Pacquiao wins a Controversial majority decision

Juan Manuel Marquez (53-6-1,39 KO’s) boxed beautifully and exposed so many of Manny Pacquiao’s (54-3-2,38 KO’s )flaws, he made Manny miss his left all night long and countered those shots with clean punches of his own.

They fought to a twelve round draw in 2004, and Pacquiao won a close twelve round split decision in 2008. A very close round to start, with Marquez controlling the pace and being very aggressive. Pacquiao starting slow, which is making Marquez gain confidence. Marquez jumps in with quick combinations and steps away before Pacquiao is able to counter. They were starting to stand their ground and trade punches in the third. The rounds were close and Marquez was doing much better than anybody had anticipated. He was outworking the champion and fighting smart. Pacquiao had a much better fourth, but Marquez closed it strong with a rally of punches in the final ten seconds. Marquez started the fifth with digging hooks to the body and a big uppercut up the middle. They were trading away, but it was Marquez who was outlanding and outpunching Pacquiao. Marquez continued to target the body in the sixth and he was catching Pacquiao with punches down the pipe. The seventh started with a big counter hook by Marquez. They were exchanging plenty. Pacquaio just couldn't land his punches, and Marquez was hitting the target flush - time and time again. Pacquiao's body of work was a little bit better in the eight. Marquez still made it close and landed the more accurate punches. Pacquiao was pushing forward in the ninth, yet getting caught for his efforts. They started trading very hard punches. Marquez took Pacquiao's best and returned fire with both hands. The entire crowd, mostly pro-Marquez, was in a frenzy. In the tenth, they continued to trade huge punches. The action was heavy for nearly the entire three minutes. Marquez still had the edge with his accurate punching, while Pacquiao couldn't land a flush enough punch to change the course of the fight. The eleventh round was close. Pacquiao landing harder, while Marquez was still accurate and outworking the bigger man. A twelfth round filled with suspense and the aroma of upset in the air. Marquez was outboxing to hold his win, as a frustrated Pacquiao couldn't find a finishing punch.

Pacquiao vs Marquez: Final

The event was pure class save for the small moment of uneasiness when Bob Arum lambasted the HBO feature on the late Joe Frazier. 

But other than that, it went smooth as silk. 

The crowd of media people was enormous. It seems like everyone that matters amongst the sports media people was there. To the few who missed it for one reason or another I say you missed a good one. 

Bob Arum was still the same old man. He is nice when he wants too, a little braggart at times and acerbic as well. But, at his age and for what he has done for boxing, the unpleasant aspect can be pushed to the side. 

Bob’s best statement today that drew laughs was when he said “Before Pacquiao, all we knew about the Philippines was Imelda and he shoes.” 

Everyone who was part of the promotions spoke. Richard Stern of MGM, Keith Kaiser of the NSAC, Mark Tappet of HBO and Paco Varcarcel of the WBO. They said nothing that we have not heard before, but still it was a pleasure hearing them. 

Then the promoters took their turn. Arum for Pacquiao and Fernando Beltran for Marquez. Needles to say they both are proud of their fighters. 


The trainers Freddie Roach and Nacho Beristein spoke next- mostly saying that they both had good camps and their wards are ready to go. Roach said that there will be a lot of fireworks. 

Beristain on the other hand did not appear solid. He said “we will try to give a good fight.” 

What? 

Trying and doing are two different things leading this writer to think perhaps they are a bit intimidated. 

Marquez was straight forward. He said he is in the best shape and in effect ready to rock. “I will do my talking in the ring,” he said. 

Pacquiao on the other hand was seen scribbling his speech and he actually read from it. 

He said that this fight will be the last fight with Marquez- insinuating that the fight will be the defining moment of his rivalry with the man Mexico calls “Dinamita.” 

He praised his Team and that of Marquez and said he prays that no one gets hurt bad. Then he concluded his short talk by asking people to vote for the wonders of nature in Palawan, Philippines in the on going new eight wonders of the world competition. He also sneaked in a few words about his up coming movie. 

Frazier dies after fight with cancer

He was once a heavyweight champion, and a great one at that. Ali would say as much after Frazier knocked him down in the 15th round en route to becoming the first man to beat Ali at Madison Square Garden in March 1971.

But he bore the burden of being Ali's foil, and he paid the price. Bitter for years about the taunts his former nemesis once threw his way, Frazier only in recent times came to terms with what happened in the past and said he had forgiven Ali for everything he said.

Frazier, who died Monday night after a brief battle with liver cancer at the age of 67, will forever be linked to Ali. But no one in boxing would ever dream of anointing Ali as The Greatest unless he, too, was linked to Smokin' Joe.

"You can't mention Ali without mentioning Joe Frazier," said former AP boxing writer Ed Schuyler Jr. "He beat Ali, don't forget that."

