Pacquiao vs. Marquez 5

Marquez still undecided about whether he’ll continue his career

marquez9025By Rob Smith: 39-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez still doesn’t know if he’ll return to the ring in 2013, as he’s considering whether to continue to fight or not, according to notifight.com. He’s still talking with his family about whether he should come back and perhaps fight one or two more times before hanging up the gloves permanently.

It’s going to be difficult for Marquez to retire right now with the lure of a fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao at the Cowboys Stadium this year. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum hasn’t yet talked to Marquez about his future plans, but you can guess that he’ll make a huge offer to get Marquez to continue fighting so that he can set up a Pacquiao vs. Marquez fifth fight this year.

It might actually be better Pacquiao’s sake if he doesn’t try and get Marquez to continue fighting because Pacquiao really doesn’t need another knockout loss like the one he suffered on December 8th of last month when Marquez knocked Pacquiao completely out in the 6th round. That was a knockout that could have some lasting negative effects for Pacquiao for the remainder of his career.

Arum could be making a mistake of having Pacquiao fight Marquez again, because even if it makes a ton of money for Pacquiao, Arum and Marquez, it could be the last big payday for Pacquiao if he gets knocked cold again. You would have to figure that Pacquiao would have a lot of pressure on him to retire after getting knocked out a second time.

Is Pacquiao losing now because he’s not training hard enough?

pacquiao4445By Brad Cronick: In looking at how hard Juan Manuel Marquez prepared for his recent 6th round knockout win over Manny Pacquiao last month, it seemed as if he wanted it much more than Pacquiao did. Marquez not only looked like he was in better shape than Manny, but he looked he was working a lot harder than him in training camp.

Pacquiao seemed to be strolling around the ring and one got a sense that he wasn’t really doing as far as he needed to in order to get in the best shape. Pacquiao’s physique looked soft compared to Marquez and we already know the outcome of the fight with Pacquiao getting knocked out.

British boxing trainer Joe Gallagher has his own theory with what’s happened to Pacquiao, saying to Philstar.com “Nothing can go on forever…He’s [Pacquiao] had distractions outside of the ring, his personal life and it may affect him, It’s just about making money now and when you’ve made so many millions, it’s hard to train hard.”

It’s hard to imagine what it’s like being Pacquiao because he’s not like any other fighter right now in terms of popularity. He is huge in the Philippines and to be such a big celebrity as him, it’s got to be difficult for him to get the same amount of motivation to train hard like he did earlier in his career. He’s making over $20 million per fight plus the other big money he’s getting through endorsements deals.

Arum confirms Pacquiao-Marquez fight for 2013

marquez811By Rob Smith: In an interview, Bob Arum confirmed what pretty much everyone already knew that he’s going to look to put his fighter Manny Pacquiao back in the ring with Juan Manuel Marquez in 2013 if he can put the fight together.

Arum said in an interview with TMZ.com “We’re gonna, I think, do another fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. That was a great fight. He [Pacquiao] ran into a really good right hand, and we’ll see what happens next time.”

What happens next time could be bad for Pacquiao. Arum is making a mistake by putting his fighter back in the ring directly with Marquez without some kind of test against a lower level fighter to see if Pacquiao can handle getting hit.

Marquez is going to be looking to KO Pacquiao with every shot he throws and he already knows he can hurt him because he proved it twice last time. I think Arum is under the impression that this is the same Marquez that Pacquiao was controversial decisions in two of the three fights prior to their last one.

Marquez is a much different fighter now because he’s put on a lot of muscle and he’s hitting much harder. Pacquiao may have been giving Marquez some problems in the 5th and 6th rounds in their last fight, but Marquez was going to get to Pacquiao sooner or later.

Pacquiao-Marquez 5 could be a tough fight to make; both of their wives want them to retire

marquez811By Marcus Richardson: Whether Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez end up fighting for a fifth time may rest on whether both of their wives will allow them to continue fighting. It’s no secret that Marquez and Pacquiao’s wives both want them to retire.

