Pages

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Controversial Fight Series: Marquez-Pacquiao I

As part of The Boxing Tribune’s build-up to Manny Pacquiao’s maiden defence of his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey, we revisit the infamous Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez in one of the most controversial fights of the past decade.

Hearts and Fists on Fire - WBA + IBF Featherweight Title
JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ
(42-3, 33 KO, WBA + IBF Titleholder)

vs.
MANNY PACQUIAO (38-2, 29 KO)
May 8, 2004 | MGM Grand - Las Vegas, NV


May 8, 2004
This was Manny Pacquiao's second fight at 126 pounds, his first was an impressive display against Marco Antonio Barrera, who he stopped in the eleventh round to capture the Ring Championship belt. Pacquiao had made four defences of his IBF title at super bantamweight, and he was ready for a step up in class. He dominated Barrera in his debut at featherweight, leading by a wide margin on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Pacquiao, was favourite to take Juan Manuel Marquez's titles away.

Juan Manuel Marquez had defeated Robbie Peden and Hector Marquez by tenth round stoppage in 2002, Manuel Medina by convincing seventh round technical knockout, and Derrick Gainer via shutout technical decision over seven rounds in an unification fight. Marquez was also ready for a step up in calss.

After the first minute and a half, few gave Marquez a hope that he would come out of the round. He staggered through the latter stages to finish the opening stanza on his feet, cue HBO quotation.
"Manny Pacquiao is a storm! Juan Manuel Marquez has never seen anything like that." - Jim Lampley
To think that Marquez would go on to last the full twelve, and still have a shot at winning the contest is an amazing achievement in itself. Did Marquez do enough to retain his titles and take away Pacquiao's Ring belt? Or did Pacquiao's 10-6 opening round give him enough of an advantage to coast through and win the fight?

The Boxing Tribune have replaced the judges with our own set of officials. The three judges will be Dafs117, Siren1927 and Mentaldynamo. They will give their round-by-round thoughts, with the quest to find the real winner of this thrilling fight.



Round 1

Dafs117 - "Marquez comes out aggressively and lands four clean shots that have Pacquiao raising his hands in the air to psyche himself up. Marquez looks to have the better of the opening exchanges. Then comes the Pacquiao storm, and in the next forty-five seconds he hits the canvas three times. The final minute sums up Marquez. He's on unsteady ground, being rocked by clean punches from Pacquiao, but he still plods forward looking to exchange. If only Burt Clements had scored it correctly..." 10-9 Pacquaio [-3 knockdowns for Marquez]

Siren1927 -
"3 knockdowns makes it a 10-6 round. After the first knockdown, I don't think Juan Manuel Marquez is hurt, I think he lost focus and decided to trade to try and make it a 10-9 round, which led to the second knockdown." 10-9 Pacquiao [-3 knockdowns for Marquez]

Mentaldynamo - "Pacquiao scores three knockdowns and dominates the final half of the round. Easy 10-6 round for Pacquiao." 10-9 Pacquiao [-3 knockdowns for Marquez]

Round 2

Dafs117 - "Pacquiao lands straight left hands in the first half of the round before Marquez makes a slight adjustment to avoid them. Marquez comes back nicely over the second half of the round, but Manny is still the aggressor, a little overanxious in forcing his left after the necessary adjustment." 10-9 Pacquiao

Siren1927 - "I
n the first thirty seconds its clear that Marquez counter-punches well, leaving Manny hitting thin air. However, Manny starts to connect around the 2:10 mark and lands 10 unanswered power shots. For the rest of the round they trade with equal intensity, but Manny lands while Marquez mostly hits glove." 10-9 Pacquiao

Mentaldynamo
- "Pacqiuao wins the first of many close tough rounds to score in this bout. I gave it to Manny because I thought he was busier, especially in the opening half of the round." 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 3

Dafs117 - "Marquez controlled the round from start to finish.the opening bell as he used his jab effectively, sometimes to set up sharp counters on a number of occasions. He also mixed in some solid body shots, although a couple looked like they may have strayed below the belt." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927
- "
Marquez starts the third round better as he hits Manny with a left which puts him off balance, then landing two very good body shots. I have no idea why Cortez told him to keep his punches up, the second body shot at 2:00 was a great shot. The only time Manny lands anything of note, Marquez comes right back at him. For me this is a clear Marquez round." 10-9 Marquez

Mentaldynamo - "Marquez throws more punches but landed less, but what he did land were more telling blows than Pacquiao's for me. The first Marquez round on my card." 10-9 Marquez

