|
|
On the other hand Manny Pacquiao of the Phillipines and moving up from the lighter 122lb. weight class looked like he was chiseled from a hard rock, "like granite". Their excellent condition suggested that this would be a highly competitive and fiercely contested encounter.
Marquez and Pacquiao are center ring for the referee's instructions and neither stares directly at or seems to challenge the other. Despite the pre-fight hype about Pacquio beating Mexican icons, Barrerra and Erik Morales and "blazing a path through Mexico", it's apparent that Pacquiao is not taking this fight lightly or underestimating Marquez.
The fighters return to their respective corners to await the first bell and seconds are out of the ring. Pacquiao is ready to go and already sweating lightly while Marquez is alert and intent while curiously not sweating at all. The significance of this detail would impact the entire course of the fight.
Round 1 - Marquez comes out fast and aggressive. He hits the southpaw Pacquiao with two fast combinations. Marquez fighting from the orthodox position seems to be a bit faster and more balanced with his two handed attack. Suddenly midway through the round Pacquiao tags Marquez with a straight left as Marquez moves back in a straight line. Marquez is shaken but not hurt and rises quickly. They engage and Pacquiao sends him down again with an identical left. Marquez gets up a little slower this time,but stubbornly engages Pacquiao again and tries to outpunch him. Pacquiao is on Marquez and he goes down heavily this time. He's clearly hurt and lays on the canvas face up and barely beats the count. He rises just before being counted out. He is bleeding badly from both nostrils, his nose clearly broken and he is badly hurt and hanging on as the bell rings.
Round 2 - Pacquiao comes out strong trying to finish the fight.Marquez bleeds from the nose but halfway throught the round he regains his composure and starts to tag Pacquiao with three punch combos as the round ends.
Round 3 - Pacquiao is slightly more aggressive. Marquez catches Pacquiao with several combos but still seems a bit unsteady.
Round 4 - Marquez seems recovered and edges the round with consistent right hand counters. His counterpunching style seems to be allowing him to control the pace and terms of the fight.
Round 5 - Marquez is starting to pick Pacquiao apart with hard jabs and stinging counters.
Round 6 - Pacquiao seems frustrated and put off by Marquez right hand counters to the body that sometimes stray below the belt line. The referee warns Marquez to keep his punches up and waves them together to continue. Pacquiao attempts to touch gloves with Marquez in a sportsman like gesture but Marquez ignores him.The intensity is cranking up again!
Round 7 - Pacquiao ups the tempo and reasserts control. He edges Marquez in this round by pressure and sheer force of will. Marquez seems to have abandoned his hard jab. Pacquiao is landing the same left that hurt Marquez in the first round, but he's eating those lefts and coming back for more. HBO commentator Emmanuel Stewart comments that Marquez can take those shots now because he's warmed up now and got caught "cold" earlier.
Round 8 - Marquez comes back to batter Pacquiao in the early part of round. Pacquiao battles back with a swarming attack and bone-jarring straight lefts down the middle. Marquez battles back and finishes the round strongly.
Round 9 - Good exchanges on both sides. Round is even.
Round 10 - Pacquiao is very determined and stuns Marquez with several hard lefts. Marquez tries to rally but falls a bit short. Pacquiao's round.
Round 11 - Pacquiao comes out furiously and Marquez fights him to a standstill and finishes each exchange. Marquez wins this round but misses a chance to dominate by not pursuing his advantage and attacking Pacquiao.
Round 12 - Both fighters are exhausted. Pacquiao attacks and Marquez counters. They blunt each others efforts. This is an even round and with the exception of the first round is a microcosm of the whole fight. Both fighters are clearly damaged. Marquez is slightly more hurt and it was hard for him to overcome the first round disaster. I think Pacquiao edged the match on the weight of his first round explosion even though he was clearly outfought in many subsequent rounds. Both men showed tremendous courage and condition and were "dead game". They should be proud to call themselves prizefighters and warriors in the most noble sense of the term.
It's amazing how a supposedly experienced trainer would allow his fighter, in this case Marquez, to come into the fight not warmed up and put into a position to be caught "cold". Congratulations to both fighters for a great match!
Official result: A majority Draw. Marquez keeps his World Featherweight title. Scores were 113-113, 115-110 Marquez and 115-110 Pacquiao.
Miguel Cotto vs. Lovemore Ndou @ 140lbs. - Jr. Welterweights
The warm up to the main event featured undefeated Olympic Silver medalist and Puerto Rican sensation, Miguel Cotto versus Australian, Lovemore Ndou.
The first couple of rounds were feeling out rounds with Cotto mostly circling and jabbing and Ndou following.
Rounds 3 through 9 were dominated by a vicious Cotto body attack. Mostly left hooks to the body and thudding right hands and uppercuts. Ndou did little but absorb the punishment and offer ineffective and feeble resistance, occasionally winging wild overhand rights.
Ndou came alive in round 9 as Cotto seemed to take the round off. Ndou connected with some hard lefts and rights. Cotto covered up. Round 10 and 11 were fairly even exchanges and Cotto is mostly defensive and countering.
Round 12 is more of the same until the last 10 seconds when Cotto briefly flurries with pitty pat punches to end the round.
Cotto wins easily by unanimous decision with an overall good workmanlike effort, but fails to impress as billed and fades in the championship rounds. Scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 116-112.
Other undercard fight results:
Super Middleweight
Antwun Echols, 161, took a UD by scores of 98-90, 98-92, 99-91 over Ross Thompson, 165.
Light Middleweight
Hasan Al, 155, scored a win via 6th round TKO over Candy Robertson, 155.
Super Featherweight
John Nolasco, 129, stops Arturo Quintero, 130, in the 6th round.
Lightweight
Juan Ramon Cruz, 130, and Adam Gonzalez, 133, fight to a No Contest after bout was stopped due to a head butt.
