Juan Manuel Marquez ‘now ready’ for Pacquiao

Photo by AP

MANILA—Hall of fame trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain believes he has devised a fight plan to finally shame Manny Pacquiao.

He said all his prized ward Juan Manuel Marquez needs to do is execute the strategy perfectly to exact revenge on the Filipino pound-for-pound king in their third showdown on Nov. 12 in Las Vegas.

In a recent interview with FightHub TV, Beristain surmised that it would take a “quick fighter, not fast with the hands and feet, but with the mind and reflexes” to solve the Pacquiao riddle.

The trainer said Marquez and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who are both regarded by fight pundits as intelligent and methodical fighters, can execute his plan.

Marquez nearly proved Beristain right in his first two fights against Pacquiao—in 2004, which ended in a draw, and 2008, which the Filipino won by split decision.

Beristain acknowledged, though, that Pacquiao has become stronger, bigger and a more technical fighter, making Marquez’s task of ending the Filipino’s five-year ring dominance doubly hard.

“Pacquiao is very difficult to beat,” Beristain told the Spanish TV show ‘Golpe a Golpe,’ in 2009. “If it was difficult before, imagine now.”