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By Conrad M. Cariño, Senior Desk Editor
THE sporting world has a lot of sore losers, and
dethroned World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight champion
Juan Manuel Marquez is one of them.
Just after Manny Pacquiao was awarded the WBC
belt after their March 15 fight, Marquez began sounding like a
sore loser, insisting he won the fight. He also had the gall to
claim that he won their first fight, even if he hit the deck three
times.
Even if Pacquiao stated that he never thought of
surrendering to Marquez when things got very tough, it would be
ill-advised for the Filipino at this point to engage Marquez in
another 130-lb championship fight just for the sake of the fans or
money.
Besides, Pacquiao’s “dodging” Marquez
won’t diminish the Filipino’s stock, especially if he goes on to
campaign in the 135-lb division where WBC lightweight champion Juan
Diaz eagerly awaits him.
There are a few obvious things in Pacquiao’s
latest fight against Marquez that will make a third match dangerous
for the Filipino:
• Marquez has fully adjusted at super
featherweight, while some of the vitality of Pacquiao is
“sapped” at that weight.
• Marquez has already mastered Pacquiao’s
style, while the Filipino still needs a lot of polishing in
counterpunching.
If Pacquiao takes on Marquez again, it would be
like Muhammad Ali taking on Joe Frazier for the third time: the
fight will be very tough and the aftermath of the fight will affect
the long-term vitality of both.
Marquez has nothing to lose if a third fight
will leave him sapped of this vitality for future fights, because he
is nearing retirement age. But that could be tragic for Pacquiao,
since he still has a destiny to fulfill at lightweight or even at
super lightweight.
History will actually show that the “Thrilla
in Manila” was terrific for the sport, but tragic for Ali and
Frazier. Frazier retired later, and Ali never regained his deadly
form.
For Pacquiao’s handlers, the choices are very
clear: risk the long-term physical vitality of their fighter in a
third bout with Marquez, and get the big paycheck immediately; or go
for the more known opponents, like Diaz and possibly Ricky Hatton,
and earn more bucks later.
Besides, even the greatest fighters in boxing
history “dodged” opponents whom they had a hard time with, or
never fought at all. Even George Foreman admitted to dodging Jerry
Quarry, a certified hard hitter. And how come there was never an
Ali-Foreman II? Or why did a fight between Frazier and Ernie shavers
never transpired? And how come Marquez never dared to battle Erik
Morales at the latter’s prime?
At this point, it is safe to say that Marquez
may never be destined for boxing’s Hall of Fame, while Pacquiao is
quite a sure bet, having beaten convincingly marquee fighters like
Ledwaba, Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, all in their primes.
Marquez may need to beat Pacquiao convincingly
to be a candidate for boxing’s Hall of Fame. The Filipino does not
need to beat Marquez convincingly to do that. It’s that simple. So
forget a Pacquiao-Marquez III.
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