Rather than again face WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley or powerful Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquiao has decided to fight Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time on Dec. 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev.
The 33-year-old Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) won an extremely debatable majority decision over Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KOs) in their third scrap last Nov. 12 in “Sin City.”
In his most recent bout, “The Fighting Pride of the Philippines” had his WBO welterweight title unwittingly stolen by the 28-year-old Bradley (29-0-01, 12 KOs), presently rated by Ring Magazine as the eighth pound-for-pound pugilist in the world, when criminally incompetent judges handed him a split decision in June.
Roger “Pit” Perron is a venerable boxing trainer from Brockton (Mass.) who now works with Mike and Rich Cappiello at their gym, Cappiello Brothers Boxing and Training.
“The fight was an absolute disgrace,” said Perron, 75, who worked in the 1980s with International Boxing Hall of Famer Marvelous Marvin Hagler at the Petronelli Brothers Gym. “Corrupt officials and decisions like that one are destroying boxing.”
Conversely, the 38-year-old Marquez, who has captured eight belts in six different weight classes and is currently ranked by Ring Magazine as the sixth preeminent prizefighter today, last vacated the squared circle in April with a lopsided unanimous decision triumph over Ukrainian Serhiy Fedchenko in Mexico City.
Jeff Lyons is a boxing fanatic who possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of The Sweet Science.
Lyons raved about Marquez and hailed him as one of the better boxers to ever enter the ring.
“Boxing legend, period,” said Lyons, 32, a resident of South Boston. “One of the top 10 Mexican fighters of all time for certain. Marquez would fight a man in a telephone booth.”
In another rugged affair roughly three months from today, expect Pacquiao to finally overcome Marquez in a decisive manner in “The Entertainment Capital of the World.”
Following “Pac-Man’s” overdue dominant showing vs. Marquez, wrongly starved boxing fans will continue waiting in vain for an epic match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
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