|
By Eddie G. Alinea, Contributor
TWO days after their classic rubber-match, the
debate on who really won in the Manuel Marquez-Manny Pacquiao World
Boxing Council super-featherweight title fight continued with each
camp claiming victory over the other.
This, despite official results awarding the
12-round fight via a split decision to the Filipino ring icon, who
wrested the crown from the erstwhile Mexican titlist and, in the
process, becoming the first Filipino and the region to win a third
championship in as many weight divisions.
Pacquiao’s camp, of course, defended the 2-1,
three judges verdict short of saying that the victory should have
been a unanimous one, while that of Marquez contested it, saying he
inflicted more damage than the Filipino did.
Neither Pacquiao nor Marquez can be faulted for
their respective claims, for, indeed, the encounter, their second
after a split decision draw nearly four years ago, could have gone
either way.
While Pacquiao earned the nods of judges Duane
Ford, 115-112, and Tom Miller, 114-113, on the strength of sending
Marquez on the seat of his pants in the third round, the CompuBox
statistics supported the dethroned champ’s assertion that the
decision should have been in his favor.
Marquez, for instance, might have thrown 108
fewer punches 511 to Pacquiao’s 619, but he hit his target 15 more
times, 172-157. The 34-year-old native of Mexico City, also had the
edge in power punches thrown, 310-305, hitting his target 16 times
more than the new champ, 130-114.
The only department where the “PacMan”
emerged the winner was in the jabs connected, 43-42, although he had
to throw 314 as against only 201 by the “Dynamite” for a
difference of 113.
No judge based his scoring on who connected more
on a round-by-round basis, but had Ford and company did, Pacquiao
would have come out ahead, 6-5-1 that would have merited a hairline
115-114 victory just the same.
Incidentally, had the round-by-round connection
was used as basis; the third would have been even. Had an extra
point been awarded to Pacquiao, he would have won, 115-113.
Pacquiao connected with more blows in the first
(12-6), fourth (19-14), sixth (16-15), ninth (13-12), 10th (17-15)
and 11th (16-12), while Marquez had the advantage in the second
(18-9), fifth (12-10), seventh (15-12), eighth (21-5) and 12th
(19-15).
Meaning Pacquiao won his rounds by a combined 19
landed punches or an average edge of 3.17 punches per round, while
Marquez won his by a combined 34 6.8 advantage per round.
Meaning, too, that
the Dynamite won his rounds bigger than the PacMan did his. And
because judges based their decisions on clean punching and damage
inflicted, Marquez would have won on purely numerical standpoint.
Speaking of damage done, Marquez appeared to
have inflicted more by winning the second (12-9), fifth (10-4),
sixth (14-13), seventh (12-89), eighth (15-5) and 12th (15-10) with
Pacquiao emerging on top in the first (8-4), third (9-7), fourth
13-9), ninth (11-9) and 11th (11-10). The 10th round was even.
So after 24 rounds and with Pacquiao emerging as
the winner in the last 12, the question as to who is the better
fighter between the two combatants still hangs in the balance.
|
