored it for Marquez, 10-9. Pacquiao is currently ahead on all of the judges' scorecards, 58-55, 58-55, 57-56. Lederman scores round 6 for Marquez, but has Pacquiao ahead in the match after 6 rounds, 57-56.

There have been numerous unintentional head clashes in this match, and inevitably an unintentionalclash of heads with 1:35 to go in round7 opens up a cut near the left eye of Marquez. The referee calls time with 1:28 to go in the round to have the doctor check the cut, and rule that the cut was caused by an accidental headbutt. The doctor says Marquez is fine to continue and the action is quickly restarted. Pacquiao wins a very close round 7, 10-9. All of the judges score round 7 for Marquez, 10-9. Lederman scores round 7 for Pacquiao, 10-9. A punch early in round 8 opens up a cut around theright eye of Pacquiao and it appears to be effecting his vision. The cut on near Pacquiao's eye was caused by a punch, and it is bad. It is dripping a lot of blood directly into his eye. It is likely Pacquiao cannot see out of his right eye. Worrying about the cut, is also drawing Pacquiao's focus away from Marquez.On color commentary for HBO Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward compares Pacquiao's cut to the cut Juan Diaz sustained a few weeks ago that was a key factor in Diaz' loss toNate Campbell. Marquez dominates round 8, and wins it easily, 10-9. Thechampion has quickly changed his strategy from focusing on counter right hands to using left hands to target Pacquiao's injured eye or at least target all of his offense at Pacquiao's right side where he cannot see the punches coming. Marquez wins round 8 on all of the judges' scorecards, 10-9. In round 8, Marquez landed 21 total punches. In contrast, during round 8 Pacquiao landed only 5 total punches. Lederman scores round 8 for Marquez, 10-9. With 25 seconds to go in round 9, the referee calls time to have the doctor check the cut near Marquez' right eye, which is getting worse. Pacquiao's cutman did an amazing job and his cut stopped bleeding in between rounds and was only slightly reopened by the targeted punches of Marquez in the middle of round 9. The doctor rules Marquez can continue, but the referee needs to keep an eye on the cut. This is actually a second cut that has been opened near the right eye of Marquez by a Pacquiao left hand. Marquez may have barely won round 9, 10-9. After 9 rounds, my scorecard has the match a draw, 85-85. Two of the judges score round 9 for Pacquiao, 10-9, while the other scores it for Marquez, 10-9. After 9 rounds the judges have the match scored as a split decision for Pacquiao, 86-84, 86-84, 84-86. Lederman scores round 9 for Pacquiao, 10-9, and has Pacquiao ahead in the match, 86-84.

Pacquiao wins round 10 solidly, 10-9. All of the judges score round 10 for Pacquiao, 10-9. Lederman also scores round 10 for Pacquiao, 10-9. With 2:12 to go in round 11, Marquez catches Pacquiao with a right hook below the belt. The referee warns Marquez, and Pacquiao asks for time to recover. With 2:07 to go in the round the referee stops the clock and begins the 5 minute injury clock for Pacquiao. Pacquiao uses less then 1 minute and the match is resumed. Very close round 11 that Marquez may have won, 10-9. Marquez wins round 11 on all of the judges' scorecards, 10-9. Lederman scores round 11 for Marquez, 10-9. Following round 11, the cut above Marquez'right eye is disgusting. The cut has been opened wide, and under normal circumstances it would probably cause a match to be stopped. Marquez wins round 12, 10-9, and wins the match on my scorecard, 114-113.

The official decision read by Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored the match: 115-112 for Marquez, 115-112 for Pacquiao, and 114-113 for the winner by split decision and new Champion, Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao. The win moves Pacquiao to 45-3-2, with 35 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punch stat numbers have Pacquiao landing 157 of the 169 total punches he threw. The new champion landed 114 of the 305 power punches he threw. Marquez landed 172 of the 511 total punches he threw. Theformer championlanded 130 of the 210 power punches he threw.

This win makes Pacquiao the ninth boxer in history to hold a major championship at 4 different weight classes. This is scheduled to be Pacquiao's last match at 130 pounds. He is signed to face David Diaz, who is considered in boxing circles to be the lesser of the 3 Diaz' at 135 pounds. However,David holds the only major physical title at 135 pounds, not held by Nate Campbell. (Casamayor is The Ring Champion at 135 pounds, but it does not come with a physical strip of leather to wear to bed.) That match had been scheduled for June 21 in Macao, China. However, it is now going to be June 28 at the Mandalay Bay on PPV. After facing Diaz, Pacquiao will have a host of options. There is a clamor for a third match between he and Marquez. Pacquiao could also go after Campbell's titles or Casamayor's championship.

Following the loss Marquez was elevated to the rank of The Ring's number 1 contender at 130. After the match, Max Kellerman made the argument for HBO that Marquez should probably have a perfect record.Marquez probably should have won this match.Heprobably should have gotten the win instead of a draw in his first match with Pacquiao. The decisionMarquez lost in Indonesia was embarrassing for the sport. Marquez lost to Freddie Norwood on September 11, 1999 in another reported bad decision. The Mexico City native's only other loss is the disqualification in his first match. That disqualification came in round 1, and can easily be discounted.Marquez should historically go down as one of the great lighter weight boxers of his era. It is likely that combined with his brother Rafael they compose the greatest brother-brother tandem in history.

Neither boxers' ranking changed in The Ring's pound-for-pound rankings following this match. This match is very good and worth finding. However, this is not the match of the year. Israel Vazquez-Marquez III was a much better match, and it is not close.