PACQUIAO VOWS TO DEMOLISH BRADLEY

By:  Eddie Alinea –

It’s all work and no play for Filipino boxing pride Manny Pacquiao in his first week at the Wild Card Gym training camp and in Los Angeles.

And it looks like the situation will be the same the next 23 days when he fights anew defending World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Timothy Bradley on April 12 (April 13 in Manila) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

“Trabaho talaga, walang pahinga (it’s all works really, no rest),” exclaimed the 35-year-old former pound-for-pound king in reference to his fine tuning regimen that started Tuesday last week, three days following his arrival from Manila. “I can’t even play basketball anymore.”

“I already foresaw know what will happen even when I was still in General Santos for the first leg of my preparation that’s why I intentionally skipped my first day of workout Monday last week to prepare myself for the long and hard grind.”

“I started Tuesday with the conditioning segment with Justin (Justin Fortune, whom he re-signed as strength and conditioning coach) and he really gave me a helluva day that at the end of the day, all I wanted was have more sleep,” Pacquiao confessed to this writer in a long distance telephone interview.

In the afternoon of the same day, he was at the new Wild Card Gym on the ground floor of the old Hollywood sweat shop, which chief trainer Freddie Roach built precisely for his prized student’s private use.

“I’m happy that Justin has rejoined the team, he will be a great help in my preparation as he was in our first five years together, remember?” he said. “Ngayon pa lang, after only four days of working out with him, maganda na ang pakiramdam ko sa katawan ko.”

“We still have four weeks in our program, so I can’t see any reason why I can’t reach the desired results we’re aiming for,” the only man to win world championships in eight weight divisions and in four lineal categories.

Focus of the program is combining speed in his feet and hands movement and power in his punches, which the Pacman said will be the key to avenging his 12-ropund controversial slit decision loss to the undefeated Bradley and recapture the 147-pound belt he believed was robbed of him nearly two years ago.

“Freddie and I came up with a game plan aimed at mixing speed and power in this coming fight,” he said. “I will be banking on my foot movement to chase him wherever he goes and keep him off balance once I catch up with him.”

“I will force him to come on and fight in frustration and use my power to completely demolish him,” he vowed. “Bradley has often said I already lost my killer instinct and I’m already has been. Well, I’ll show him that he’s mistaken on his perception when we get into the ring.

“The fighting Congressman from Sarangani Province said that if Bradley believes I’ll be the same Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought in 2012, he’s mistaken. And if he believes what he’s been saying against me would strike fear in me, he’s again wrong.

“Everything that I have been doing in my training camp from GenSan to here is aimed at proving just how wrong his perception is,” Pacquiao stressed.

“On the contrary, he’ been driving me to work hard, train hard so I can be a better fighter that in my previous fights,” he said. “Bradley will be fighting the man who stopped Oscar De La Hoya, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Ricky Hatton or even better.”

http://philboxing.com/news/story-93052.html

Date:  Saturday, November 23, 2013

Title:  Vacant WBO International Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios

Location:  Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, S.A.R., China

Promoter:  Top Rank

Supervisor:  Leon Panoncillo, Jr.

Referee:  Genaro Rodriguez

Judges:  Michael Pernick (120-108), Lisa Giampa (119-109) and, Manfred Kuchler (118-110)

Result:  Won a 12-round decision over Brandon Rios.

Photo:  Chris Farina/Top Rank/
By Luis Sandoval –

The most talked about topic when it comes to Juan Manuel Marquez besides his upcoming fight with Timothy Bradley is a possible fifth fight with his arch nemesis Manny Pacquiao. After his knockout victory over Pacquiao, Marquez has been continuously asked if he would fight Pacquiao again.

During his last Los Angeles media day, Marquez was made aware that if he beat Bradley Saturday night and if Pacquiao defeated Brandon Rios in November, the demand for a fifth fight would once again be brought up.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m fighting this Saturday and Pacquiao will fight in November. I don’t know what’ll happen. I need to wait and see how things [turn out]. I think the chapter with Pacquiao is closed. I think so. The fifth fight doesn’t interest me” said Marquez.

Marquez has said that he wants to keep the memory and victory over Pacquiao intact when he walks away from the sport. Even though the Pacquiao fight would equal the biggest paycheck available to him, Marquez says there are things more important than the money.

