Rafael and Malignaggi pick Marquez to beat Pacquiao tonight

12/08/201212/08/2012 ESB

By Steve Mabbott: Dan Rafael of ESPN and WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi see Juan Manuel Marquez beating Manny Pacquiao tonight in their fourth fight together. Rafael sees it as a law of averages type of thing, whereas Malignaggi believes that Marquez will win a fight decision.

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Mayweather Sr. not interested in Pacquiao-Marquez 4 bout

12/09/201212/08/2012 ESB

By Bill Phanco: Floyd Mayweather Sr. doesn’t have a whole lot of interest in tonight’s clash between Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) and Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s), because he says he’s seen too many fights between them in the past where the wrong fighter got his hand raised after the fight.

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Boxing Losers v. Winners

09/15/201612/08/2012 ESB

Boxing Losers v. Winners By “Old Yank” Schneider

Sentimentalism Defined:

The bloom is off the rose. We all saw it coming with Freddie Roach “wishing” his way to win after win with Amir Kahn. But one more win was not in the cards. Roach fighters would continue to lose. Senshenko…Chavez, Jr….Pacquaio. Wilting in boxing is uglier than it is in any other sport because of the utter sense of downer that follows. There are no other team members to pick you up. When the wilting begins only the solo bloom is there, losing its petals, in what seems a one-act play following an often brilliant career; the soliloquy spoken to an audience that has painfully, quietly and sadly if not pitifully already left the theater. Losing it at the end of a career in boxing is the ultimate solo performance — this rose by any other name does not smell sweet.

The fans are already leaving. We know it to be true. It is the legacy of the old ushering in the new — especially so when all the others have gone — evidenced by them playing their hedging comments out in the blogosphere before the bout has even begun.

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Marquez wants to KO Pacquiao to remove the judges from the equation

09/15/201612/07/2012 ESB

Marquez wants to KO Pacquiao to remove the judges from the equation By Bill Phanco: Former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) will be looking to knock Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) clean out on Saturday in their fourth fight between them. Marquez, 39, wants to take the judges completely out of their position of being able to sit as the decider in this fight by knocking Pacquiao and making sure that he won’t be on the receiving end of another controversial decision like in the past three fights.

Speaking with the BBC Sport, Marquez said “I am looking for the knockout. I have trained really hard, and I feel ready. I am looking for the knockout because the judge gave another [bad decision in last Pacquiao fight].”
Marquez has got the body and the strength now to accomplish his goal. He looks even more muscular than in his last fight against Pacquiao, and in that fight Marquez looked powerful.

If Marquez’s extra muscles equate to more power than Pacquiao could be in for a brutal beating tomorrow night because he and his trainer Freddie Roach have already said that they’re going to take the fight to Marquez to try and overwhelm him with punches. Roach seems to believe that the answer to beating guys like Marquez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is to try and overwhelm their defenses.

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Pacquiao expecting Marquez to be a stationary

09/15/201612/07/2012 ESB

Pacquiao expecting Marquez to be a stationary By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao has a perfect explanation for why he’s not looked good since his win over Miguel Cotto in 2009. He says it’s because all of his opponents have been literally running from him in the ring instead of standing stationary and slugging it out in an old fashioned style of fighting that Pacquiao favors.

Pacquiao thinks that his opponent for Saturday night Juan Manuel Marquez will look to slug it out the entire time so that they can giving boxing fans a show that will please them, and at the same time finally prove who the better fighter is between them.

Pacquiao said to Sky Sports News “It just happens that in the last three fights I’ve fought people who run around, who won’t fight me toe-to-toe. I expect more action…I’m expecting him [Marquez] to try to prove something and fight toe-to-toe with me.”

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Pacquiao with four pound weight advantage over Marquez

09/15/201612/07/2012 ESB

Pacquiao with four pound weight advantage over Marquez By Steve Mabbott: Juan Manuel Marquez had looked huge during his training video on the HBO Pacquiao-Marquez 24/7 episodes, but during today’s weigh-in for Saturday’s Las Vegas based fight, Marquez weighed in at only 143 lbs, a whole four pounds lighter than the 147 pound Manny Pacquiao.

This is interesting because unless Marquez rehydrates to a much higher weight, we’re likely to see Pacquiao as the bigger guy tomorrow night. It sort of makes a lot of sense because Marquez walks around at 145 lbs in between fights, and he has to eat like crazy just to stay up in weight. He’s a light welterweight, and Pacquiao is now a natural welterweight.

The last time Pacquiao fought Marquez in November of last year, Pacquiao had a one pound advantage in weight at 143 to 142 for Marquez. In their 2008 fight, Marquez had a one pound weight advantage at 130 to 129 for Pacquiao. And in their first fight in 2004, both fighters came in at 125 lbs.

