LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Philippine hero Manny Pacquiao celebrates, capturing the World Boxing Council super featherweight crown after dethroning Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in a 12-round split decision victory on March 15 at the Manadalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a rematch of a 2004 slugfest that ended in a draw, one judge gave Marquez a 115-112 decision while another saw Pacquiao the winner by the same margin. The third judge gave the bout to the Asian star 114-113. AFP PHOTO
(UPDATE 2) Pacquiao decisions Marquez By Francis Ochoa Agence France-Presse, INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 12:14:00 03/16/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is the WBC super featherweight champion of the world.
The Filipino stole the world title from Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez, leaning on a third round knockdown and a late charge in the match to win by split decision.
Dwayne Ford had it 115-112 while Tom Miller scored it 114-113 both for Pacquiao. Jerry Roth had it 115-112 for Juan Manuel Marquez.
The difference in a bout when both men were bloodied but traded hard punches to the finish proved to be a third-round knockdown inflicted by Pacquiao, who improved to 46-3 with two draws.
"I did my best. I'm happy because I won," Pacquiao said. "Marquez is a really hard opponent. I expected the fight was going to be hard. He moved fast. He had head movement and more counterpunches."
Marquez, who fell to 48-4, said he felt robbed by the decision.
"I thought I won. The decision wasn't correct," Marquez said. "I haven't lost anything at all. The people know who really won the fight. Decisions like this are disturbing. I believe I won the fight."
"I think I won the fight," Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao is expected to move up to the lightweight division and challenge US fighter David Diaz, the WBC lightweight champion who improved to 34-1-1 with a majority decision win over Mexican Ramon Montano in a non-title undercard bout.
"We have a plan to fight at 135 pounds but it's not yet fixed," Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao was expected to receive nearly $5 million from the pay-per-view battle with Marquez taking home about $1.5 million.
Pacquiao knocked down Marquez three times in the first round of their first meeting but the Mexican collected himself and rallied for a draw as one judge scored the bout for each fighter and the third saw the bout as a draw.
The rematch began cautiously. Pacquiao landed a hard left and evasive Marquez a solid right to the chin in a tactical first round and tagged Pacquiao with a hard left to the chin late in the second round.
But aggressive Pacquiao struck late in round three, firing a hard left hand to the chin with 20 seconds remaining. The Asian superstar staggered Marquez's knees again just as the bell sounded to end the round.
"Our number one plan for training was the left hook. I was lucky enough to hit it in that round," Pacquiao said.
With impressive upper body motion and footwork as well as powerful punches, Pacquiao continued to attack. Marquez answered by slowing the pace and working his right hand, often keeping the challenger at bay with counter-punches.
"We pressed and we hurt him three, four, five times," Marquez said. "Like in 2004, it's not just one round."
An accidental head-butt midway into the seventh round opened a bloody cut over the right eye of Marquez and seconds later Pacquiao pressed the attack with a furious flurry.
"It didn't affect me," Marquez claimed.
Pacquiao also received a cut above his right eye and Marquez opened it into a wide bleeding gash with punches early in the eighth round, trickling blood interfering with Pacquiao and allowing Marquez to dominate the round.
"The cut, it really bothered me. I couldn't see out of my right eye," said Pacquiao. "That's why I was so bothered. That's why I couldn't cover myself."
Pacquiao opened another cut above Marquez's right eye in a tight ninth round and began the 10th with a hard left to the body in a hard flurry, then reopened the gash above Marquez's eye while protecting his own cut.
The final round began tentatively but led to solid exchanges between the bloodied battlers in the last seconds, trading blows to the final bell that prompted each fighter to raise his hands in victory.
Pacquiao, 29, won his seventh fight in a row and improved to 20-1 since 1999, his lone loss a 2005 decision to Mexican Erik Morales. Marquez, 34, has lost only twice in that span, the other time in 2006 to Indonesian Chris John.
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