“The money is important in life but the most important for me is honor and pride and [for] everyone to know what happened in the fourth fight. I want to keep that great moment for all my life” Marquez would tell the media surrounding him.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach had been very vocal about Marquez refusing to give Pacquiao a fifth fight as he said they gave Marquez his rematches after their victories. BoxingScene asked Marquez what his thoughts were surrounding Roach’s comments.

“I want to say something that’s the most important to me. If I won the fight with a close decision, I would give the fifth fight. I would sign the contract right after the fight. But I won [by knockout] with a great victory for me so I don’t sign the contract” Marquez would tell BoxingScene.

The stunning knockout seems to have not only definitively ended their fourth fight but also one of boxing’s best rivalries.

http://www.boxingscene.com/marquez-only-close-win-made-pacquiao-5–70414

MACAU – An army of journalists and television crews gathered inside to the Venetian Ballroom for the official launching and press conference for the highly anticipated return of boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, who will face Brandon ‘Bam Bam’ Rios of Oxnard, California in a twelve round welterweight clash on November 24. This fight is set for a Sunday morning at the Cotai Arena in Macau and will be aired to the U.S. on November 23 Saturday evening.

Pacquiao arrived here Friday with his wife Jinkee, who was recently elected as the Vice Governor of Sarangani.

“I want to thank God for another chance to fight again,” the 34 year old two-term congressman said. He also thanked Top rank, the Venetian Hotel and his better half. Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) hasn’t fought since December 8, 2012, when he suffered a sixth round knockout loss at the hands of his arch nemesis, Juan Manuel Marquez.

“It will be a good fight,” Pacquiao continued, “Rios likes to fight toe to toe. There will be a lot of action inside the ring. I pray to God that no one will get hurt. Macau is near the Philippines, so I expect more Filipinos than Mexicans watching this fight.”

The 27 year old Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s), who previously won belts at lightweight and junior welterweight, relishes his role as the underdog.

“I am very nervous.” He quipped, “I’m not nervous about the fight, I’m nervous about speaking in front of all of you people.’

Rios turned serious a few seconds later: ‘I want to show the world, all those people who said bad things about me, those who said I’m a punching bag. They will see come November.”

WBO VP for Asia-Pacific Leon Panoncillo told philboxing and said that Pacquiao-Rios will be for the WBO international welterweight title but the World Boxing Organization will have a belt specially made for this blockbuster fight. Also on hand was WBO Pres. Francisco ‘Paco’ Valcarcel who complimented Rios who he described as someone who has the heart to match against Pacquiao.

Hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach said that he was happy to be working with Manny again. “I have many great fighters in my gym but Manny is number one.”

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum described the fight as a historic event. “Who would have thought forty years ago that a congressman from the Philippines would be fighting a guy from California here in Macau?”

Living legend and two-time heavyweight champion George Foreman spoke on stage and described Pacquiao-Rios as a great battle between a guy who can punch really hard and someone who can take a punch very well.

The promotional tour will take the adversaries to Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore before returning to the United States for appearances in Connecticut, Los Angeles and New York.

Photos by Dong Secuya.

http://philboxing.com/news/story-85558.html

BAGUIO CITY – After logging 70 rounds of punching the mitts and 210 minutes of road work, World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao declared himself ready to move into the more grueling and tedious aspect of his high altitude training here.

Pacquiao, who is putting his 147-pound plum on the block against undefeated American junior welterweight kingpin on June 9, asked chief trainer Freddie Road to advance the sparring in his preparation two days ahead of schedule and the Hall of Fame guru obliged.

For the first time since his last fight November last year, the eight-division belt-owner will have the taste of how it is to trade blows with an opponent today when he mixes it up with Russian junior welterweight prospect Ruslan Provodnikov.

Roach scheduled only four rounds of sparring in order not to preserve the gains the camp had attained in almost two weeks here and a fortnight each in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and General Santos City.
“Manny personally asked me to advance the start of sparring session Thursday and I consented,” Roach told Business Insight after the training session last Tuesday. “That only means one thing, Manny is fit and ready to move into the next level of preparations.”

“Only four rounds. I don’t want him rush things up, especially at this stage of readiness program. However, if he asked to, say two round more, why not,” Roach said.

“As I have been saying, Manny knows Manny. Only he knows what to do and what not to do as far as his physical status is concerned. That’s what differs him from the other fighters, Roach explained,” Roach said.