They fought three times, twice in the heart of New York City and once in the morning in a steamy arena in the Philippines. They went 41 rounds together, with neither giving an inch and both giving it their all.

In their last fight in Manila in 1975, they traded punches with a fervor that seemed unimaginable among heavyweights. Frazier gave almost as good as he got for 14 rounds, then had to be held back by trainer Eddie Futch as he tried to go out for the final round, unable to see.

"Closest thing to dying that I know of," Ali said afterward.

Ali was as merciless with Frazier out of the ring as he was inside it. He called him a gorilla, and mocked him as an Uncle Tom. But he respected him as a fighter, especially after Frazier won a decision to defend his heavyweight title against the then-unbeaten Ali in a fight that was so big Frank Sinatra was shooting pictures at ringside and both fighters earned an astonishing $2.5 million.

The night at the Garden 40 years ago remained fresh in Frazier's mind as he talked about his life, career and relationship with Ali a few months before he died.

"I can't go nowhere where it's not mentioned," he told The Associated Press. "That was the greatest thing that ever happened in my life."

Bob Arum, who once promoted Ali, said he was saddened by Frazier's passing.

"He was such an inspirational guy. A decent guy. A man of his word," Arum said. "I'm torn up by Joe dying at this relatively young age. I can't say enought about Joe."

Frazier's death was announced in a statement by his family, who asked to be able to grieve privately and said they would announce "our father's homecoming celebration" as soon as possible.

Though slowed in his later years and his speech slurred by the toll of punches taken in the ring, Frazier was still active on the autograph circuit in the months before he died. In September he went to Las Vegas, where he signed autographs in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel-casino shortly before Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s fight against Victor Ortiz.

An old friend, Gene Kilroy, visited with him and watched Frazier work the crowd.

"He was so nice to everybody," Kilroy said. "He would say to each of them, 'Joe Frazier, sharp as a razor, what's your name?'"

Frazier was small for a heavyweight, weighing just 205 pounds when he won the title by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of their 1970 fight at Madison Square Garden. But he fought every minute of every round going forward behind a vicious left hook, and there were few fighters who could withstand his constant pressure.

His reign as heavyweight champion lasted only four fights — including the win over Ali — before he ran into an even more fearsome slugger than himself. George Foreman responded to Frazier's constant attack by dropping him three times in the first round and three more in the second before their 1973 fight in Jamaica was waved to a close and the world had a new heavyweight champion.

Two fights later, he met Ali in a rematch of their first fight, only this time the outcome was different. Ali won a 12-round decision, and later that year stopped George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire.

There had to be a third fight, though, and what a fight it was. With Ali's heavyweight title at stake, the two met in Manila in a fight that will long be seared in boxing history.

Frazier went after Ali round after round, landing his left hook with regularity as he made Ali backpedal around the ring. But Ali responded with left jabs and right hands that found their mark again and again. Even the intense heat inside the arena couldn't stop the two as they fought every minute of every round with neither willing to concede the other one second of the round.

"They told me Joe Frazier was through," Ali told Frazier at one point during the fight.

"They lied," Frazier said, before hitting Ali with a left hook.

Finally, though, Frazier simply couldn't see and Futch would not let him go out for the 15th round. Ali won the fight while on his stool, exhausted and contemplating himself whether to go on.

It was one of the greatest fights ever, but it took a toll. Frazier would fight only two more times, getting knocked out in a rematch with Foreman eight months later before coming back in 1981 for an ill advised fight with Jumbo Cummings.

"They should have both retired after the Manila fight," Schuyler said. "They left every bit of talent they had in the ring that day."

Born in Beaufort, S.C., on Jan 12, 1944, Frazier took up boxing early after watching weekly fights on the black and white television on his family's small farm. He was a top amateur for several years, and became the only American fighter to win a gold medal in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo despite fighting in the final bout with an injured left thumb.

"Joe Frazier should be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time and a real man," Arum told the AP in a telephone interview Monday night. "He's a guy that stood up for himself. He didn't compromise and always gave 100 percent in the ring. There was never a fight in the ring where Joe didn't give 100 percent."

After turning pro in 1965, Frazier quickly became known for his punching power, stopping his first 11 opponents. Within three years he was fighting world-class opposition and, in 1970, beat Ellis to win the heavyweight title that he would hold for more than two years.

It was his fights with Ali, though, that would define Frazier. Though Ali was gracious in defeat in the first fight, he was as vicious with his words as he was with his punches in promoting all three fights — and he never missed a chance to get a jab in at Frazier.

Frazier, who in his later years would have financial trouble and end up running a gym in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia, took the jabs personally. He felt Ali made fun of him by calling him names and said things that were not true just to get under his skin. Those feelings were only magnified as Ali went from being an icon in the ring to one of the most beloved people in the world.