Pacquiao’s wife was stunned at seeing Pacquiao knocked cold by Marquez in the 6th round in their fourth fight on December 8th, and she’s worried that Pacquiao could badly hurt in a 5th fight. She wants Pacquiao to retire straightaway, although she’s leaving the final decision with him.

Marquez’s wife had an agreement from Marquez that he’d retire after the fourth fight with Pacquiao, but now Marquez is hoping to talk his wife into allowing him to fight one more time before retiring in a final fight with Pacquiao. So far, Marquez’s wife is reportedly still adamant about wanting him to hang up his gloves. He’s going to try and convince her in the coming weeks/months to allow him to fight Pacquiao for a 5th fight.

The problem with the two fighters is that they’ll want to keep fighting unless something or someone makes them talk. The competitive drive between these guys is too strong for them to retire when the interest in still there with the boxing public.

Pacquiao hoping to return to the ring in April

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao has no interest in sitting around and waiting until September 2013 before he fights again. Pacquiao reportedly is interested in getting back in action in April despite his 6th round knockout loss to his old nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8th of this month.

Marquez to make decision on whether to continue fighting

marquez412By Rob Smith: Juan Manuel Marquez riding high right now after knocking Manny Pacquiao out cold in the 6th round of their fight this month. Marquez avenged his two earlier controversial decision losses to the Filipino and did it in dramatic fashion by knocking Pacquiao completely out cold.

Marquez reportedly had promised his wife that the fourth fight with Pacquiao would be his last fight of his career and that he’d retire after that, but Marquez is now considering fighting on. For him to do that, however, he’s going to have to convince his wife, who wants him to hang up his gloves for good.

Marquez told the record.com.mx “I wish my wife would give the green light to continue and seek a fifth world title. I am trying to convince her.”

There won’t be any titles on the line for a fifth fight between Marquez and Pacquiao, so this would mean that Marquez is considering facing another opponent besides Pacquiao next year. The only one that’s a logical fit for Marquez is WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley, because he’s a Top Rank fighter and Bob Arum of Top Rank would likely go for that fight.

Mayweather Sr. worried Pacquiao might get knocked out again if he faces Marquez in 2013

pac53By Bill Phanco: Floyd Mayweather Sr. is advising that Manny Pacquiao stay far, far away from a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez next year. Mayweather Sr. is concerned that Pacquiao’s ability to take head shots may have been diminished with his 6th round knockout loss to Marquez recently, and thinks Pacquiao get knocked out once again if he makes the mistake of fighting Marquez for a 5th time.

Mayweather Jr. told Doghouseboxing.com “When you get knocked out like that, pretty much everything is over…Pacquiao is not going to be the same fighter he was…If he fights Marquez again the same thing could happen.”

It definitely could happen.

Pacquiao doesn’t think it will, but then again this is the common response for fighters that have been knocked out like he was. They often think they can go back in the ring and fight like they did before the knockout, but many of them quickly find out that they can’t take heavy shots like before without getting knocked out.

Ariza wants Pacquiao to adopt his old strength program before facing Marquez again

pac562By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza wants to get Pacquiao back on their strength training regimen so that he can increase Pacquiao’s strength and get him winning a again. Ariza thinks that Pacquiao has made a mistake by not following his old strength training with Ariza.

Pacquiao lost his last fight to Juan Manuel Marquez, who did a great job of increasing his own strength with his strength coach Angel Heredia.

Ariza has a lot of respect for what Heredia was able to do with Marquez with building up his muscle strength while keeping Marquez’s weight the exact same as it was. Heredis built up Marquez’s body and was able to replace the fat on his frame with muscle, which made him a much different fighter than he’d been in the three prior fights with Pacquiao.

Ariza said to Doghouseboxing.com “In a perfect world, I would want Manny to adopt the strength and conditioning program all over again from day one. Then I’d like him to have a tune-up fight to get familiar with that feeling again. After that then Marquez again and let me do my thing to help.”