Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez Recap & Results
ProBoxing-Fans.com was on hand live at ringside for the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III battle from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Right here, you’ll find a full recap and report on the fight. How did Pacquiao-Marquez 3 play out, were there any surprises and what did the fighters have to say about their performances after the fact? Find all of that out and more right here.
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Pacquiao vs. Marquez Pictures
Pacquiao-Marquez III Recap
In the main event, boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao scored a majority 12-round decision over longtime nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez. The decision was met by boos, surely the majority of them coming from a highly vocal Marquez faction that was boisterous throughout the event.
Frankly, there can be little complaint. With these 2 greats, neither man has been able to get much distance from the other and tonight was no different. The weight and age issue were not prevalent, as the “styles make fights” credo was once again proven to be the main consideration when attempting to analyze boxers’ chances.
It was a bad night once again for boxing analysts and those who managed to bill Marquez as a 9-1 underdog, something he never appeared to be throughout the evening. But it was a good night for boxing. In a sport with waning popularity in the States, boxing was the biggest thing tonight–at least in this little bizarre corner of the world called Las Vegas. Everywhere you went during fight-week, you saw Pacquiao-Marquez T-shirts, heard people speaking about the fight, and felt that certain tingle in the air.
And the fight itself was no dud. It wasn’t a great fight, but it was certainly a good one, with swings in momentum and a contrast in styles that was once again fascinating to watch. The Marquez fans were in abundance, passionately cheering on their man at every turn and punctuating his work with raucous applause. But the outrage over the decision on the part of some Mexican fans and media were not justified. At the most, there 3 definitive rounds out of the 12, leaving 9 rounds open for reasonable debate. Any number of different conclusions are readily defensible.
Most rounds were similar, to varying degrees. Pacquiao would press the action, but as always, found it difficult in the face of Marquez’ high-level chess game, featuring expert countering. Pacquiao, normally a passionate slugger, has never really thrived in that role with Marquez since round 1 of their first fight. But tonight, especially, he at times resembled a novice Frogger player–in and out, in and out, a bit unsure on how to proceed.
And make no mistake–you’re not going to find many better counterpunchers than Marquez–ever. He was great tonight and so sharp, that he made a lot of experts look foolish, many of whom made it as if the only question was whether or not Marquez would last the distance. Well, he did a lot more than that. At 38 and at a weight where he had never seen success, he gave the best in the world all he could handle and then some.
But in the end, the bitterness was palpable. Mexican fans besieged Bob Arum with allegations of of fixing the result as he came into the media room. Some members of the Mexican press were stating this was the worst thing to happen to boxing in a long time. Marquez was not only dejected, but even hinted at retirement, his feeling that he “can do no right.” But Bob Arum, even though Pacquiao is his main draw, had it on-point when he said “not only was the fight close, but most individual rounds were close.”
And he’s right. Whatever idiots were running out of the MGM screaming bloody murder should be ashamed of themselves. The people in the press acting like they could justify Marquez winning 8-9 rounds “hands down” are being equally obtuse. Pacquiao and Marquez just make for close fights and that’s all there is to it. Anyone who says they can definitively establish the identity of a clear winner in any of the 3 fights is not being fair-minded.
It was a good night for boxing. Whenever the sport takes center stage and delivers an exciting fight, it’s a good thing. In a year of disappointment,the last thing boxing needed was another weird night with a conclusion that has no connection to reality. While those who wanted a conclusive ending were let down, maybe such an ending is not meant to be between these two. Upon that realization, the fact that it was a competitive match should suffice.
Undercard
Timothy Bradley, now 27-0 (12), defended his WBO 140-pound title with an 8th-round TKO over 40-year old ex-champ Joel Casamayor, now 38-6-1. Casamayor used guile and tried to water down the action as much as he could, but was eventually overwhelmed by the sheer physicality of Bradley. In round 4, Casamayor lost a point for holding and then visited the canvas 3 times in the 5th, 6th, and 8th rounds. For Bradley, he still has a big future and looks to shake off an uneven 2011 and have a big 2012.
