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LAS VEGAS: Manny Pacquiao captured the World Boxing Council (WBC)
super featherweight crown,
dethroning Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez with a
12-round split decision victory.
In a rematch Saturday (Sunday in Manila) of a
2004 slugfest that ended in a draw, one judge gave Marquez a 115-112
decision, while another saw Pacquiao the winner by the same margin.
The third judge gave the bout to the Asian star, 114-113.
The difference in a bout when both men were
bloodied but traded hard punches to the finish proved to be a
third-round knockdown inflicted by Pacquiao, who improved to 46-3
with two draws.
“I did my best. I’m happy because I won,”
Pacquiao said. “Marquez is a really hard opponent. I expected the
fight was going to be hard. He moved fast. He had head movement and
more counterpunches.”
Marquez, who fell to 48-4, said he felt robbed
by the decision.
“I thought I won. The decision wasn’t
correct,” Marquez said. “I haven’t lost anything at all. The
people know who really won the fight. Decisions like this are
disturbing. I believe I won the fight.”
Pacquiao said, “I think I won the fight.”
He is expected to move up to the lightweight
division and challenge US fighter David Diaz, the WBC lightweight
champion who improved to 34-1-1 with a majority decision win over
Mexican Ramon Montano in a non-title undercard bout.
“We have a plan to fight at 135 pounds, but
it’s not yet fixed,” Pacquiao said.
He was expected to receive nearly $5 million
from the pay-per-view battle with Marquez taking home about $1.5
million.
Pacquiao knocked down Marquez three times in the
first round of their first meeting, but the Mexican collected
himself and rallied for a draw as one judge scored the bout for each
fighter and the third saw the bout as a draw.
The rematch began cautiously. Pacquiao landed a
hard left and the evasive Marquez a solid right to the chin in a
tactical first round. Marquez then tagged Pacquiao with a hard
left to the chin late in the second round.
But aggressive Pacquiao struck late in round
three, firing a hard left hand to the chin with 20 seconds
remaining. The Asian superstar staggered Marquez’s knees again
just as the bell sounded to end the round.
“Our number one plan for training was the left
hook. I was lucky enough to hit it in that round,” Pacquiao said.
With impressive upper body motion and footwork
as well as powerful punches, Pacquiao continued to attack. Marquez
answered by slowing the pace and working his right hand, often
keeping the challenger at bay with counter-punches.
“We pressed, and we hurt him three, four, five
times,” Marquez said. “Like in 2004, it’s not just one
round.”
An accidental head-butt midway into the seventh
round opened a bloody cut over the right eye of Marquez and seconds
later Pacquiao pressed the attack with a furious flurry.
“It didn’t affect me,” Marquez claimed.
Pacquiao also received a cut above his right eye
and Marquez opened it into a wide bleeding gash with punches early
in the eighth round, trickling blood interfering with Pacquiao and
allowing Marquez to dominate the round.
“The cut, it really bothered me. I couldn’t
see out of my right eye,” said Pacquiao. “That’s why I was so
bothered. That’s why I couldn’t cover myself.”
He opened another cut above Marquez’s right
eye in a tight ninth round and began the 10th with a hard left to
the body in a hard flurry, then reopened the gash above Marquez’s
eye while protecting his own cut.
The final round began tentatively but led to
solid exchanges between the bloodied battlers in the last seconds,
trading blows to the final bell that prompted each fighter to raise
his hands in victory.
Pacquiao, 29, won his seventh fight in a row and
improved to 20-1 since 1999, his lone loss a 2005 decision to
Mexican Erik Morales. Marquez, 34, has lost only twice in that span,
the other time in 2006 to Indonesian Chris John.
-- AFP
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