“I approved of advancing the sparring because I know he’s already ready to stand the rigor of that part of training,” the 52-year-old Hall of Famer assured.

The start of the sparring session was originally scheduled Saturday, the day Pacquiao would have completed his first two weeks of altitude training in this, the country’s summer capital.

“Okey na ako, ready na for sparring,” Pacquiao said. “Maganda ang simula ng camp at so far, na-accomplish na ang dapat ma-accomplish, so there’s no need to wait for another two days.”
“Mas inspirado ako mag-train ngayon kasi nandyan si Madam,” he said with a wide smile in reference to wife Jinkee who arrived here Monday night and watched, along with her 15-man retinue , the entire training session Tuesday training ast the Shape Up Gym in Cooyeesan Hotel.

Both Pacquiao and Roach agreed the fighter is far from reaching his fighting form and that there are still many things to accomplish.

“Marami pang dapat gawin, but I feel I am already 50 percent ready to fight,” the 33-year-old Pacman said. “Pero hindi kami aalis ditto (Baguio) na hindi ako 100 percent.”
“Yeah, we are still at the halfway mark of preparations,” Roach butted in. “We still have some five weeks to go.

Provodnikov,with lightweight compatriot Rustam Nugaev, a former Pacquiao sparmate, tagging along set foot in this city Monday night after a long 15-hour plane trip from their hometown Beryosovo, Russia. Nugaev is not new in the Philippines having been Pacquiao’s mate twice, the first during the Filipino hero’s preparations in his second fight with Erik Morales and during the fine tuning program against Oscar Larios.

Only Provodnikov though will serve as the Filipino’s mate at the Baguio training camp. Provodnikov said he had watched some of Pacquiao’s fight but expressed amazement seeing Pacquiao did the mitts with Roach.

“He’s very powerful and fast,” he said through Nugaev, who servers as his interpreter. “I am honored for inviting as Manny’s sparring partner and I’m ready to provide him all he needs in his training.”

Provodnikov and Nugaev joined Pacquiao in the latter’s roadwork at the Philippine Sports Commission training camp oval inside the Teachers’Camp

Eddie Alinea

http://philboxing.com/news/story-69204.html

POUND-FOR-POUND king Manny Pacquiao plans to begin training in mid-April for his June 9 World Boxing Organization welterweight title defense against Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz said the schedule will be the usual one, with his training camp beginning in Baguio City, where he is expected to spend some four weeks, after which he will leave for Los Angeles to train at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym for another three weeks.

Koncz said Pacquiao spent Valentine’s Day with wife Jinkee and their four kids on a remote island off Sarangani province, where there wasn’t even a cell phone contact with the outside world.

Pacquiao is not taking the undefeated Bradley lightly and is expected to put on an impressive performance, following his comparatively lackluster showing in his third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.

Bradley told Rick Reeno of boxingscene.com that this is perhaps the best time to face Pacquiao and that being much younger than the 38-year-old Marquez, he has a good chance of beating Pacquiao.

Bradley said besides being very young, he is also determined.

“I can box as well as brawl and I can counter-punch as well,” said Bradley. “I’m quick and can get in and out from danger and I have great defense.”

The light welterweight champion, who should have no problems moving up to 147, where he has fought before, added: “I feel like I’m a major step for Pacquiao. I think it’s a winnable fight for me.”

Koncz told BoxingScene/Manila Standard that Pacquiao will leave for the US within the next couple of days to give his deposition in the case he filed against Floyd Mayweather Jr., his father Floyd Sr. and uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather over allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

by Ronnie Nathanielsz

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=49606

The next opponent for Manny Pacquiao looks to be set, as WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley finds himself with his biggest opportunity to date as a professional.

The two men actually shared a ring this past November at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas when Pacquiao edged out Juan Manuel Marquez over twelve spirited rounds while Bradley scored a lopsided and uneventful 8th round TKO over faded champion Joel Casamayor in the evening’s chief support bout.

The fight is set to go down June 9th at the same venue but it’s worth noting that while Bradley has signed on for the contest, Pacquiao has yet to his ink his contract to make the fight official.

Giving his take on that little piece of news, Bradley’s trainer Joel Diaz feels the Filipino icon has his reasons for such reluctance, bringing his debatable decision over Marquez three months back into the equation.

