Sunday, December 9, 2012

Marquez KO’s Pacquiao in 6th.

Reuters
Welterweights Manny Pacquiao, left, and Juan Manuel Marquez pose during a news conference Wednesday in Las Vegas.


The Journal provides minute-by-minute analysis of Juan Manuel Marquez’s sixth-round knockout of Manny Pacquiao. Gordon Marino is at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to offer commentary on the fourth fight between the two.
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    • Welcome to the Wall Street Journal's live blog of the fourth meeting between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
      The Pacman (54-4-2, 38 KOs) is the only boxer to win titles in eight different weight divisions and was named fighter of the decade by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Marquez  (54-6-1, 39 KOs) has won titles in four weight divisions and is of course a boxing icon and national hero in Mexico.
      Just a refresher on the history. The two gladiators first met in 2004 at the 126-pound limit. Pacquiao’s powerful left put Marquez on the canvas three times in the first round. A less experienced referee would have stopped the contest right then and there, but Joe Cortez saw that Marquez had his wits about him and let the fight continue. Boxing history would be a lot different today if Cortez had halted the bout! But Marquez regrouped and went on earn a draw.
      The two rivals fought again in 2008 and 2011 -- both were very close fights, which ended with Pacquiao copping controversial decisions.
      Marquez firmly believes that he won all three fights -- and most especially their last meeting.
      Last year, Pacquiao lost his WBO welterweight title to Timothy Bradley in what many believed was a terrible decision. I had the Pacman ahead by two rounds -- so didn’t see it as quite the robbery that some did, but by his own admission this was not Manny at his best. He looked slow and off balance a lot of the time. He was unable to put two combinations together in sequence. But you also have to give credit to Bradley in that fight -- he was very busy and elusive and fought much of the fight with a broken bone in his foot.
      In his last three outings, Pacquiao has not looked quite like the fighter he was when he beat Oscar De La Hoya. But then again, he now has a problem he might not have had a few years back. Everyone who gets into the ring with him fights him going in reverse.
      Pacquiao has a very heavy and sleep-inducing left -- which is bullet-fast -- and again everyone is wary of catching that bullet. Since he has been working with Freddie Roach, Pacquiao has also developed a crushing right hook, which he is very capable of dropping over his opponent’s jab. When he is on his game, he will follow his straight left with that right hook, and slip out to the side and out of harm’s way.
      As for Marquez, he is a master boxer, with great balance and timing. Years back, Freddie Roach confided that the one guy he didn’t want Manny to face again was Marquez. Why? Because as Freddie put it, “Marquez knows how to fight lefties and he is able to time Manny.”
      Once again, Marquez and his trainer Nacho Beristain thought they has been taken to the cleaners in their last meeting. Not that punch counts tell the whole story but according to Compubox, Pacquiao scored significantly more shots and he outlanded Marquez in eight of the 12 rounds.
      Going into the 11th round, Beristain told his man that he was winning the fight -- Marquez took his foot off the pedal in those last two stanzas and it may have cost him the nod. This time he vows he is going to be more aggressive. If so, he also has to be willing to put himself at substantially more risk. And while Marquez has had success in nailing Manny with right-hand leads and counter rights, he has also been nailed and decked by Pacquiao. So he has to turn up the heat and yet proceed with caution. Marquez came in at a ripped 143 lbs. He is very beefed up for this bout.
      In my opinion, Marquez, who is 39, will need all the speed that he can muster against Pacquiao and bigger biceps are not going to help him.
      In the past few bouts, Pacquiao -- who is a congressman in the Philippines and doing about 90 different things -- seems to have lost some of his zest for the sweet science. There hasn’t been the glee in his eyes that you could see when he fought De La Hoya and Hatton., But based on a couple of interviews, I think that he is really up for this one -- that he really feels that he has something to prove this fourth time around.
      However, there has been a terrible typhoon, Typhoon Bohpa, in his home district in the Philippines -- with hundreds killed. He is trying to deal with that on personal level and also as a congressman. It is a lot for him to think about but Manny is a master of compartmentalization -- and he has dedicated the fight to the victims of the storm.
      The weigh-in yesterday was a circus, with maybe ten thousand screaming fans there. Mike Tyson was there the whole time. Fifty Cent was there -- he has a signed a number of fighters such as Andre Dirrell and Yuri Gamboa, who will be fighting in the 12-rounder just before the main event.
      Pacquiao came in at 147 and Marquez at 143. Both of them have washboard abs and looked as though they could compete in a body building contest. No question -- both men are in superb condition. They both have a 67-inch reach; Marquez is half an inch taller at 5-foot-7.  So no big size differential.
    • We're in the last round of the Gesta-Vazquez bout; Farenas will then be fighting Gamboa in a 12-rounder followed by  the main event. So we have about an hour before Pacquiao-Marquez, around midnight Eastern time.
    • I talked with Mike Tyson after the weigh-in Friday and then again that night at a party for the kickoff of his Mike Tyson Cares Foundation, a foundation put together to help kids who are in the kind of dire and dangerous straits that marked the beginnings of Mike’s life.