Undefeated Mike Alvarado, now 32-0 (23) stopped Breidis Prescott in the 10th and final round. The bout was seemingly up in the air after 9 rounds, with Alvarado dramatically closing the show in the 10th. The action was heated in this ebb-and-flow fight. Prescott, 140, took on this tough fight a mere 2 months after losing a draining fight to contender Paul McCloskey a mere 2 months ago. And just as he did in that bout, he faded drastically after looking so good in the early going. The hard-luck Colombian and onetime conqueror of Amir Khan, falls to 24-4 (19). As it turns out, Alvarado, who spent the second half of the fight with his upper lip grotesquely, was behind going into the final stanza.
In a well-contested battle between two young and tall junior lightweights, Juan Carlos Burgos, 129, scored a majority 10-round decision over previously unbeaten Luis Cruz, 130. Burgos, now 28-1 (19) got off to a great start, but was forced to hold off a late-surging Cruz, who falls to 19-1 (15). Nice win for the 23-year old Burgos, whose only loss came in a WBC Featherweight title bout against Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan 1 year ago. Scores were 98-92, 97-93, and 95-95.
34-year old Dennis Laurente, 144, of the Philippines, trying to make some waves after a long career that dates all the way back to 1994, knocked out Albany-based Ghanaian Ayi Bruce, 147, in the 7th round with a big left hand. Laurente is now 41-4-5 (22), while Bruce falls to 13-5 (6).
Jose Benavidez, Jr., a fast-rising 19-year old prospect, won a lopsided 6-round decision over dogged Puerto Rican Sammy Santana. Putting Santana down twice in the first and once each in the 2nd and 4th helped him earn 3 scores of 60-50. The spidery Benavidez, Jr. is a 6-foot junior welterweight with vast potential and at 14-0 (12), there is not telling how far he could go. Hats off to Santana, 4-5-2 (0) for lasting the full route.
19-year old debutante Victor Pasillas, 124, took a shutout 4-rounder over winless Jose Garcia, 126. The speedy East L.A. southpaw is raw, but had too much talent for the now 0-4 Garcia.
In the first bout of the evening, Fernando Lumacad, 116, moved to 25-3-3 (11) with a unanimous 8-round nod over tough Texan Joseph Rios, 114, 10-6-2 (4). Knockdowns in the 2nd and 5th helped Lumacad win by scores of 78-72, 77-73, and 77-74 in front of a sparse MGM crowd. This was Lumacad’s first U.S. win, having been stopped in 3 rounds by Jorge Arce in 2009 in his only other U.S. appearance.
Quotes from the press conference:
Bob Arum:
“You make sure to tell Jose Sulaiman that he’s an asshole the next time you see him. All he was saying leading up to this fight was how Marquez was finished. He’s an asshole.”
“We want to settle it. We deserve a definitive outcome.”
“We should do it again in May.”
Timothy Bradley:
“I wish Casamayor woulda fought more. There was a lot of holding and I heard fans booing. I don’t blame them.”
“But it was a great performance. He was sneaky.”
Juan Manuel Marquez:
“I don’t know what more I could do to impress the judges.”
“I have a decision to continue or retire from the sport.”
“What do I need to do. Tell me.”
“We beat him in the ring and in the audience!”
“Everyone knows what happened.”
“If I knock him out, they’ll pick him back up. I don’t know what to do now.”
“The best judge is the crowd.”
Nacho Beristain:
“This is a joke. A joke for Marquez.”
Freddie Roach:
“It coulda went either way. I thought Manny edged it in the last two rounds.”
“We gotta learn how to deal with these counterpunchers. Maybe I gotta do my job better.”
Manny had cramps in his arches. We gotta figure out what that’s all about.”
“If I’m gonna give someone a close round, it’s gonna be the aggressor.”
“This was as tough as the first two fights.”
Manny Pacquiao:
“I clearly won the fight.”
Note: Manny’s press conference appearance was very brief, as he was nursing a sutured right eye and poised to begin a concert at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay.
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Thanks for checking out our full ringside report and recap for the epic third encounter between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. Be sure to keep on checking back with ProBoxing-Fans.com for more aftermath and post-fight coverage.