“I don’t blame him,” Diaz said during our conversation. “A lot of people underestimate Tim. But Timothy is a lot faster than Marquez. He has faster feet and faster hands. He might not have the punching power, but he has faster movement. To me, Marquez won that fight. If Pacquiao has not signed, it’s because he has a little bit of doubt.”

An essential reason for tracking Diaz down was to get his take not just on Pacquiao, but also of some noise coming from his corner, specifically his trainer Freddie Roach and his strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, as it appears the pre-fight gauntlet is already thrown around.

I crossed paths with Roach earlier this month in San Antonio, Texas at the final press conference for the February 4th HBO twin bill headlined by his fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. successfully defending his belt against Marco Antonio Rubio.

Roach was asked about a possible Bradley fight at the time and offered up the following on the Palm Springs, California charge.

“He’s a dirty fighter, well, he’s a physical fighter,” Roach would say. “He uses his head, elbows, so forth. Manny does have some trouble with that because Manny can’t retaliate. I tell Manny that if a guy hits you low, hit him back low, but he won’t do that. So, the thing is, it could pose a bit of a problem.”

Asked whether he took offense to Roach’s remarks, Diaz admitted that it dug him a little deep.

“Oh, definitely,” said Diaz. “I think that’s very offensive, because I was a fighter myself [and] when I train a fighter, I train him to fight clean. Never, from day one, has our intention been to be dirty, because that’s just not me. That’s not my nature. That’s very offensive for me. If I ever see my fighter or my fighter ever has any intentions of using dirty tactics, believe me, I’ll bring it up to his attention because that’s not me.

“I don’t like to have that reputation as a trainer, to have a fighter who uses intentional head butts,” Diaz continued. “It’s just bad luck. It’s just [Bradley’s] style, maybe the way he steps in. But never in my years that I have trained Timothy, has he ever mentioned using his head intentionally. Unfortunately Timothy had a few incidents that ended up a head-butt but it’s not because he does it on purpose. That’s just his style.”

Ariza took things further yesterday during a conversation with Ben Thompson of FightHype.com, showing disinterest in the Bradley fight, claiming that Pacquiao’s sparring partners at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles were even better than him.

Yet again, Diaz would stand up for his fighter.

“Alex Ariza can say whatever he wants,” Diaz said firmly. “He doesn’t even know Tim Bradley. He’s never been in camp with Tim Bradley. He hasn’t even stepped in the gym to see Tim Bradley train. I mean, I can say the same thing. I can open my mouth to the world and say ‘In my gym I have better fighters than Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I have better fighters than Manny Pacquiao’. But who’s going to believe me?”

Diaz then asked a few simple questions of his own.

“I give every fighter his respect,” Diaz explained. “I cannot compare any fighter to Tim Bradley. Let me just tell you, if he has better fighters in his gym, better fighters than Tim Bradley, how comes nobody knows them? How come they’re not world champions?”

Last topic to touch on with Diaz was of the recent ‘early’ retirement talk coming from Pacquiao, as he recently mentioned that he could be walking away from boxing as early as next year. A congressman in the province of Sarangani in the Philippines, Pacquiao has been spreading himself a bit thin with his obligations in recent years and some question whether his heart is still in the sport.

Hearing such talk coming from one of the world’s finest athletes causes definite suspicion for Diaz.

“When your mind and your plans are in retirement mode, it’s because somewhere inside your heart, you don’t feel the hunger anymore,” Diaz claimed. “Let me tell you something, Manny Pacquiao’s been in this business plenty of time already. He’s been at the top of his game for many years. After a while, his mind and his body gets tired.

“If he’s thinking about retiring after this fight or the next, it’s because somewhere in his mind, he just doesn’t feel that passion for the sport anymore.” Diaz added. “Because if he really felt the passion for the sport, he’d look ahead.”

By Chris Robinson

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=49598

El fin de semana en San Antonio, Texas, entrevisté a Freddie Roach durante las festividades de la cartilla Nonito Donaire-Wilfredo Vazquez Jr./Julio Cesar Chávez Jr.-Marco Antonio Rubio por HBO desde el Alamodome. La presencia de Roach hizo ver la victoria de Chávez, el campeón mundial WBC de los medianos, en una dura batalla con Rubio.

