Pacquiao, Marquez To Go at It for 4th Time

Ring Rivalry Spans Eight Years, 3 Disputed Fights

LAS VEGAS — By now, there’s nothing Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez don’t know about each other. After 36 rounds in the ring — many of which could have been scored either way — there’s not much fight fans don’t know about the two, either.

They’ll probably do 12 more rounds Saturday night, and if their three previous fights were any indication, the decision will be close. If styles make fights, their styles make for fights that can confound the ringside judges just as much as they do the people who pay to watch.

So what’s the intrigue of fight No. 4? What reason do fans have other than the possibility of Marquez finally winning to spend money for a fight that could be as predictable as the other three?

Maybe just because there’s a good chance you’ll never see the two ring generals battle each other again.

“I think this is the last fight with him,” Pacquiao said.

“Last time,” agreed trainer Freddie Roach. “We’re going to knock him out. End of story.”

That might prove difficult because it didn’t happen in the first three fights, and the general perception is that Pacquiao is beginning to slip, if just a bit. While no one is suggesting Pacquiao is still not a very good fighter, his last two fights were a disputed win over Marquez and an even more disputed loss against Timothy Bradley. The line in the Pacquiao camp is that the fighter wasn’t focused against Marquez last time because of domestic problems and that he was robbed against Bradley. They claim he has something to prove, especially if he is ever to get Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the ring, and has been ferocious in training camp.

“The fourth fight could be the same as the last three, but Manny’s hungrier now,” Roach said. “I don’t think Marquez has seen the best Manny yet.”

The rivalry between Pacquiao and Marquez goes back eight years, when they first met for the featherweight title and Pacquiao came out and floored Marquez in the first round. Marquez got up, only to go down two more times in the round, yet somehow managed to end the round on his feet.

Marquez would not only survive, but come back to dominate the later part of the fight. He salvaged a draw on the judges’ scorecards, the first of three decisions he felt unjustly favored Pacquiao.

They met again at 130 pounds in 2008 and the fight was almost as close. Pacquiao won one scorecard, Marquez the other, while the third judge favored Pacquiao by one point, giving him a splitdecision win.

Then they fought last year at 144 pounds, and Pacquiao won a majority decision that angered both Marquez and the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which booed heavily when it was announced.

“Everybody knows what happened the last few fights,” Marquez said. “I want to be more aggressive this time, but with intelligence, because Manny is a very dangerous fighter.”

Marquez brings the Hispanic audience, which should translate into higher payper-view sales, and he also brings a wellearned reputation as the one fighter who can solve Pacquaio’s somewhat unorthodox style. He might be an aging fighter at 39, but Pacquiao also has been showing the signs of his 17-year career in professional boxing.

And while Pacquiao is widely acclaimed as one of the great offensive fighters of his era, Marquez might be one of the best counterpunchers. All three of their fights have had tremendous action, and there’s no reason to believe the fourth fight will be any different.

The fight will be at 147 pounds, a full 22 pounds heavier than the boxers were in 2004.