Close decision sparks debate

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao’s latest victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, devoid of the usual devastating KOs and one-sided show, has sparked debate among fans, some of whom were surprised that it went the Pacman’s way. 

“Wow, Manny still won! I’m glad he won but I feel for JMM (Marquez),” twitted Sinag Pilipinas player Nico Salva, who watched the fight in a restaurant in Indonesia where he and the rest of Team Philippines are set to see action in the Southeast Asian Games.

The divided views were illustrated in the “who won?” quick poll that boxing website fightnews.com conducted hours after the match. At presstime, 58 percent of the respondents called it for Marquez and 32 percent sided with Pacquiao. Ten percent of the site’s visitors deemed it a draw.

Some Filipinos, taking their bias away, would argue that Marquez got the raw end of the deal as the Pacman escaped with a close decision.

“Lutong macau” (rigged game),” shouted a resident in emerging from a house which charged P150 per person for viewing of the fight via PPV in Baguio City, a regular training hub for the Pacman.

“Great fight for Marquez. He dominated the fight from the fifth round on. Panalo dapat si Marquez. This is the first time in a long while that the crowd booed a decision in favor of Pacquiao. They knew the winner; it was Marquez,” said government employee Carlo Manuel in Manila.

Professor Jereh Opiniano concurred.

“The Filipinos who saw it knew that Pacquiao lost. And then one will score it 116-112?” he said. “We’ll still love Pacquiao even if he lost, anyway. But I think age has set in for him. And yeah (Floyd) Mayweather is one happy viewer.”

“Marquez fought four opponents, including the judges,” quipped canteen worker Eduardo Parcon,who also noted how ironic the “Undisputed” statement on Pacquiao’s shirt turned out with the “disputed decision.”

National weightlifter Richard Pep Agosto said Marquez did his homework in this fight, while Pacquiao lost some of the ferocity that characterized his previous outings.

“Marquez was well-prepared for Pacquiao. It also seems the Pacman has lost some of his sting, his punches were not as abundant as before,” he said.

One, pedicab driver Boyong Cruz, joked in Filipino that an investigation should be in order. “Congress should investigate why Pacquiao couldn’t knock Marquez out.”

Still, there are others who felt Pacquiao deserved the win.

“Very high expectation from all of us. Made it look like Manny lost the fight. Look at the punchstat this time. Manny clearly won this time. How in the hell will you give a fighter a Championship Belt without dominating a fight?” said one who goes by the username denvy1022 in the Philboxing.com forum.

“All Marquez did is wait for Manny; if Manny didn’t try to knock him out he will have no chance of counter-punching Manny and it will be a boring fight. Marquez is a great fighter but he’s out of his mind if he thinks he got robbed again. Watch the replay and you will see how many right hand Marquez ate,” he added.

“Marquez was backpedaling most of the time,” said masterjayR24 in the same forum. “Had he been aggressive, he would have won it.”

Statistics showed Pacquiao threw 274 power punches, connecting 117 (43 percent) as against Marquez’ 254, connecting 100 (39 percent). The aggressive Pacquiao threw 578 compared to Marquez’s 436 punches.

Pacquiao only landed 176 out of 578 punches (30 percent) while Mexican challenger connected 138 out of 436 (32 percent).

Such statistics, however, failed to convince most of the Baguio fans.

“We were entertained but were a bit disappointed,” said Irene Bungay who paid PPV (pay per view) for her family’s real-time viewing of the fight. “Last time, there was hardly an excitement.”

“We were entertained but were a bit disappointed,” said Irene Bungay who paid PPV (pay per view) for her family’s real-time viewing of the fight. “Last time, there was hardly an excitement.”

Through all these, OFW Archie de Guzman anticipates that a fourth Pacquiao-Marquez is in the pipeline.

“There will be a fourth, I’m sure,” he said.