Overconfidence brings Pacquiao back to earth
But Pacman won’t retire yet, fifth Marquez bout still possible
There are a lot of reasons that may have contributed to Manny Pacquiao's devastating knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez and chief among them is overconfidence.
Pacquiao himself admitted that.
" I got overconfident, but I never expected that punch," said Pacquiao moments after suffering the bitterest defeat of his career that without doubt has brought the eightdivision world champion back to earth. "He hit me with a good shot. That's boxing, sometimes you got hit. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."
Some of Cebu's revered boxing personalities shared the same standpoint, with ALA Boxing Gym big boss Antonio " Bidoy" L. Aldeguer saying that Pacquiao got a little too careless in that short, brutal moment that eventually saw the global Filipino sports icon kissing the mat for good.
"I think Pacquiao felt he already had Marquez's number and tried to end the 6th round impressive and got a little careless. He lounged at Marquez and got hit with a strong punch while coming in. Just what Manny said, he got overconfidence," said Aldeguer.
"Pacquiao thought he can knock Marquez out and along the way he became overconfident," said Cebuano ring strategist Edito Villamor.
Whether Pacquiao paid the price of being overconfident or Marquez was just fortunate enough to have unloaded that lucky punch, ALA Promotions president Michael P. Aldeguer said the Mexican punching dynamo deserved a hearty pat on his back for a job well done.
"Manny was winning, but got hit with a lucky shot in the last few seconds of the round. Manny was gaining confidence and fought well but too bad he got hit with a lucky punch. That's boxing. You have to give credit to Marquez. He looked powerful," said the younger Aldeguer.
In a stunning triumph that sent shockwaves to fight fans around the globe, Marquez landed a powerful right straight to the face that knocked Pacquiao cold with just one second left in the sixth round of their fourth showdown witnessed by a boisterous crowd of 16,348 yesterday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao landed hard on the canvas and laid there for a couple of minutes before getting up and returning to his corner. His wife Jinkee burst into tears while a shivering Top Rank promoter Bob Arum comforted her with a very tight hug.
The fighting congressman from Sarangani province, however, has indicated that retirement is far from his mind and that he is even open to a fifth match with his Mexican archrival.
"I am going to take a rest and after a few months, I'll be back to training and back to fight," said Pacman. When asked if he's still willing to slug it out with Marquez for a fifth time, he quickly replied:" No problem, but it's all up to my promoter."
And it looks like it will happen.
" This rivarly will go down in boxing history as a ring classic. If they want to fight again for the fifth time, why not? People love this action," said Arum.