Round 4

Dafs117 - "Although he's much more cautious now, Pacquiao is able to slip in sharp left hands that keeps Marquez at bay. Marquez however has gaged his distance well and lands two very hard right hands that earn him the round." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927
- "
Marquez is beginning to control the fight now, his punches are crisp and right on the button. Pacman is still just trying to knock him out with his left. Manny is throwing the left from so far away I'm ducking while watching it. Marquez honestly gives Pacquiao a boxing lesson in this round and he's right back in the fight." 10-9 Marquez

Mentaldynamo
- "Another very close round, but Marquez's blows were crisper than Pacquiao's scrappy left hands." 10-9 Marquez

After 4 Rounds: Dafs117: 38-35 Pacquiao; Siren1927: 38-35 Pacquiao; Mentaldynamo: 38-35 Pacquiao;

Round 5

Dafs117 - "It's evenly matched after two minutes as both fighters hunt and peck on a merry-chase around the square circle. Marquez is warned again by Cortez for low blows. With just over a minute left, Marquez lands a head snapping blow that rocks Pacquiao. They trade for the next twenty seconds, and in a round that was a toss-up, Marquez grabs it with the more eye-catching shots and cuts the Filipino in the process." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927
- "
Pacquiao starts the round better, throwing a jab or two before getting hit by a blatant low blow. He catches Marquez with a good hook around the 1:35 mark. A fantastic right hand follows from Marquez, which wobbles Manny and follows up with a good combination at 1:17. He follows that up with another low blow. They trade back and forth, with each of them having success although Marquez lands the cleaner harder punches for me." 10-9 Marquez

Mentaldynamo -
"Marquez deploys great ring generalship in this round, and he's fighting a tactically better fight than Pacquiao right now." 10-9 Marquez

Round 6

Dafs117 - "Neither man very active, although the key shots were landed by the confident Marquez. Shortly before the mid-way point, Marquez lands a huge right hand that stuns Pacquiao. A sweet uppercut followed up with a good body shot with about thirty seconds left confirms the round in Marquez's favour." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927
- "
Marquez continues to work the body and it seems as though Pacquiao has no idea how to defend against the right hook to the body. At the 1:47 mark, Marquez almost drops Manny with a great right hook which has him reeling against the ropes. Manny fights his way out of it, but gets tagged a few more times. Marquez hits him with a few more body shots and if I'm honest Manny looks a little lost in there." 10-9 Marquez

Mentaldynamo
- "Marquez clearly wins this round, no doubt about it. He's on in the zone right now, while Pacquiao seems puzzled." 10-9 Marquez

Round 7

Dafs117 - "Marquez controls the opening exchanges with solid body work and a stiff jab. Pacquiao starts landing his left hand again behind his own double jab. Marquez lands a few hard rights and it's such a close round, but I'll give to Marquez." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927
- "
Manny starts the round as he ended the last, hitting thin air then eating a straight right counter. However, from around the 2:10 mark, Manny starts to connect with combinations, but gets tagged yet again in the body. He lands more than Marquez, who's still countering but Manny seems to be outlanding him 2-1. In the last 15 seconds Marquez lands a good right hand but Manny answers with two combos landing at will which gives him the round in my opinion." 10-9 Pacquiao

Mentaldynamo
- "Manny came on late in this round after a slow start in the opening half. It was another close round, but I thought Marquez's blows were more telling. This was also the first of three pivotal rounds that I thought decided the winner of the fight." 10-9 Marquez

Round 8

Dafs117 - "It was a slow round with nothing much landing from both fighters. Marquez edged the last minute for me to take the eighth round." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927
- "
A really tough round to score, both fighters seem to be reluctant to throw anything in the first two minutes of the round. They both land infrequently and with around the same number of shots. Pacquiao is the more active fighter in the first half of the round, however, towards the end of the round, Marquez starts to land to the body. I gave it to Juan based on the last forty-five seconds." 10-9 Marquez

Mentaldynamo -
"I called this round even, even though judges don't like to give them. But I could see this round going either way in another pivotal round." 10-10 Even

After 8 Rounds: Dafs117: 75-74 Marquez; Siren1927: 75-74 Pacquiao; Mentaldynamo: 75-75 Even;

Round 9

Dafs117 - "After Marquez shaded the first exchanges of the round, Pacquiao came on strong and showed some real energy by taking over the last minute. Marquez closed strongly, landing nice shots near the end of the round, but it wasn’t enough." 10-9 Pacquiao

