By Ronald Geronimo
Round 1 Close one but a clear round for Pacquiao. Amir Khan agrees. My score: 10-9 PACQUIAO. All 3 judges agree.
Round 2 Two solid combos for Juan Manuel Marquez. Uppercut to the body and straight right to the face makes the highlight reel but Manny Pacquiao landed more shots albeit intermittently. I disagree with Amir Khan. He scores it for Marquez. My score: 10-9 PACQUIAO. 2 judges agree with me. Dave Moretti has it for Marquez.
Round 3 Good 1-2 combo by Marquez on 1:34 but Pacquiao was mostly in control of the round landing good solid shots . Both fighters missed a lot though. Before the last thirty seconds of the fight, Marquez lands a couple of effective jabs and a straight to the body but Pacquiao won the exchanges until the bell rang. Commentators were talking silly saying it was a Marquez round. My score: 10-9 PACQUIAO. All 3 judges agree.
Round 4 Manny opens with a good combination that shook Marquez a bit. Amir Khan says Pacquiao’s fast hands look like a blur. Pacquiao lands a few lefts to Marquez’s face. Close round but Marquez took this one. No major combos but he landed more jabs and clear body shots throughout the round. A late exchange favors Juan Manuel Marquez as he hit Manny Pacquiao square on the face with his right before the bell rings. Manny also hit him simultaneously with a soft right. The commentators are overreacting though. My score: 10-9 MARQUEZ. All 3 judges agree.
Round 5 The commentator says Marquez had rounds 2,3 and 4. Just ridiculous. Good combo by Marquez. Good double jab by Pacquiao. Great uppercut by Marquez shakes Pacquiao. Pacquiao lands a few jabs of his own that snaps back Marquez’s head but nothing serious. Overall Marquez demonstrated superior timing and outboxed Pacquiao for most of this round. He landed a few combos and a lot of intelligent single shots compared to Pacquiao. My score: 10-9 MARQUEZ. All 3 judges agree.
Round 6 Pacquiao changes strategy a bit and backpedals hoping for Marquez to rush to him. After a lot of dancing and waiting, Marquez lands a solid jab. Pacquiao comes back with his own flurry. Both fighters land body blows. Pacquiao counters Marquez with a left to the face and two solid shots to the body from Marquez. Both fighters trade shots again and Manny demonstrates excellent counterpunching, surprisingly. After this, the fighters are fairly even until the end of the round where Marquez had the last word in a 3-punch combo. Close round but Pacquiao had this one. He was busier and visibly flustered Juan Manuel Marquez for a few seconds. The highlight reel was biased and only showed Marquez’s combos. My score: 10-9 PACQUIAO. All 3 judges agree.
In between rounds, Nacho Beristain advised Marquez to not take any risks.
Round 7 The commentator is saying he only gave rounds 1 and 6 to Pacquiao. I’m laughing. Marquez gets an early edge as he opens with solid combos. He keeps his distance, taking heed of what Beristain said. Pacquiao misses a lot of shots as he tries to retaliate and take charge. A late rally by Pacquiao is immediately stomped on by Marquez’s closing shots. In spite of a few flurries by Manny Pacquiao, his only notable moment here was one left straight. This was clearly Juan Manuel Marquez’s round. My score: 10-9 MARQUEZ. All 3 judges agree.
Freddie Roach says “We’re falling behind.”, urging Pacquiao to step it up.
Round 8 Manny closed the round with a good 1-2 combination but Marquez was in control for a full 2 minutes. Manny only started to bounce back around 1 minute before the bell. This round belongs to Marquez. My score: 10-9 MARQUEZ. Only Robert Hoyle agrees with me. I guess the other two only watched the final seconds.
After 8 rounds the bout is even in my scorecards. Manny Pacquiao’s lip is bleeding slighty. Nacho Beristain tells Juan Manuel Marquez to pull his hands back for defense after throwing his combinations.
Round 9 Marquez accidentally hits Pacquiao on the back of the head. Both trade negligible exchanges then Manny counters Marquez perfectly. They rally until the end of the round with both fighters landing and missing a lot of shots. Pacquiao displays more aggressiveness so the commentator says he got that one. I agree but not with the same degree of confidence. My score: 10-9 PACQUIAO by a very slim margin. Now, the other two judges are with me. Robert Hoyle thinks Marquez also won this round.
Round 10 Marquez opens with a body shot and a 1-2 uppercut straight combo. The exchanges are fairly even until Pacquiao lands a strong hook. Marquez momentarily falls to the canvas and Amir says he might be hurt. I disagree. Referee rules it a slip. Marquez gets back up and both fighters go at it again until the bell rings. Manny seems bothered by a cut he got from the headbutt. Pacquiao threw more punches but Marquez landed a few solid shots of his own. Hard round to call but I will have to go for Pacquiao. My score: 10-9 PACQUIAO. It’s 10-9 Marquez if you’re Mexican or a Floyd Mayweather fan. Two judges agree with me. What’s this? Robert Hoyle is evolving. Into what? Into Mexican!
Nacho Beristain tells Marquez to be smart because Manny is trying to give him everything he has.
Round 11 I’m running out of things to say. It’s the same story. Both fighters exchange punches with Marquez landing his solid counters while Manny really showed his effort this round and tried to pull of a knockdown. I give it to Pacquiao because Marquez visibly took more punishment this round. My score: 10-9 PACQUIAO. It’s 10-9 Marquez if you’re Mexican or a Floyd Mayweather fan. Two judges agree with me. One judge goes to a strip club and throws some cash to strippers.
Round 12 Final round. Both fighters trade shots as usual. What do you expect? It’s a fairly even boxing match. Pacquiao drops his mouthpiece with 40 seconds remaining in the clock. Fight ends with both fighters going at it toe-to-toe. I give this round to Marquez because, you guessed it right, he landed more solid shots. My score: 10-9 MARQUEZ. Only Glenn Trowbridge agrees with me. I’m guessing the two judges gave this to Pacquiao for his flurries and intensity.
Guess what, my final tally is 115-113 in favor of Pacquiao. Rounds 10 – 12 could have gone either way. I hope this article sheds some light on why one judge had it at 116-112. Manny Pacquiao was visibly slower and this might be a green light for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to finally get in the boxing ring with him. Frankly, my belief of their future fight being a toss-up was shattered. If I were to bet my house then it would be on Money Mayweather. But as the boxing ring showed us recently, predictions can to go horribly wrong.
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