Y mientras el campeón de 25 años de Sinaloa, México es uno de los nombres más calientes del deporte, Roach es conocido por haber supervisado el trabajo del icono filipino Manny Pacquiao. Por el momento, Pacquiao está prácticamente agendado para una pelea el 9 de junio en el MGM Grand en Las Vegas con el titular OMB junior welter Timothy Bradley, y Roach aparenta estar contento con tal pelea.

“Mi tarea es prepararlo para cualquiera que nos pongan en frente,” declaró Roach. “Ya no negocio las peleas con él. Eso lo hace con Bob y al parecer la próxima pelea será con Bradley el 9 de junio. No tengo problemas con eso. Lo prepararé para esa noche.”

Roach luego mencionó que él también tenía esperanzas de una pelea de Pacquiao con Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“Soy fan del boxeo y me hubiese gustado que fuese Mayweather pero el asunto es que él nos reta y se muestra todo brabucón y luego pide una división de bolsa de 70/30 split. Él sabe que eso es una exigencia que cancela toda negociación, así que me toca preguntar ¿quién es el que lleva faldas ahora?’” preguntó Roach.

A Roach se le preguntó si veía algo especial en Bradley y en su lugar opinó bastante mal del boxeador de Palm Springs, California, para luego argumentar algo más   ligero.

“Es un boxeador sucio, bueno, es un boxeador físico,” declaró Roach. “Usa su cabeza, hombros y demás. Manny tiene ciertos problemas con eso porque no riposta ante eso. Le digo a Manny si un boxeador te da un golpe bajo, dale un golpe bajo también pero no lo hace. El asunto es que eso pudiese ser un pequeño problema. La rapidez y pegada de Pacquiao resultarán mucho para Bradley. Debe ser una pelea emocionante por el momento que dure.”

Y mientras que Pacquiao es muy probable que batalle con Bradley, un mes antes Mayweather hará lo mismo con el puertorriqueño Miguel Cotto, el actual campeón mundial AMB de los junior medianos y el boxeador que atrae la tercera mejor audiencia en el deporte.

“De hecho es una buena pelea,” continuó Roach. “No habría ninguna otra forma de vender esa pelea. Cotto es durable, está en una buena racha. Mayweather es un gran contraatacante, es una buena pelea.”

Roach seguro ha estudiado a Cotto en años recientes, desde la pelea con Pacquiao hasta los rumores de una pelea con Chávez Jr. Y al ser preguntado cuál sería la mejor forma para Mayweather derrotar a Cotto, Roach dio a entender que sería una pelea muy dura.

“Bueno, Mayweather es un gran contraatacante y absorbe los golpes y es muy bueno hacienda eso.” Añadió Roach, “No tiene el mismo patrón que Pacquiao, quien es más atacante. Mayweather derrotaría a Cotto contraatacando.

“Pero diré esto: el nuevo entrenador de Miguel es cubano y los cubanos son contraatacantes muy buenos porque eso es lo que son. Los cubanos que vienen de las Olimpiadas son todos contraatacantes. Creo que diseñaran una buena estrategia y con suerte les irá bien.”

By Chris Robinson, BoxingScene.com

http://www.notifight.com/artman2/publish/Entrevista_6/Roach_Bradley_es_un_boxeador_sucio_printer.php

Manny Pacquiao could decide today or tomorrow whether he will fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5th — this according to Manny’s trainer.

Freddie Roach just told TMZ Manny and promoter Bob Arum are in the Philippines, figuring out if they can put off several deals to fight other boxers  … to clear the decks for a Mayweather fight in May.

Roach is scoffing at Mayweather’s tweet, in which he calls Pacquiao a “punk,” saying, “He should look in the mirror.  He’s been ducking us for 2 years.”

As for what weight class Pacquiao will fight Mayweather … Roach said 147 lbs — that’s the upper limit of welterweight.

Of course, even if Pacquiao can rearrange his schedule, both sides have to agree on a financial deal.  Roach says, “We’ll do it on even terms.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=48384

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquaio is confident that he won a twelve round decision in his trilogy fight with Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Probably since the second fight with Marquez in 2008, Pacquiao has dominated the competition – including lopsided wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Joshua Clottey, David Diaz, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito.

The third bout with Marquez was another close fight. Pacquiao won a twelve round majority decision, scores of 114-114, 116-112 and 115-113. There are many people who scored the fight in favor of Marquez. Because of his recent string of wins, Pacquiao told Filipino reporters that everyone expects one-sided performances in every fight but boxing doesn’t work like that.

