MaquezMarquez seeking double revenge to Manny Pacquiao

March 5, 2008

By Robert Morales

Manny Pacquiao beat the daylights out of Marco Antonio Barrera in November 2003, stopping him in the 11th round of a one-sided fight in San Antonio, Texas. Yet, just six months later - in May 2004 - Juan Manuel Marquez figured his fight with Pacquiao in Las Vegas was going to be a walk in the park.

Say what? That’s what Marquez told reporters Tuesday during a conference call promoting his rematch with Pacquiao a week from Saturday in Las Vegas. That, Marquez said, was why Pacquiao decked him three times in the first round of a fight that eventually was scored a draw.

“What I can tell you is I was pretty confident in that fight,” Marquez said. “I was connecting well in the first round. I was confident. I thought it was going to be an easy fight. But I got the surprise that it wasn’t. He caught me with three great punches.”

It is very difficult to believe that a fighter as intelligent as Marquez, one who had already boxed professionally for 11 years heading into that first fight, would think that a fight with a killer like Pacquiao was going to be a cinch.

His trainer, Nacho Berestein, said that’s exactly what Marquez may have been thinking. Not because of anything Berestein was telling him, but perhaps because of what others were whispering in Marquez’s ear as he was preparing for the fight. And Berestein was not happy about it.

“I was worried,” Berestein said, when asked his thoughts as Marquez was thrice floored in the first three minutes. “But I was mad, more than worried. I was angry when I saw him on the canvas three times. Because we talked about it before.

“And he was so confident, he was so relaxed in the first half of the first round. … And I was thinking to myself, ‘This is not the way he’s supposed to be fighting,’ because he seemed so relaxed. And knowing Manny Pacquiao, that he is like a wild guy because he throws punches from everywhere, I knew that at a certain time, a certain point in the fight, he was
(going to connect) with Juan Manuel Marquez. And he did it.”

Pacquiao connected, all right. But of course, Marquez more than proved his mettle. Not only did he get up from three first-round knockdowns, itself a rarity, he dominated most of the rest of the fight. Many reporters, including this one, actually thought Marquez came back to win the fight.

But one judge had it even, one had it for Marquez by five points and the other had it for Pacquiao by five points. Yes, we know, just the typical curious scoring that seems to occur in Las Vegas.

Then again, the draw did allow Marquez to keep his two featherweight championship belts.
“I was down three times, but I got up,” he said. “I got up because of the great condition I had at that time. But also because I was defending two titles, two titles that cost me a lot to win them. And I wasn’t letting them go in three minutes just like that.”

Marquez, 34, said he has learned from his mistakes. During Tuesday’s call, he talked about what will be different this time against Pacquiao, 29. Overconfidence won’t be a problem in the rematch, he said. Psychologically, he insisted he will be sharp as a tack.

“I’m going to be alert from the first (round) when the bell rings until the end of the last round,” Marquez said. “It doesn’t matter what round ends the fight. I’m going to be alert. I’m going to have all my senses. … I won’t be so confident thinking that it’s going to be an easy fight.”
It’s safe to say that Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) has many incentives for this return bout. He wants to defend his super featherweight belt, he wants to avoid the early knockdowns that cost him a victory, he wants a victory period because he believes that the knockdowns notwithstanding, he won the first fight; he wants to put an end to Pacquiao’s dominance of Mexican fighters; and he wants to gain a revenge of sorts for what took place Saturday at Home Depot Center in Carson.

That’s where Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez beat each other to a pulp for 12 rounds, with Vazquez winning a split decision to retain his super bantamweight title. Rafael Marquez is the younger brother of Juan Manuel.

Juan Manuel Marquez was asked if having just watched his brother in an absolutely brutal fight could prove a psychological disadvantage for him because he knows he is heading into a fight with Pacquiao that could be equally harsh.

“Not at all,” Marquez said. “As you all seen, Rafael never lost the fight. And I’m going to be pretty concentrated on the fight. I’m going to put everything in the fight. That’s what motivates me now more, that I need to win this fight because of what happened to my brother and I promise you I’m going to put everything (in) it.”

Well, it’s nice that Marquez has his brother’s back. It might not be fair to expect him to say anything else. Bottom line is, no matter what the Rafael Marquez camp is saying, or that of his brother’s, there was no robbery at Home Depot Center. No controversy. Rafael Marquez deserved the point deduction for the low blow, and the knockdown was legitimate because the ropes can’t be the only thing holding up a fighter; plain and simple, that’s a knockdown.
And by the way, Vazquez deserved a 10-7 in that last round. In the eyes of several ringside reporters polled, all were in favor of a 10-7 round because Vazquez had badly beaten Marquez for most of three minutes prior to the knockdown with just seconds left. But all three judges gave Vazquez only a 10-8.

It’s a shame that either fighter had to lose, but Vazquez won. Fair and square, as they said in the schoolyard back in the day.

Anyway, most of Marquez’s motivation seems to be well-placed. But the bit about his brother might not be a good thing for him to latch onto. He has enough on his plate already without having to concern himself with his brother’s woes. It’s much too dangerous in the ring for that. Ask Berestein, he thinks plenty of Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KOs).

“The only thing that we are going to be cautious about, that we are working on is Manny Pacquiao’s left hand,” Berestein

said. “We know Manny Pacquiao’s left hand is like a bullet. It is very powerful and very fast.”
Marquez knows, only too well.

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