Marquez knocks out Pacquiao in 6th
The country, still reeling from the devastation caused by Typhoon Pablo (international codename: Bopha), suffered another shocker when national boxing icon, Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao, lost to his nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez via a sixth round knockout in Las Vegas on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

The Philippines reacted with shock and sadness after Marquez sent down Pacquiao face first to the canvas with a right hand with one second left of the round to win their welterweight fight—their fourth meeting.

In the fighter’s hometown of General Santos City, in the southern Philippines, where the fight was broadcast live in several public stadiums, shocked viewers reacted with stunned silence after Pacquiao fell in the sixth round before a raucous 16,000-strong crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“We were all silent because we were unsure what happened. He was unconscious for so long,” said businessman Jun Bayonico, 51, who watched the fight live with friends and relatives.

“For so many years, he was our idol. We were saddened by what happened but maybe this is a sign he should retire. It would have been better if he retired as a winner,” he added.

A stunning end
The 39-year-old Marquez, who suffered a broken nose and possible concussion, knocked out Pacquiao with a solid right straight to the jaw just before the end of the sixth round in a stunning end to a ferocious fight Saturday night to end their fourth fight.

The sudden end came at two minutes 59 seconds of the round when Pacquiao walked into a counter right hand that flattened him face down near the ropes and in his own corner.

Both fighters were trading heavy punches in the sixth round and Pacquiao appeared to be getting the better of the exchanges until he walked into the perfectly timed counter right hand.

“I got him with a perfect punch,” Marquez said through an interpreter in the post fight interview. “I knew he was trying to go for a knockout but I was ready.”

The shocking ending stunned the crowd of 16,348 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as Marquez had held his own in their first three fights but had never even knocked down Pacquiao until Saturday night.

The supremely conditioned Marquez decked Pacquiao midway in the third round with a right cross to the head but Pacquiao scored a knockdown of his own in the fifth with a left straight.

Pacquiao, who appeared to regain control of the fight, said that he was hit by a “solid punch” he did not see.

Pacquiao was leading 47-46 on all three score cards after the fifth round. He said that he would like to fight Marquez again.

“I thought I was getting him in the last couple of rounds but I got careless and got hit by a solid punch,” Pacquiao said. “I never expected that punch.”

Pacquiao landed under the ropes and lay there for a couple of minutes before being helped up and back to his corner. It was the worst beating for the Filipino icon, a former 10-time world champion in eight different world classes.

Compubox punching statistics underscored the ferocity of the bout, with Pacquiao landing 94 of 256 punches compared to 52 of 246 by Marquez.

But in the end, it was the one big right hand from Marquez that mattered most, knocking Pacquiao cold with a vicious punch smack in the mouth.

“He was in charge,” Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach said. “He just got a little too careless and got hit with a punch he didn’t see.”

A fifth fight or retirement?
Promoter Bob Arum suggested a fifth fight between the two boxers.

Pacquiao did not attend the post-fight press conference and was taken to the University
Medical Center for check up as a precaution.

Roach said that he would like to see Pacquiao work in the gym before allowing him to fight again.

“It really depends upon how he feels and what he wants to do. We’ll get back in the gym and if I see signs of decline, I’ll tell him to retire,” Roach said. “If I don’t, I’ll tell him to go on.”

Pacquiao dismissed talk of retirement, saying that he would like to fight Marquez again.

“I am going to rest and come back to fight. I would go for a fifth,” he said.

Marquez said that he is not thinking about a rematch at the moment.

“I think this fight was one of my best victories absolutely,” Marquez said. “Right now in my future I don’t know what is coming.”

All-out ‘war’ in the ring
Pacquiao, who was a three-to-one favorite on Friday, dropped to 54-5-2 with 38 knockouts. Pacquiao weighed in at the division’s 147-pound limit (66.67kg); while Marquez, who improved to 55-6-1 with 40 knockouts, stepped on the scale at 143 pounds (64.86kg).

The fighters set a blistering pace, making it look unlikely this fight would go the distance as their three previous fights had.

“He is not an easy opponent,” Pacquiao said. “I was just starting to feel confident and then I got careless.”

Pacquiao was eager to redeem himself after suffering a controversial defeat in his most recent fight to Tim Bradley. He was also tired of Marquez blaming his failure to win in their three previous fights on biased judging.

Marquez claimed that he won all three earlier fights—although two were scored in favor of Pacquiao and one ended in a draw.

This time, four-division champion Marquez left no doubt, showing he was willing to go toe-to-toe with Pacquiao even after getting knocked down in the fifth round.

Pacquiao came out attacking from the opening bell throwing lefts over the top of Marquez’s gloves. By the time the sixth round started Marquez looked a bloody mess, bleeding from a gash over his nose and from the mouth.

Both the third and fourth rounds ended with the boxers slugging it out in the center of the ring in a fight that at times resembled more of a wild street brawl.

Spectators got their money’s worth as the fight more than lived up to its pre-fight hype.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney sat in the front row to watch the fight. Romney was a guest of Nevada Boxing Chairman Bill Brady. Romney also chatted at ringside with NBA star Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers and rapper Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson.

Magic Johnson, Steven Seagal and Mike Tyson were also watching the fight at ringside.

Much of the pre-fight buzz centered around the judging after Marquez claimed that he had been cheated out of previous wins.

In the end, Marquez took matters into his own hands making sure that referee Kenny Bayless and the three judges—Adalaide Byrd, Steve Weisfeld and John Keane—weren’t going to decide it.

WITH REPORTS FROM AFP, CATHERINE S. VALENTE, RITCHIE A. HORARIO AND WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL