Juan Manuel Marquez at the final press conference for Pacquiao-Marquez III.
LAS VEGAS—All that talk about Manny Pacquiao knocking out Juan Manuel Marquez has been milked dry from just about every angle.
So Marquez has decided to throw in a twist.
“My style is difficult for him and it will give me the chance to hit him,” the Mexican counterpuncher told international journalists Wednesday, when both fighters met the press one last time before their Nov. 12 (Nov. 13 in Manila) fight date at the MGM Grand.
“When that happens, I will also have the opportunity to knock him out,” said Marquez.
The two fighters collide for the third time in what could be the biggest bout for both future hall-of-famers.
Pacquiao has acknowledged it as one of his sternest tests, a match that could earn him close to $30 million including his share of the gate receipts and pay-per-view pie.
Marquez will receive his heftiest guaranteed paycheck of $5 million, plus his slice of the fight proceeds.
Pacquiao will also defend his WBO welterweight crown on fight night against an archrival that he has knocked down four times in two previous bouts but has never been stopped in his career.
It is that last piece of trivia that has the Pacquiao camp—well, everyone there except Pacquiao—talking knockout.
“I’m prepared hard for this fight and I’m not looking for a knockout. But if a knockout comes, then it will be a bonus for all the sacrifice I put in my training,” said the Filipino ring icon.
However, Marquez thinks it is just right for his camp to think about a knockout too. After all, even Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach agreed that Marquez was the last opponent to put together combinations that hurt the reigning pound-for-pound king.
“My style is difficult for him,” said Marquez.
The 38-year-old Marquez (53-5-1, 39 knockouts) has indeed held his own against Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) in their previous showdowns. After getting floored thrice in the first round, Marquez used his famed accurate counterpunching—solid, seemingly radar-guided combinations—to rally his way to a draw.
In their second bout, it was the same accuracy that nearly allowed Marquez to rally from a knockdown in the third round. Pacquiao won that one via a narrow split decision.
And there’s the oft-overlooked but inescapable fact. Marquez was the last fighter to unanimously win a round against Pacquiao.
Ironically, for a person who has raised hell on both halves of the globe just to stress the point that he got robbed of two victories against Pacquiao, Marquez told journalists during the final press conference for the bout that “I do not like talking outside the ring. I do my job in the ring.
“I trained hard for this because I want to give a good fight to the people, especially to Mexicans all over the world and to my country,” said Marquez.
Pacquiao continues to lord it over in the betting lines in this glitzy gambling haven, but Marquez refuses to be swayed by the odds, telling media people during an earlier conference call that the odds don’t mean anything to me.”
Several experts, however, including one-time Pacquiao victim Oscar De La Hoya, said that the Filipino ring superstar may be just too much to handle for Marquez, who has only fought at welterweight once before—and he ended up getting thoroughly beaten by Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The contracted catch weight for the bout is 144 pounds, three below the welterweight limit but still 10 lb more than the lightweight division where Marquez has lorded it over recently.