(via BallerStatus)
To the disapproval of the crowd, pound-for-pound champ Manny Pacquiao walked away the winner in his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night (November 12) at the MGM Grand arena in Las Vegas.
Pac-Man earned a majority decision that caused an uproar from the sell-out crowd following a technical fight that looked like — in our opinion — was a narrow win for the Filipino superstar.
The loss also infuriated Marquez which, along with his team, repeatedly called a robbery.
“This was the second robbery and this one was the worst. We won with clearer punches,” said Marquez, later adding, “It’s hard when you’re fighting your rival and the three judges, too.”
Pacquiao won on two scorecards, while the final judge called the bout a draw. With the decision, the champ earned a narrow escape, after taking almost as much punishment — although it didn’t seem to slow him down — as he gave out.
Marquez was so upset after the fight, he stormed from the ring … forcing boxing analyst Max Kellerman to interview him from his locker room.
After the decision was announced, boos echoed around the arena, while cans and bottles landed ringside. Pacquiao, however, celebrated another victory.
“My fans are very happy because they thought I won,” Pacquiao said, in response to Kellerman asking what he thought of the reaction.
After two previous meeting between the two boxers — the first resulting in a draw, and the second ending with a split decision win for Pac-Man — their third fight was as close as the ones prior. At the end, the outcome was still in doubt.
Pac-Man was the aggressor throughout the fight, helping him take several rounds. But, Marquez’s counter-punching was top-notch, keeping Pacquiao from getting inside and pulling away. Almost every time Pac-Man tried to get inside on Marquez, he countered with flush right hands, and landed hard flurries throughout the fight. But, at the advice of his corner, the Mexican fighter never kicked it up a notch and put the pressure on Pacquiao. Instead, he fought a technical fight, moving backwards, waiting on opportunities to counter.
As boxing commentator Emanuel Steward said in a post-fight analysts, Marquez’s style is one Pacquiao seems to have trouble with … and if they fought 10 more times, the outcome would be similar.
With the win, Pacquiao racked up his 15th straight win, improving his record to 54-3-2, all while earning a minimum of $22 million. Marquez, who earned $5 million, fell to 52-6-1.
Also in Pacquiao’s post-fight interview, he addressed the muchanticipated super-fight against Floyd Mayweather. Floyd recently told the sports world that his next fight would be May 5th, 2012. To who? His adviser told ESPN “the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella.”
In response, Pac-Man said: “Let’s get it on. “Let’s make the fight happen and give the people a good fight.”
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