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By Eddie G. Alinea Contributor
ON May 8, 2004, then world
featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and Filipino challenger
Manny Pacquiao fought in a bloody 12-round match to decide who will
be crowned the undisputed 126-pound pound kingpin in the universe.
On Saturday (Sunday in Manila),
the two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world will have
to do it again what is a more brutal and hellacious duel, this time
with the Mexican’s unified super featherweight crown at stake as
the first fight four years ago ended in a split draw.
Pacquiao, “PacMan” to the
boxing world, and Marquez, the “Mexican Dynamite,” went separate
ways after that encounter with the Filipino idol beating a pair of
Mexican icons—Eric Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera—as a couple
of campaigners from that country to earn the sobriquet, among other
names, “Mexican Executioner.”
Marquez, for his part, climbed to
the 130-pound division and won the World Boxing Council half of the
crown at the expense of Barrera himself.
No serious animosity existed
though between the two fighters despite claims by each that either
won that fight.
In February of 2005, a collision
between the two was scheduled to, once and for all, settle the
“Unfinished Business” left by the draw decision. Pacquiao even
had a tune up bout with by the end of 2004.
That did not materialize though
when Marquez’s trainer-manager Nacho Beristain demanded prize
money that Top Rank couldn’t produce. The there was this
promotional war between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions on which
outfit would handle Pacquiao’s fights.
That victory over Barrera,
meanwhile, earned for Marquez the recognition he failed to get even
when he was the reigning International Boxing Federation and World
Boxing Association featherweight titleholder.
Why, Marquez camp even claimed
that Pacquiao, who was nominated for the “Boxer of the Year”
honor for his wins against Morales and Barrera, was running away
from the super featherweight champ.
With Pacquiao maintaining his
place in the world boxing hierarchy and Marquez finally gaining the
recognition he had along searched for, plus the agreeable purse the
two are entitled to receive, the stage was set for the two most
revered fighters to settle the “Unfinished Business” left
undecided four years ago.
For Pacquiao, Saturday’s fight
would be the culmination of his camp’s plan to dominate three of
the greatest fighters in his division. Morales is gone and so is
Barrera. Marquez is the last man standing on his way to fully earn
the reputation as “Mexico’s Public Enemy Numero Uno.”
For Barrera, Saturday’s fight
is one he shouldn’t lose if only to avenge compatriots’ Morales
and Barrera’s and a couple of other Mexicans’ setback suffered
at the hands of Pacquiao.
“There isn’t another fight I
have wanted as much as this one,” Marquez blurted out the moment
the Marquez-Pacquiao fight was officially announced. “I won our
first fight. He won the first round and I won the next 11. He’s
avoided me for four years.”
“He keeps on saying he’s the
“Mexican Executioner” but he isn’t because he hasn’t beaten
me and he won’t beat me. I’m going to finish the job I started
in 2004 and show everyone why I am a champion today,” he declared.
Pacquiao, every time he is
interviewed, in contrast, heaped praises on Marquez, repeatedly
saying “I have a lot of respect for Juan Manuel Marquez and his
accomplishments as a boxer. He was a worthy opponent the first time
we fought and he showed a true champion’s heart to come back and
stay in the fight after I knocked him down three times in the first
round.”
“He should be reminded though
that it was one of the judge’s scoring that allowed him to keep
his title that night,” he told Filipino sportswriters in one of
his meetings with them in reference to judge Burt Clements’
scoring the first round 10-7 in favor of Pacquiao instead of 10-6
like the other judges who gave premium to his three knockdowns.
For the two of them, Saturday’s
grudge rematch would put an end to a four-year waiting to determine
who between them is the best super featherweight fighter in history.
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