Did the “Pac-man” extinguish the “Dinamita”?
Pacquiao stood at 5’6.5" with a reach of 67 inches, and weighed in between the welterweight mandated 140 - 145 pounds for the fight. Marquez was nearly equal, standing in at 5’7” with a reach of 67 inches as well, and he weighed in well within the mandated weight.
At the start of the fight, you could already feel the tension between the two world class boxers but something seemed off with Manny. He somehow was not in perfect fighting form and condition. He was being too safe, not the Pac-man we all knew.
We can see this after the first two rounds, clearly both fighters were trying to assess one another. Each was gauging what they were facing and what tactic each brought in to the ring.
In round 3, Marquez stepped up his game and threw rather accurate and direct combinations at Pacquiao which most of them connecting. By the end of round 3 Marquez seemed to have a certain feel of confidence in the ring.
By round 4, Pacquiao stepped up by throwing more punches but his attempts seemed to be less compared to that of Marquez because Marquez was still dominating him. This continued until round 9. Marquez gave him a variety of combinations which were very different from their last 2 fights; consequently Pacquiao was performing differently as well. He was not as aggressive, he seemed to lack his enthusiasm, his “drive in the fight”, if you will.
From round 4 through 9 Pacquiao seemed like he was just like waiting for Marquez’s attacks and was missing some if not half of his punches. He picked his game at round 10 after Marquez accidentally slipped. That seemed to wake up Pacquiao. He then started to play aggressively which he tried to maintain until the 12th round.
Concluding the 12 round bout between the two great athletes, Manny “Pac-man” Pacquiao was declared the winner by majority decision.
For me, I think Marquez deserved to win this fight. He gave his all and I think all those who watched the fight can attest to that. But then again I am not a part of the judge’s committee; I am merely stating my opinion on the matter.
If you ask around, you will get a split decision. Half would say it was really form Pacquiao since he was the aggressive one and was controlling the fight and the other half says that it was Marquez since you can see that he was the one throwing accurate and decisive punches. I personally am for Marquez, he was playing a tactical game, using Pacquiao’s aggressive behavior to his advantage and connecting punches which for me are an important aspect of the sport.
After all said and done, we all have to agree that these two great athletes are worthy to be remembered and to hit the record books of boxing. They have indeed changed how we shall perceive the sport. This fight is to be a topic for quite a long time. I salute these two incredible boxers for a fight well done!