“I believed that before the bout was over, I was ahead and winning. [But] I was not convinced in my performance and I wasn’t able to deliver what the people expected of me. That’s boxing. There are instances where you don’t win through a one-sided fight. You can’t always beat your opponent in a lopsided way. They also have fists. It so happened that my fight was a close fight,” Pacquiao said.

By Pawel Pronishev

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=46280

MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada –  A dejected Juan Manuel Marquez told the media that he doesn’t know what he needs to do to leave the ring a winner when he fights Manny Pacquiao. Before a soldout crowd, Pacquiao won a controversial twelve round majority decision over Marquez, with scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.

“I don’t know what I need to do to convince the judges that I won,” said  Marquez.

Marquez feels that his performance in the third fight of their trilogy was a more definitive win than the first two fights which he feels he also won.  He feels he put on a great performance and should have been named the winner.

“I think I won this fight more clearly than the first two. I don’t know what I need to do to win.  I feel happy about my performance in the ring. I won the fight again.”

Marquez said that he is so disappointed that he is thinking of retiring.  He revealed that he will talk to his inner circle and shortly come to a conclusion on whether to continue his career.

“For the third time I feel like I won (versus Pacquiao). Right now I need to sit down with my family and my team and decide if I want to continue or hang up my gloves.”

By Ryan Burton

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=45975

LAS VEGAS, MGM GRAND — Manny Pacquiao escaped again, in a decision that left Juan Manuel Marquez fuming once again. The Filipino sensation was taken to the limit Saturday night before winning a majority decision that infuriated Marquez and most of the sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Arena. While close, the win helped Pacquiao continue a remarkable run that has made him the most exciting fighter in the sport.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=45978

A dejected Juan Manuel Marquez walked into the MGM conference room after a scene that was all too familiar to the proud Mexican champion. Another twelve rounds with Manny Pacquiao and another decision that didn’t go his way.

For Marquez, this was the Mexican painting a beautiful portrait only to see it thrown in the trash yet again by the judges. This time, there was an overwhelming air in the MGM Grand Garden Arena that Marquez would finally even the score. But after being an overwhelming underdog who executed a brilliant game plan that featured effective counterpunching that gave Pacquiao fits, Marquez had to listen to the judges’ scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 to once again give Pacquiao the decision. Marquez is understandably sick of the same story being played out and uttered a statement to the media that was shocking but perhaps made perfect sense to a man who did all he could to see the rug pulled from under him again.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I need to do to change the minds of the judges,” Marquez (53-6-1) said. “I need to sit down with my family and figure out whether I will continue or retire from this sport.”

Retire? Although at first it sounds outlandish that a fighter who pushed the seemingly invincible Manny Pacquiao to the brink on three occasions would consider walking away from the sport, if you put yourself in Marquez’ shoes, it might make more sense.

At 38-years-old, Marquez has accomplished just about everything he could as a fighter. A former world champion, a pound for pound great and arguably one of the finest fighters Mexico has given to the sport. But despite all of the accomplishments, he can’t get over the hump known as Pacquiao. While the rest of the planet has bowed down to Pacquiao’s punching prowess, Marquez scoffs and has proceeded to bring Super Manny crashing back down to earth with his gloves laced with kryptonite. But what do you do when you have beat Pacquiao in the minds of many at least one out of three times but find yourself 0-2-1? Sooner or later the frustration sets in and you realize that nothing you can possibly do will put you in the win column.

“I thought I won this fight more clearly than the other two fights. I don’t know what else I can do,” Marquez said. “Honestly, the result of the fight has made me considering retirement. I worked very hard and ended up with this.”

However, despite the looming cloud of a superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Top Rank’s Bob Arum realizes that there’s unfinished business regardless of what the official scorecards say.

“Maybe one day this battle will get settled but this one sure didn’t do it,” Arum said. “I would advise both Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez to do this again in May.”
May? Isn’t that when Floyd Mayweather allegedly threw down the gauntlet for a proposed showdown with Pacqauiao? Well, it appears that nobody is comfortable with moving on to a fight with Mayweather if this Marquez business continues to linger.

Even Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach wasn’t too happy with the victory and knows that the third fight did less to close the book and instead added another chapter.