    • Gamboa won a unanimous decision over Farenas to retain his title. Gamboa is Fifty Cent's guy and he got all that he could handle from the very tough Filipino. What a fight. Boxing, punching, determination everything a fan could ask for.
    • The honor guard is coming into the ring. The crowd is chanting for Manny. The place is packed and the energy is insane. We'll have three national anthems -- the first is Mexico's.
    • The Phillippine national anthem now . . .
    • The Star Spangled Banner, sung by Lorena Peril
    • The place is going crazy -- showing classic fight Frazier/Ali on the big screen.
    • Stobe light show going on; the place is like a circus.
    • The crowd is in a lather as they show clips of Pacquiao and Marquez.
    • The crowd is so worked up, it's as if the roof is going to come off.  There was a lot of talk before the fight about the possibility of there not being a lot of excitment tfor this fight, but it's clear that talk was wrong. Marquez is on the way into the ring and his fans are going beserk.
    • Manny is getting ready to come out now. The champion always comes out second, so I guess Manny is considered the champ here.
    • There is not an empty seat in the house and you can't hear yourself think.
    • Here comes Pacquiao. He's smiling, looks relaxed, waving to the crowd.
    • Pacquiao is praying in the corner as he always does before a fight. Michael Buffer is making the announcements.
    • Buffer is introducing the judges. None of the judges from the last fight are working tonight.
      LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!
    • Marquez is wearing black trunks and Pacquiao in grey trunks. They're in the center of the ring now. Here we go...
    • They're in their corners.  Pacquiao looks really ready to go. Pacquiao lands a left, very active Marquez throws left hook and misses. Pacquiao lands a left. Pacquiao moving in, looking very determined, lands a right hook. Marquez throws right hook to the body. Pacquiao moving his head well, Marquez throws left hook to the body. Pacquiao lands a hook to the head.
    • Marquez jabbing now. Marquez misses, then lands left to body. Pacquiao lands left to the head. Marquez misses  with a hook. Pacquiao moving to his left, throws an uppercut. They tie up.  Pacquiao shows a lot of aggressiveness this round.
      Round  to Pacquiao 10 - 9
    • Center ring, Marquez misses with lead left hook. Pacquiao showing a lot of lateral movement. Lands a jab. It's a jabbing content right now.
      Pacquiao misses with lead left, lands left to the body. Pacquiao lands an overhand left, straight left.
    • Pacquiao lands a lead left. Overhead left by Pacquiao. Marquez misses with a hook. Marquez lands a right, then a jab. Great action. Marquez lands left to the body. then exchange power punches. Pacquiao lands a combination. Marquez lands right to body.
      10-9 Pacquiao.
    • Pacquiao looks more determined than I've seen him in a long time. Marquez throws lead left, Pacquiao catches it..
      Lot of feinting, Pacquiao throws left to the body. Pacquiao lands 1-2 combination followed by left to the head.
    • Marquez throws left to body but it's low. Pacquiao is DOWN with a with a wide right. Pacquiao up and trying to survive the round!
      Pacquiao lands a left, Marquez is being very careful. What a knockdown. Marquez lands a combination. Big exchange.
      10-8 for Marquez. WHAT A ROUND!
    • Center ring. Marquez hurt Pacquiao last round, but being careful. It was a wide right hook to Pacquiao's temple.
      Pacquiao looking more tentative now. Marquez throws a hook but looks like he's trying to set up his right hand again.
      Lands a straight right. Pacquiao lands a left, looks recovered. Exchanging jabs. Pacquiao misses with a hook. Marquez throws a 1-2 combination. Marquez lands a jab.
    • Marquez lands a jab. Pacquiao lands left to the head, lands a left and combination. Crowd chanting "Mar-quez." Pacquiao lands jabs, Marquez landsds a wide right.
      Round to Marquez 10-9.
    • Marquez has really found a spot for that wide right hook, which is a great punch to throw against a southpaw.
      Pacquiao lands left to the head. Pacquiao lands a 1-2 combination but is not following up with a third punch.
      PACQUIAO KNOCKS DOWN MARQUEZ WITH A STRAIGHT LEFT.
    • Marquez comes back withth a powerful right. Pacquiao lands another straight left. Pacquiao lands a right hook. Marquez is hurt. Marquez is on the ropes. What a fight! Pacquiao lands a big left, going in for the kill. Marquez lands a right. Marquez is hurt. One of the most unbelievable rounds i've ever seen.
      10-8 Pacquiao
    • This fight can't go on like this. Pacquiao throws in the distance, lands a jab, Marquez is bleeding.
      Pacquiao lands a combination. Marquez comes back with a right and then a left. Pacquiao knocks Marquez's mouthpiece, Marquez misseses withth big right.
    • Marquez throws wide right. Marquez lands a right hook, Pacquiao lands left to the head.
      Marquez lands a right, Pacquiao lands left-right combination. Marquez throws wide right, Pacquiao catches it.
      The excitment is almost too much. Pacquiao lands huge combination -- PACQUIAO IS KNOCKED OUT AT THE END OF THE ROUND.
      HE'S STILL DOWN, FACE DOWN. MARQUEZ HIT HIM WITH A RIGHT HAND AT THE BELL
    • Pacquiao is still down!!! This was a very scary knockdown. His wife is in the ring crying.
    • Pacquiao now sitting up. Marquez is over talking with him, hugging him.
      It was a right hand to Pacquiao as he was coming in, then lights out.
    • Buffer announces the result: 2 minute, 59 second KO victory for Marquez!!
    • This was an absolutely remarkable fight that went back-and-forth with very heavy blows. They  both promissed to be more aggressive and they were very much more aggressive. You know that Pacquiao has to be in a serious fog after that knockout -- it was very scary.
    • They're interviewing these epic fighters in the ring right now. These two men carry the weight of nations on their backs -- they're national heroes. It would be hard for some people to understand how much they mean to their countrymen and women.
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