Siren1927 -
"
Marquez starts the round well but Pacquiao is blocking 90% of his punches. Apart form the last 30 seconds of the round, Marquez is outboxed and Pacquiao looks like Rocky in Rocky 3 slipping with all those punches. Marquez gets some success towards the end of the round but its too late." 10-9 Pacquiao

Mentaldynamo
- "Another close and pivotal round, but Marquez came on late but did not do enough to win the round. Pacquiao shades it by the slightest of margins." 10-9 Pacquiao

Round 10

Dafs117 - "Pacquiao landed some sweet left hands, including one mid-way through the round that buckled Marquez's knees. It looked that Marquez fought the last minute in a little bit of a daze. Important Pacquiao round." 10-9 Pacquiao

Siren1927
- "
Such a nip and tuck round, it could be scored for either fighter. Pacquiao is much busier and lands the more telling blows. It's clear at this point that Juan Manuel Marquez is shattered, he lands some excellent counter shots but Pac edges it for me by a razor thin margin." 10-9 Pacquiao

Mentaldynamo - "It's pretty close coming into the final stages of the round, and for me, the late surge that Marquez produced was enough for him to take the round that I would've probably given to Pacquiao." 10-9 Marquez

Round 11

Dafs117 - "Marquez lands just about every kind of punch in the boxing textbook, from jabs to the head and body, hooks, uppercuts, straights. He has extra life in him all of a sudden. This may be his best round of the fight. Pacquiao tries very hard, particularly as we approach the end of the round, but fails to really make a mark in this round. Massive Marquez round." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927 - "
The first telling blow is a left from Marquez around thirty seconds in. They start to trade from the two minute mark and both seem to be connecting. Pacquiao's left is landing almost every time he throws, but now it's Marquez's right hand that finds it's home. Marquez starts to take over from the two minute mark, getting the better of every exchange." 10-9 Marquez

Mentaldynamo -
"This is a clear Marquez round. It's a wide margin as he lands a ton of right hands in the most decisive round of the fight so far." 10-9 Marquez

Round 12

Dafs117 - "What a way to finish. This was a very tough round to score, maybe the hardest of the night. I thought Marquez edged it on the strength of a very solid opening minute. Pacquiao had a good burst in the middle where he landed a few nice left hands and backed it up with mobility. The final minute was needle close, but I thought Marquez was just a tiny bit better. This round perfectly sums up the whole fight. The ebb and flow of the contest is constantly changing, and the difference in both fighters are razor thin." 10-9 Marquez

Siren1927
- "
In a fight which could be going either way, I was shocked that Marquez decided to box rather than go for it in this round. Marquez does some really good work towards the end of the round, doing enough to just steal it in my opinion." 10-9 Marquez

Mentaldynamo
- "I felt as though Marquez backed Manny up in this round, which was enough to win it. The most telling thing about this roun was the fact that fight guru Freddie Roach told Manny he needed the 12th to win. Roach is smart and knows the fight game. Even though it ended in an official draw, that bit of advice from Freddie was real telling." 10-9 Marquez

Official Scores: Burt Clements: 113-113 Even; Guy Jutras 115-110 Marquez; John Stewart 115-110 Pacquiao;

Juan Manuel Marquez retains his IBF + WBA titles, Manny Pacquiao retains his Ring belt, via draw.

BTBC Scorecards: Dafs117: 113-112 Marquez; Siren1927: 113-112 Pacquiao; Mentaldynamo: 114-112 Marquez;

Juan Manuel Marquez successfully defends his IBF + WBA titles, winning The Ring belt via split decision

BTBC Combined Scorecard

Round 1 - 10-9 Pacquiao (0-3) [-3 knockdowns Marquez];
Round 2 - 10-9 Pacquiao (0-3);
Round 3 - 10-9 Marquez (3-0);
Round 4 - 10-9 Marquez (3-0);
Round 5 - 10-9 Marquez (3-0);
Round 6 - 10-9 Marquez (3-0);
Round 7 - 10-9 Marquez (2-1);
Round 8 - 10-9 Marquez (2-0-1);
Round 9 - 10-9 Pacquiao (0-3);
Round 10 - 10-9 Pacquiao (1-2);
Round 12 - 10-9 Marquez (3-0);
Round 12 - 10-9 Marquez (3-0);

Total: Marquez 113-112;

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seeing the fight in live action and only in one side could make judging different compared to watching it on TV..The camera and judges angle of view is different.

Post a Comment