Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez IV: Preview & Prediction

by Geoffrey Ciani – When Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) squares off against Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KOs) for a fourth time this Saturday, boxing fans already have a fairly good idea of what to expect. After all, even though Pacquiao officially has two victories and a draw against Marquez, these two have essentially battled to a stalemate after thirty-six rounds of action. If their past three encounters are any indication, there is little reason to believe things will unfold much differently in this fourth installment. The natural order of these clashing styles seemingly demands a fierce and competitive contest, and there is a strong likelihood this will yet again prove true on Saturday.

The big question going into this bout is what, if anything, can either man do differently in order to secure a decisive victory? All of the previous matchups between Pacquiao and Marquez concluded with varying degrees of dissenting voices and perceived controversies, but this comes with the territory of pitting evenly matched combatants against each other, especially when they exhibit a vastly different set of skills and strengths. Is it realistic to believe that either boxer can make a significant adjustment that enables him to finally seize command? It appears unlikely, but the thing about boxing is that anything can happen when two men enter the squared circle. Even though Pacquiao and Marquez have surely each presented the other with his full bag of tricks, many times over by now, it is still possible that a subtle change in tactics can sometimes render amazing results.

Pacquiao vs Marquez IV – Firmly on the Fence

Pacquiao vs Marquez IV - Firmly on the Fence
By Paul Strauss: One boxing journalist had the audacity to say, “I’ve seen it before. I don’t want (need?) to see it again.” Think about that for a minute. Three great fights, all of which have involved some controversy and debate over who was the real winner, and just because the fourth fight is between the same two combatants, this numbskull doesn’t want to see it! He implies it will be tedious, irksome and lacking in interest! Bah! Humbug!

Most fans eagerly await the fourth fight, and would love to see a fifth snout and out bout, or however many times these two peerless, nonpareil fighters decide to lace on the gloves to face each other. That’s no crapola! Their fights come with a guarantee devotees will see boxing at its best and get their money’s worth of excitement. This journalist’s foolish opinion is nothing more than tommyrot. It’s beyond discussion. Discussion involves the exchange of knowledge, and this would be nothing more than an argument, a forced exchange of ignorance. Don’t fall for it. Don’t become flummoxed or addle brained into believing this will be boring. No way!

This is going to be another great fight, a beak buster! Much is at stake for both men. Manny wants to re-establish his worthiness as P4P and move back in line for a mega-million dollar match-up with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. JMM feels a win is necessary for him to remove all doubt created by those dastardly judges, who saw him as coming up a bit short in each of the previous three bouts. JMM has an urgent and admirable desire to leave a legacy of courage and greatness, and gain the love and respect from boxing fans that comes with it.

Pacquiao to make $25 million, Marquez $3 million for Saturday’s PPV bout on HBO

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao may be starting to show signs of slipping in his last three fights but that’s not affecting his paydays in any way as we see with his bout on Saturday against Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao will be hauling in a guaranteed $25 million for the Marquez fight, according to Yahoo Sports News.

Marquez vs. Pacquiao IV: Just the Facts!!

Marquez vs. Pacquiao IV: Just the Facts!! By Robert Jackson: This edition of ‘just the facts’ will discuss the merits of the fight including conditioning, trainers, skills and the like, so stayed tuned. This writer feels that even though both fighters have said they will knock the other out, both fighters have made a silent agreement with each other over 3 previous fights. This agreement – similar to the agreement that sparring partners have with the fighter they’re sparring with to get ready for a fight, prevents that sparring partner from doing anything more than giving the main event guy rounds and good preparation. In a sense both fighters have a sparring partners mentality at this point in their rivalry. Enough of that let’s get on with the analysis.

Trainers
Freddie Roach is a multi-time trainer of the year and counts among his charges Martirosyan, Kayode and others, but Pacquiao is his top pupil. Roach has taken Pacquiao from a one-handed fighter, to a well rounded fighter.

Long time Marquez trainer Nacho Beristain at this point is just a gameplanner, Marquez knows how to fight, and he knows how to fight Pacquiao. The training will be the same as it always was and the gameplan will probably be the same. Adding some bulk and strength for the 147lb weight class, seems to be the only major change they’ve made.

Advantage Trainers – Even

Pacquiao wants Marquez to go toe-to-toe with him on Saturday night

By Brad Cronick: Frustrated with his inability to crack Juan Manuel Marquez’s tough counter punching style, Manny Pacquiao is using a little psychology on Marquez by urging him to stand and trade with him on Saturday night if he wants to prove that deserves to be the better man.

