The Mexican boxing legend Juan Manuel Marquez created the counter-punching blueprint on how to beat Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao in 2004 when they first faced off in the featherweight division.
Marquez was knocked down three times in the first round and the third knockdown should have actually been ruled a Disqualification win for Marquez because Pacquiao hit him when he was down but referee Joe Cortez let it slide.
Marquez like the warrior he is overcame the early onslaught by the one dimensional Filipino slugger and outboxed him for the entire fight, but ended up getting robbed on the cards and the fight was ruled a Draw.
Marquez would get robbed by the judges in fights two and three, and then finally in their fourth encounter he got the justice he deserved by knocking Pacquiao out cold ending their rivalry for good. If he couldn’t get a fair shake on the cards he had no choice but to put him to sleep so he wouldn’t get robbed again.
Erik Morales was the first Mexican to officially beat Manny Pacquiao in 2005 by pushing him back and exposing his inability to fight backing up.
Pacquiao went on to win two rematches with a weight drained Morales stopping him each time.
In order for Mikey Garcia to defeat Manny Pacquiao he must emulate the styles of Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales the two Mexican greats who exposed and humiliated a prime Pacquiao.
Mikey’s boyhood boxing hero is Juan Manuel Marquez and they share similar counter-punching ways.
Morales added aggression and bullied the bully beating Pacquiao at his own game exposing to the world that he can’t fight you when you back him up, he will just cover up and move backward until you finish punching and then try to attack you.
Mikey showed in the Jessie Vargas fight that he has punching power at welterweight and in the Errol Spence Jr. fight he showed that he can take a punch and has an iron chin.
The gameplan will be to time Pacquiao reaching in and then fire off powerful counters and combos like Marquez did. When Pacquiao drops his guard sneak attack him and push him back like Morales did.
If Mikey sticks to the gameplan and uses a mix of counter punching and smart aggression, he should have no issue in stopping the 41-year-old Pacquiao to win the WBA welterweight champion and become a 5-division world champion.
Big time boxing fan. Grew up in East Los, and been an avid follower of the sport and the legends like Julio Cesar Chavez, Vicente Saldivar, Salvador Sanchez, Carlos Zarate, Erik Morales, Ricardo Lopez and Juan Manuel Marquez just to name a few.
Current favorite boxers: Canelo Alvarez, Mikey Garcia.