Manny Pacquiao Out Points Juan Manuel Marquez

[blueeagle]

LAS VEGAS (AP)—Manny Pacquiao's rematch victory over Juan Manuel Marquez was worth every minute of the four-year wait.

Pacquiao won a narrow split decision to claim Marquez's WBC 130-pound title Saturday night in a sensational fight that left two of the world's best boxers bloody and triumphant.

Though Marquez landed more punches at a higher percentage, Pacquiao (46-3-2) knocked down Marquez (48-4-1) in the third round and persevered through a nasty cut. Marquez also was cut in the fight, but neither backed down from one scintillating exchange after another.

Their first matchup ended in a draw in May 2004. Marquez was knocked down three times in the opening round of that acclaimed bout, but improbably rallied to win most of the later rounds in a possible career-saving performance.

The rematch was just as tight—and every bit as exciting.

Judge Duane Ford favored Pacquiao 115-112 and Jerry Roth called it 115-112 for Marquez, while Tom Miller gave a 114-113 edge to Pacquiao. The Associated Press narrowly favored Marquez, 114-113.

But with outstanding action in nearly every round producing bloody injuries and heart-stopping moments, the fight was an appropriate matchup between two of the world's most gifted boxers. Pacquiao nearly had the fight won in the third round, but Marquez kept his feet.

"I thought at that point I was in control of the fight," Pacquiao said. "But when he cut my eye in the fourth round, he made it more difficult for me, and I couldn't take control of the fight. … I wasn't sure (heading into the 12th round), but I always treat the final round as the most important. I don't take any chances."

From the opening bell, the action was fast and frenetic at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Marquez staggered Pacquiao in the second round, but Pacquiao floored Marquez moments later with a left hook. Pacquiao then wobbled Marquez again late in what's sure to be one of the year's best rounds, but couldn't finish off Marquez.

"I don't like the decision," Marquez said. "I still feel I am the champion. It was a bad decision. That first knockdown, he got me cold, but then I adjusted my game plan and I thought from then on, I dictated the whole fight. … The people are the best judge, and the people are booing him. I won."

Pacquiao won a major world title in his fourth weight division, and he intends to take on a fifth when he moves up to 135 pounds for his next fight against David Diaz, the WBC lightweight champion who won on Saturday's undercard.

"I don't think so," Pacquiao said of a third fight with Marquez. "This business is over."

Pacquiao entered the ring to thousands of cheering fans and a Filipino rapper who incited the crowd with a live performance. Marquez had a white-suited mariachi band waiting for him in the ring, and his fans drowned out the sizable Filipino contingent.

After a cautious start, both fighters showed glimpses of their fearsome potential in the second round. Pacquiao won several tough exchanges, but Marquez wobbled Pacquiao with a three-punch combination in the final seconds.

The third round was nonstop action, with both fighters trading quality punches before Pacquiao put Marquez on the canvas with a left hook. Marquez was leaning against the ropes by the end, but wouldn't go down.

Marquez cut Pacquiao with a punch in the fourth round, but Pacquiao staggered him again in the seventh, and a collision of heads opened a nasty cut near Marquez's right eye. Marquez then split Pacquiao's right cheek early in the eighth, but Pacquiao kept charging forward to take punishment with his obscured vision.

Referee Kenny Bayless called a timeout in the ninth round to get attention for Marquez's bleeding cut, and Pacquiao landed a few big punches in the final seconds.

They traded quality punches until the final minute, when Marquez landed a handful of combinations to do the final damage. Both fighters' cornermen raised them in victory.

"It was a close fight, but we came back at the end," said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach. "It could have gone either way, in my mind. Manny followed him around the ring too much. He didn't cut off the ring like he should have. Marquez may have had a lot to do with that as well. Manny was more disciplined in training than he was in the fight tonight."

http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AnyTNKOeYCEgS...43674%26lang=en

Edited March 16, 2008 by blueeagle

[Old Man River]

Unfortunately, although advertised in the Sunday morning newspapers to be on Truevisions Channel 67 for Platinum and Gold subscribers, the entire fight telecast was canceled on Saturday evening due to contract problems. No notice or announcements were given to Truevision's Platinum and Gold subscribers, unless we called them on Sunday morning as I did. The fight between the Thai and "the other guy" on the undercard was shown on Thai TV channel 7. Once that fight was over, the fight telecast by channel 7 was over. Truevisions had nothing.

It sounds like we missed a great fight.

[mycarmen666]

Tickets to "The Dream Match" -- the 12-round welterweight super fight between six-division world champion OSCAR DE LA HOYA and boxing's No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter MANNY PACQUIAO -- will go on sale this Wednesday, September 24 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao will take place Saturday, December 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View.

Tickets are priced at $1,500, $1,000, $750, $500, $250, $150, not including applicable taxes and service charges. Ticket sales are limited to two (2) per person at each price level with a total ticket limit of four (4) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase atwww.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets will be sold via Ticketmaster phones and website only. There will be no sales at MGM Grand or any Ticketmaster outlets.

The De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.