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FILIPINO and foreign boxing analysts have mixed views on what will be tempo of the much-anticipated rubber match between Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez and Filipino boxing icon Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao.

But they agreed on one thing: Pacquiao won’t be kissing the canvass temporarily or for the 10-count.

Marquez, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Association lightweight champion, is in Manila for the promotional tour of his November 12 welterweight title fight against Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao, the reigning the WBO welterweight champion, has a record of 55 wins, three losses and two draws with 38 knockouts while Marquez totes a card of 55 wins, three losses and two draws with 38 knockouts.

Filipino boxing expert and trainer Erwin Tagle and former world champion Gerry Peñalosa both believe that Pacquiao still has the edge over the Mexican.

Tagle, 32, also a boxing and mixed martial arts trainer and practitioner, told The Manila Times that Marquez should not be underestimated since the Mexican has the edge in the technical department.
“In terms of technicality [in boxing skills], Marquez is ahead,” he said.

“But I’m sure the technical aspect won’t able to match Pacquiao’s superb punching power and speed. So in the end of the fight, I’m expecting Pacquiao to be the last man standing,” Tagle added.
But the boxing expert did not predict what round Pacquiao would win.

“Marquez is very determined, he’s absolutely very hungry. So he’ll do his best to match up Pacquiao, but Pacquiao’s conditioning and strength are really far from Marquez,” Tagle said.

The 38-year-old Peñalosa, who comes from a well-known family of boxers from San Carlos, Negros Occidental, and who has his own boxing promotion outfit, predicted that Marquez won’t last three to four rounds.

“Marquez becomes slow when he climbed up to welterweight, so it would be definitely hard for him,” said Penalosa while asking how many times Pacquiao knocked Marquez down in their two fights.
“Manny was able to retain his speed and power even he went up in weight classes,” he said.

Rich Thomas, a boxing expert who has worked in several gyms in Kentucky, Washington D.C. and Thailand for more than 20 years, wrote in his personal blog at proboxing-fans.com on Friday that Marquez could survive the fight but Pacquiao would win via 12-round unanimous decision.

Pacquiao’s tremendous speed, he said, would give Marquez problems in connecting against the Filipino although the Mexican could try winning a few rounds and may even last 12 rounds.

The question is how long can Marquez last in the ring with Pacquiao?

“Even so, I can’t see a just-past-his-prime Marquez prevailing over Pacquiao at his peak,” Thomas, also a long-time boxing writer, said.

“The King of Mexican Boxing will win rounds and score wicked blows, and one or two judges might even see the fight as close…yet viewed as a whole, the bout will see Pacquiao’s gale-force momentum carrying him to a decisive victory,” he added.

But the 90-year-old Angelo Dundee, who worked with 16 world champions, among them Muhammad

Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Carmen Basilio, George Foreman and Willie Pastrano, thinks otherwise.

“Marquez will give Pacquiao a tough fight every day that they’re alive. Another tough fight, like I said,” he told RingTV.com.

“Probably Pacquiao’s toughest fight, because Marquez is a guy who knows how to fight him. Decision, split [for] Marquez,” Dundee added.

Faceoff
Marquez and Pacquiao will make their face off today at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila,
Manila Police District Director, Chief Supt. Roberto Rongavilla, said also on Friday that 1,000 policemen will be deployed as early as 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. The face-off is expected to start at 2:30 p.m.

He added that the 1,000 policemen, which include members from the Special Weapons and Tactics or SWAT and Civil Disturbance Management units, will be on heightened alert for the anticipated face off.

Rongavilla said that thousand fans of Pacquiao and Marquez are expected to flock to the Quirino Grandstand on Saturday.

The police has advised the public to take precautions against snatchers and petty thieves, who are expected to exploit the event to ply their illegal trade.

While riots are rare in face offs between boxing protagonists, hell can break loose when it happens. One good example is the face off between then world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins and challenger Felix Trinidad of Puerto Rico for their September 29, 2001 title fight in New York City.

In the promotional leg at San Juan, Puerto Rico, Hopkins grabbed the Puerto Rican flag that Trinidad was waving and stepped on it twice, triggering a riot among the fans attending the face off. Hopkins had to be whisked off to safety from the angry mob.

Pacquiao and Marquez fought for the first time on May 8, 2004, which ended in a controversial draw.

In their rematch on March 15, 2008, Pacquiao got away with a split decision victory over Marquez. In those two fights, Marquez was knocked down a total of four times but was able to regain his composure to punish the Filipino boxing icon with some of his best shots while absorbing the explosive haymakers of Pacquiao.

With Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz