Column: ALL WRITE

 

AL S. MENDOZA

PAST, PRESENT
ADD SPICE TO
PACQUIAO FIGHT 
 

IF there’s one person that Juan Manuel Marquez would love to hate forever, it’s not Manny Pacquiao.

Tom Miller, it is.

The hatred started on March 15, 2008.

Remember that day?

It was on that day when Pacquiao snatched a split-decision victory over Marquez after the two had fought to a draw in May of 2004.

Miller was one of the three judges for the closely-fought encounter.

The first scorecard read after the fight was that of Duane Ford’s, which gave Pacquiao a 115-112 victory.

The second scorecard belonged to Jerry Roth, who gave Marquez a similar 115-112 victory.

The world waited with bated breath for Miller’s deciding scorecard to be read.

When it was finally announced—Miller giving Pacquiao the split decision triumph with his 114-113 tally—the Pacquiao camp erupted in tumultuous joy.

An obviously dejected Marquez couldn’t conceal his dismay and snickered out of the arena, hissing, possessed with enmity and acrimony which he carries up to this day.

The Mexican continues to this day to believe that he didn’t only win in 2008 but also in 2004. 

He went as far as wearing a T-shirt proclaiming “We Wuz Robbed” when he came to visit the Philippines months later.

If that wasn’t rude, I don’t know what is.

But to Marquez’s credit, he did a creditable performance in both fights.

It takes a lot of guts to survive three knockdowns right in the first round in their 2004 fight and still manage to pull off a draw.

What was amazing about Marquez was, when he recovered his bearings, he stayed brand-new from the second up to the 12th and last round.

A boxer of lesser stuff could have easily fallen for good in any of the succeeding rounds.

And, in their 2008 fight, Marquez kissed the canvas in the third.  Again, amazingly, he rose and even engaged Pacquiao in a toe to toe combat as the world saw some of the fiercest exchanges ever in boxing.

Against Pacquiao in the last seven years or so, nobody survives the way Marquez did.

But somehow, the years of boxing might have taken its toll on Marquez, who is 38 now.

Pacquiao is 32 and is at the peak of his career.

The age gap might spell the difference—finally.