MANILA, Philippines - Juan Manuel Marquez is going for the knockout because he believes it’s the only way he can beat Manny Pacquiao.
The crafty Mexican fighter said he wouldn’t let the fight, scheduled Nov. 12 in Las Vegas, to go through the scorecards.
The 37-year-old Marquez thinks he was the winner of his two previous fights with Pacquiao in 2004 and then in 2008.
The first one ended in a draw after one of the judges erred in calling the fight while Pacquiao won the second by a slim margin.
“When we fought, I landed more power shots, but the judges didn’t see it that way,” Marquez told www.boxingscene.com <http://www.boxingscene.com/>.
“To avoid all of this, it is necessary to knock him out and we will be fighting to do that,” added the boxer, who once wore a shirt saying he beat Pacquiao twice.
“It’s going to be difficult (to stop him) but it is not impossible. I already (beat him) twice, and the only difference here is the weight,” he added.
Their first meeting came at 126 pounds, and the second at 130. This time, it’s at a catchweight of 144 pounds.
The welterweight division (with a limit of 147 pounds) is Pacquiao’s current home, and Marquez will have to put on a lot of weight just to get there.
Marquez had only fought once at over 140 pounds, when he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr., and the result was a disaster.
But Marquez insisted that it could be done.
“I’m work(ing) to gain weight but with speed and power, and that’s what is motivating me to get up to run and to train hard.
“The fight with Mayweather, the experience helped me,” he told www.boxingscene.com <http://www.boxingscene.com/>.