Marquez's last hurrah

Juan Manuel Marquez might’ve bit off more than he can chew. At least, in my eyes. Then again, this might be his last big payday before he becomes irrelevant. Not to mention, his first ever trilogy, which happened to be at the twilight of his career. This will be El Dinamita’s last chance to prove that he did beat Manny Pacquiao.

I’m not sure if his brains were addled as he continued to push for this third and last fight between them so hard. It seems he was oblivious to the fact that while Pacman found success in the heavier weightclasses, he has floundered. Big time at that. In his one significant fight, he got floored and outclassed by Floyd Mayweather. Manny? Why, he was the one who was bloodying, flooring, decking and putting his opponents to sleep. That’s the gap that now separates both fighters.

Then again, I’m not the one who wants to fight so why worry? I wonder how he’ll fare this time. Again, there will be no three-knockdown rule since this is a battle for a belt. Will he still prove that his resiliency is the best among the rest? Or will he drop like a stone once Pacquiao hits him with his signature left straight? Will he be able to keep up with a Pacquiao who is not the same fighter he claims to have beaten? What will he bring to the table now? Or will he even be the same old Dinamita?

The way I see it, he’ll be going down. Pacquiao is not the fighter of 2008. Back then, during their last fight, he had to reduce weight so significantly that it may have sapped his strength. Marquez was a natural super featherweight then. Actually, he still is; he may never have “grown” his body so to speak to be able to handle the rigors of the upper classes. Pacquaio? He’s tailor-made for it. Scaling down to 144 lbs would be a walk in the park for the Filipino champ whose natural fighting weight as it stands now is 147 lbs. For Marquez, putting up weight to his natural 130-135lbs frame would be a strain. He might end up slower than he wants, packing less of a punch. But I am not discounting the fact that he may get lucky. After all, there’s always that puncher’s chance.

It is my belief that Manny Pacquiao will dispose of this irritable person before someone can call it. The gap between abilities is just too wide now. Marquez will circle the globe thrice or more just to shorten it, figuratively speaking. Pacquiao won’t be as surprised as before regarding the Mexican’s counter-punching style. Manny knows that no matter how patient Marquez is, the gigil to score one over Manny will be immense. All he has to do is to goad El Dinamita to a brawl. And while we surely know that Marquez does pack some dynamite in those gloves, the accuracy and skill of a Manny Pacquiao throwing quick power punches in vital areas at unimaginable angles would definitely do it for the Mexican.

Power punches will be the tale of the match, mark my words. No one, I repeat, no one, can match Pacquiao’s crazy accuracy when it comes to landing those bombs. In his last fight, the power punches he threw were almost five times that of Shane Mosley, and he hit at an incredible rate. If this is the Pacquiao that shows up, and I’m 100 percent sure he will, this may well be Juan Manuel Marquez swan song.