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) is going to attempt to use an old strategy from his youth this Saturday night in trying to beat the 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) in their pay per view bout on HBO at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Pacquiao said to the sports.inquirer.net “I intend to attack him, pressure him.”

In his sparring sessions, Pacquiao has been overwhelming his less talented sparring partners in short four round sparring events. However, going all out in short sparring against over-matched sparring partners isn’t going to be the same as what Pacquiao will be dealing with on Saturday night against Marquez. He’s not a sparring partner, and this isn’t going to be a four round fight.

If Pacquiao goes all out in the first four rounds, he’s likely to gas out in the second half of the fight like he did against Tim Bradley last June and possibly lose.

“Old” and New Pacquiao: The Big “If” in Quadrilogy

"Old" and New Pacquiao: The Big "If" in Quadrilogy By Reni M. Valenzuela – Boxing longs for the “old” Pacman. But is there a basis to the longing?

What is especially good about the “old” Pacman that was missed in his recent fights and which causes the fans to yearn and buzz over deflated balloons when Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez is an old rival who “whipped” the career of an iconic boxer in the span of eight years, far less than what he did to the subconscious make-up of the same boxer known as Manny Pacquiao?

Will the longing be gratified? Or, better yet ask: Will the new Pacman fight the right fight with the right mindset next week, much differently from the ways of the “old” strayed one? Will the focused Pacman today allow the streams to go free-flowing for him with electric force abiding naturally in its course to electrocute doubters and put a closure to the controversial, long-running and “stiff” rivalry he has with Dinamita?

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza thinks Pacquiao is looking really good in his training camp for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez next month on December 8th. However, Ariza doesn’t see that as having a real meaning because he’s seen how Pacquiao looks good in training and then struggles when he gets in the ring with Marquez.

Ariza said to the Boxing Channel “I think Manny always looks good in camp, but then it comes to fight night, he falls apart.”

Roach needs to change Pacquiao’s game around to make his fighting style a little less predictable because Marquez has said that he knows what Pacquiao is going to do in the ring. Pacquiao does the same things over and over again, and that is part of his problem in his fights against Marquez.

Ariza says that Pacquiao isn’t following the old strength and conditioning program that Ariza had for him in the past when Pacquiao was at his best. Pacquiao stopped following the program after his win over Miguel Cotto in 2009, and since then he’s stepped back and not had the full program.

By Rob Smith: Freddie Roach is suddenly suspicious about the muscle growth of Juan Manuel Marquez as he heads towards a fourth fight with Manny Pacquiao on December 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roach suspects that Marquez may have built his impressive physique by other than natural means.

Roach told usatoday.comK/u> “If [Marquez’s body] is natural, I will kiss his a**. [Marquez] has gotten bigger and gained weight. It throws up a red flag.”

Roach has nothing to go on with this, and seems to be just reaching out of nowhere on this. Marquez has never failed any tests in the past for performance enhancing drugs, and he’s really not put a whole of muscle. He started at 135, and has merely put on less than 10 pounds in the past year. That’s hardly the sign of a fighter using performance enhancing drugs.

Marquez hired a strength and conditioning coach Angel Hernandez, who has done a good job of helping Marquez build up his physique with resistance exercises. Hernandez is quite good at his job, and he’s worked wonders with Marquez.

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Juan Manuel Márquez / Nacho Béristain Interview Transcript

Juan Manuel Márquez / Nacho Béristain Interview Transcript TODD duBOEF: Welcome everybody. Welcome champion Juan Manuel Márquez, Fernando Beltran and Hall of Fame trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Béristain. Juan Manuel’s media day was in México last week and the reports say that Juan Manuel has never looked this good. We all know what has happened over the years and how this is a legendary match-up and I think it’s really important for everyone to speak to Juan Manuel and Nacho about their strategy and before I do that I would like to introduce Fernando the co-promoter of Juan Manuel

FERNANDO BELTRAN: Welcome and I think what Todd says is absolutely true. This is a unique rivalry and the most important match of the year without a doubt. We are going to close the year on the right foot. Juan Manuel is world champion in four weight classes and has never looked this good. Everybody knows about the controversy in the last fight. It was good for Manny Pacquaio to take this fight to clear everything up and let’s see who the best man is on December 8.