No doubt in Manny's mind

LAS VEGAS – After a grueling grind of 12 rounds, WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao is convinced he was the clear winner over Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here before a sellout crowd of over 16,000 last Saturday night (yesterday morning, Manila).

Pacquiao, 32, admitted he strayed from the fight plan previously agreed with trainer Freddie Roach and said it was because of a problem. He later confessed that the problem was cramps in his left foot starting the fourth round. The pain eventually eased and Pacquiao was able to mount a late assault to turn the tide down the stretch.

Despite scoring a majority 12-round decision, Pacquiao said he realized some fans were disappointed because of their high expectations. Whenever the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter battles an opponent, the fans expect nothing more than a convincing performance – either a knockout ending or a wide lead on points.

“Marquez is a great fighter, he’s not easy to beat,” said Pacquiao. “He’s a tough counter-puncher. I couldn’t be too aggressive because he would counter so I had to be tactical. I know I won the fight. I was the aggressor from the start. He just waited for me to come in. He never came forward.”

Pacquiao said he couldn’t care less whom he fights next and leaves the choice to his promoter Bob Arum. If it’s Marquez who comes across, Pacquiao said he’ll fight him again to extend their trilogy into a fourth encounter.

“I fought to bring honor to our country and I hope our people are happy with this victory,” he went on. “I know some fans are disappointed. I’ll admit it was a close fight. Our two previous fights were close, too. That’s because of our styles. But I have no doubt in my mind that I won this fight.”

Pacquiao’s Argentine cutman Miguel Diaz called it a heckuva fight. “If they want to do it again, why not?” he said. “If that’s what the fans want, then let’s do a fourth fight. Boxing needed a fight like this after that crazy (Floyd) Mayweather fight against (Victor) Ortiz and the (Bernard) Hopkins fight against (Chad) Dawson. This was a Freddie Roach kind of fight. They went at it from start to finish. It reminded me of one of Freddie’s classic brawls with Tommy Cordova.”