With just two days before their Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) fight, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao remains the strong favorite to beat his Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez among fellow boxers, trainers and sportswriters.

A poll by RingTV.com among boxing experts showed 18 of 27 choosing Pacquiao to keep his unbeaten streak against Marquez, the only elite fighter to give Pacman fits in three very close and controversial fights.

Nine of those polled by RingTV’s Lem Satterfield picked the 39-year-old Marquez to score what could be the biggest win against Pacquiao, who remains on top of most Top 10 best fighters, pound-for-pound.

The 2-1 Pacquiao edge among boxing experts reflects the 3-1 odds in his favor among Las Vegas bookmakers, including MGM Grand Hotel, which willhost the fourth edition of the greatest ring rivalry in the world today.

Pacquiao, who turns 34 on December 17, looked leaner but sharp compared to Marquez who is coming to the fight bigger and muscled, the result of at least months of rigorous training for Saturday’s fight.

The Pinoy icon drew his first fight with Marquez, won the second by split decision and the third via majority decision in November 2011.

Significantly, three of four boxers polled—World Boxing Council lightweight champ Adrien Broner, former bantamweight titlist Richie Sandoval and boxer Tommy Rainone—picked Pacquiao because of his speed and punching power.

“Manny Pacquiao’s going to win . . . it won’t be because of the judges, he’s just going to beat him,” said Broner.

Sandoval thinks that with Pacquiao’s punching power, a single punch could change the tempo of the fight or even win it outright for Pacman.

“My assessment is that Manny is the stronger puncher of the two and the way that I always look at it, if you’ve got that kind of power, along with some swagger and mojo going, you should be able to do it again,” Sandoval said.

But reigning WBC light middleweight champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez said Marquez had a shot because the Mexican’s counter-punching skills baffle Pacquiao.

“Marquez will do everything possible to win this time. I think that Marquez is going to win,” said Alvarez, one of the most exciting fighters among the current crop of young champions. “I think that Marquez has won the last two fights.”

Virgil Hunter, 2011 Trainer of the Year, chose Marquez by split decision in what he thinks would be “tough,” “pick ‘em” slugfest between two great fighters.

“I think that it’s going to be a little bit more of a war this time. I think that Marquez is going to do more than counter-punch this fight. I think that he’s going to initiate a lot of the exchanges,” Hunter said.

But John Scully, trainer of WBC and Ring light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, Pacquiao would prevail in another close “but more decisive” points victory by Pacman compared to their three previous fights.

Among the sportswriters who picked Pacquiao include Pinoy scribe Eddie Alinea, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Tim Dahlberg of Associated Press, Rob Velin of USA Today, Jack Hirsch of Boxing News, Chris Robinson of the Examiner, and RingTV editor Doug Fischer.

The scribes who chose Marquez include Joseph Santoliquito of Ring Magazine/CBS Sports, Kieran Mulvaney of Reuters/ESPN, Norm Frauenheim of 15Rounds.com, Joseph Gonzalez of Maxboxing.com. Rich Reeno of BoxingScene.com, Lee Groves of RingTV and Rich Marotta of Los Angeles’ KFI Radio.