Marquez is tough, Pacquiao admits

Manny Pacquiao, right, of the Philippines, hits Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez during a WBO welterweight title fight Saturday in Las Vegas. AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

LAS VEGAS—Manny Pacquiao came to his postgame press conference more than hour late than expected, forcing Bob Arum to rattle off monologues to fill in the waiting period.

When the pound-for-pound king—that status could take a serious hit soon—finally arrived, a cut above his right eye all stitched up, he said what everyone expected him to after a controversial majority decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

“It’s clear to me that I won,” said the 32-year-old Sarangani congressman. “That’s boxing.”

He has the CompuBox stats to back him up. The number shows he was the busier fighter, even if Marquez connected cleanly a lot of times with right hooks and uppercuts.

While Pacquiao understandably felt he triumphed for the second straight time over an opponent he just can’t seem to convincingly put away, the Mexican throng that helped fill up the Garden Arena to the rafters—the fight was a sellout with 16,368 in attendance—could not be appeased.

They booed the decision lustily, refusing to leave their seats and drowning out the on-ring interview that came after the fight. Not contented, they tossed debris at the direction of the ring. When Pacquiao was escorted under heavy security out of the arena, fans continued pelting him.

“I understand the crowd,” he said. “Half of the crowd was Mexican and half was Filipino. The Filipinos were happy with the decision but the Mexicans were disappointed. That’s part of the game.”

Pacquiao said that while it seemed like Marquez delivered the clearer connections, most of the punches were blocked. He also said he struggled with cramps during the bout.

“I felt so bad that my balance was gone,” he said. “I felt like I was flying when I threw punches.”

He did admit, though, that he had a tough time against his arch rival.

“It’s hard to fight Marquez because he always waits for me to create the action,” said Pacquiao. “He’s a good counterpuncher.”

Timothy Bradley, who scored a technical knockout against Joel Casamayor in the main supporting bout to retain his WBO junior welterweight crown and protect his undefeated record, said he understood the judges’ decision.

“Manny did what he had to do to win,” Bradley, who is in the running for the Pacquiao sweepstakes, said. “But Marquez fought a good fight.”

Marquez said he felt Pacquiao was a lot stronger during their second bout, which the Filipino icon won via a narrow decision, but admitted that he was always careful during the fight.

“I was never overconfident.”

“This is the second robbery of the two fights we had,” he added. “This one is more clear than the first.”

Pacquiao started out slow, allowing Marquez to build momentum in the early rounds before finally responding to urgings from his corner to start stepping on the gas. He did loosen up and threw stinging combinations, but he just could not tag Marquez cleanly enough to stagger him.

Roach said he felt Pacquiao squeezed enough from the last two rounds to turn the fight around.