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Official weights: Pacquiao 147, Marquez 143

09/15/201612/07/2012 ESB

Official weights: Pacquiao 147, Marquez 143 By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) made weight today for his bout tomorrow night against Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Surprisingly, Pacquiao weighed in 4 more than Marquez. Pacquiao weighed in at 147 pounds, while Marquez weighed 143 lbs. Marquez looked bigger than Pacquiao despite being four pounds lighter, but much of Marquez’s weight was in his upper body.

Pacquiao is the favorite in this fight with the oddsmakers, you have to ignore them and focus on who has been looking like the better fighter of late. That would have to be Marquez. He arguably beat Pacquiao last year in November, and then followed it up with a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision win over a very defensive minded Serhiy Fedchenko last April.

Marquez may not have looked as good he normally does, but he was facing someone that was running away each time he would even hint at throwing a punch in Fedchenko. Pacquiao looked poor against Marquez and then looked even worse in his loss last June to Tim Bradley. Boxing fans as whole saw Pacquiao as the winner of that fight, but he still looked bad in that fight, and nothing like what he once did in his prime.

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Harold Lederman: “Expect Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez to go all out in part four”

09/15/201612/07/2012 ESB

Harold Lederman: “Expect Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez to go all out in part four” By Joseph Herron – On the eve of the monumental fourth meeting between two future Hall of Fame fighters, Manny Pacquaio and Juan Manuel Marquez, HBO’s unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman chimed in on what fight fans should expect to see when these ring legends collide at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“One variable that’s worth noting when you look at the fourth installment of the Pacquiao/Marquez saga is that two of the three ringside judges will be from outside of Nevada,” observes Harold Lederman. “I screamed and yelled that Juan Manuel Marquez is entitled to have all three judges flown in from other locations, but they’re using Adalaide Byrd as the lone Nevada state judge.”

“But one of the judges will be from Great Britain, and the other will be flown in from New Jersey, so we’ll see what happens. But at least we don’t have three Nevada state judges this time for a fight of this magnitude. Maybe they’ll see it differently, because my gut tells me that it’s going twelve rounds once again.”

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Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV – Hold That Thought

09/15/201612/06/2012 ESB

Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV - Hold That Thought By Marc Livitz: Rest assured and let there be no confusion in regards to the highly anticipated yet not totally appreciated mega fight which is set to take place this Saturday evening at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. There will be a Pacquiao versus Marquez V. And VI, VII, VIII and so on. While this idea is likely to be nothing more than figurative, the bickering amongst the dedicated faithful of the respective sides are likely to verbally squabble for many years to come. Manny Pacquiao believes he won and Juan Manuel Marquez knows that he won.

Of course, there’s been three superbly contested matches between the two combatants since 2004, yet the razor thin margins which have separated the incendiary results have less to do with the actual outcome than they do with the acknowledgement that popular culture found its way into the pugilistic mindset.

Consider this: The Nevada Athletic Commission easily makes available the totals and figures tallied at boxing events staged within its borders. Without looking, most boxing fans are well aware that the May 2007 bout between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr was the most lucrative night for the fighting sport. Of the three contests staged between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, only the third one, which took place in November of last year even cracks the top 30. However, marketing strategists and eager promotional posses often make the most serendipitous of bedfellows.

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Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez IV: Preview & Prediction

09/15/201612/06/2012 Geoffrey Ciani

by Geoffrey Ciani – When Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) squares off against Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KOs) for a fourth time this Saturday, boxing fans already have a fairly good idea of what to expect. After all, even though Pacquiao officially has two victories and a draw against Marquez, these two have essentially battled to a stalemate after thirty-six rounds of action. If their past three encounters are any indication, there is little reason to believe things will unfold much differently in this fourth installment. The natural order of these clashing styles seemingly demands a fierce and competitive contest, and there is a strong likelihood this will yet again prove true on Saturday.

The big question going into this bout is what, if anything, can either man do differently in order to secure a decisive victory? All of the previous matchups between Pacquiao and Marquez concluded with varying degrees of dissenting voices and perceived controversies, but this comes with the territory of pitting evenly matched combatants against each other, especially when they exhibit a vastly different set of skills and strengths. Is it realistic to believe that either boxer can make a significant adjustment that enables him to finally seize command? It appears unlikely, but the thing about boxing is that anything can happen when two men enter the squared circle. Even though Pacquiao and Marquez have surely each presented the other with his full bag of tricks, many times over by now, it is still possible that a subtle change in tactics can sometimes render amazing results.

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