“This is a fight that I kind of don’t want to do again but I think we have to,” Roach said. “He’s given us problems three times and I do believe he deserve a rematch before we face Mayweather.”

A Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight may be the one the world wants to see, but boxing pundits know better. You have to finish your breakfast before moving on to dinner. And Pacquiao clearly hasn’t put away Marquez. Nobody seems comfortable with this win, well, maybe except for Pacquiao.

“I think I won pretty clearly,” Pacquiao (54-3-2) said after getting a laceration over his right eye stitched up. Although the words spilled out of his mouth with the usual Pacquiao confidence, his face told a different story. It wasn’t the world beater that we have come to know in the ring on Saturday night. This was a Pacquiao who had to gut it out against a man who certainly has his number. Pacquiao struggled mightily with Marquez’ counterpunching but was aggressive enough to convince the judges that this fight was his.

“Marquez always waits for me to create action so he can counter. It’s not easy to do that. I was very careful,” Pacquiao explained. “I have to accept that it’s not easy to fight Marquez”

No, it’s certainly not easy for Pacquiao to fight Marquez. Who knows what the future holds for these two fighters. Perhaps they will move on and eye a showdown with Mayweather and let the record books tell who won this trilogy. But maybe the truth that Marquez, not Mayweather, was the man that Pacquiao couldn’t get past will gnaw at him enough to give way to a fourth fight and maybe jeopardize the megafight. What if Marquez retires though?

There are tons of questions that need answering and the only thing that’s for sure after Marquez vs. Pacquiao III is that nothing is for sure.

http://www.fightnewsextra.com/cc/2011/11-pacquiao_marquez_postfight.htm

Story by Andreas Hale
Photos by Chris Cozzone

Power and speed are Manny Pacquiao’s obvious advantages over Juan Manuel Marquez.

But Freddie Roach wants the superstar southpaw he trains to out-think one of the sport’s most cerebral, crafty technicians, too. In fact, he thinks the execution of a more patient Pacquiao’s strategy is the key to getting the knockout win Roach anticipates against one of the most effective counter-punchers in boxing history.

“We know [Marquez is] a great counter-puncher,” Roach said. “We can’t just walk to him recklessly, like we did in the first two fights. We need to go to him with a little bit of intelligence and Manny is very capable of doing that at this point of his career.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean we won’t see plenty of the persistent pressure for which the fiery Filipino has become famous Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“We’re going to have to make the fight,” Roach said. “We just have to be a little bit smarter about how we go about that. We can’t just [do what] he did in the first two fights. He was just a young, game kid back then, with one hand. He’s a much more intelligent fighter now and I’m very confident that we will knock him out. We’ll knock him out somewhere along the way.”

While Roach preached patience to Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) during training camp for their WBO welterweight title fight, he also reminded his fighter to expect to see a different foe than the one he drew with in May 2004 and he beat by split decision in March 2008.

“He has become a little more aggressive,” Roach said of Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KOs). “I think he had to for the TV people and for HBO, to make the money that he wants to make. He became a more aggressive fighter and I think that might be his downfall.”

By: Keith Idec

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=45842

Juan Manuel Marquez Fight Blog – Part 1

Judging from the first two fights, what aspect of Pacquiao’s game poses you the most danger heading into the third bout?

“I believe that Manny Pacquiao has become a much complete fighter, but his speed and power are still his most dangerous attributes”

Do you really believe you won the first two fights? Are you planning anything different in your approach to Pacquiao this time, especially given your belief that you won the first two fights?

“I don’t believe I won the first fight, I am sure I won them both, I just did not get the decision. I will do the same that I have always done against him, fight with intelligence, paciencen and counterpunch. My preparation will be different because I will fight at a higher weight. I have to make some changes in my diet and make sure I can still have speed and conditioning at the higher weight”

Training in Mexico City in the renowned Romanza Gym, where so many great Mexican fighters have come from, the three-time world champion Juan Manuel Marquez is getting ready for the biggest fight of an already stellar career.

HBO®’s Emmy® Award-winning all-access series “24/7” premieres an all new edition when “24/7 Pacquiao/Marquez” debuts Saturday, Oct. 22 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The four-part series will air for three consecutive Saturday nights before the finale airs the night before the championship showdown in Las Vegas.

The Pacquiao-Marquez III world championship telecast, which begins at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 92 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Pacquiao-Marquez III fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com

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