Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
WBN Editor
‘Pacman’ now 2-0-1 against Mexican rival
Manny Pacquiao remains the WBO welterweight champion in an
edgy trilogy bout with world lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in a
fight that could have gone either way.
The 32 year-old looked out of sorts for the first few rounds
as Marquez, 38, frustrated the Filipino with his backfoot tactics and countered
the champion supremely to gain the upper hand in the first half of the fight.
Pacquiao came on strong in the second half after taking a tongue
lashing from trainer Freddie Roach who told him in no uncertain terms that he
was losing the fight and his title.
‘Dinamita’ continued to limit the eight-time champion to
only a handful of shots landing per round and could have easily won the fight
by anything from two to four rounds.
As it was, Pacquiao was given a majority decision in the end
to jeers from the crowd 114-114, 116-112 and 115-113 to retain his 147lb belt
for the third time in his two-year reign.
A forlorn Marquez walked disgusted from the ring after the
decision and avoided an after-fight interview with HBO in the ring feeling that he had been
wronged by the result for the third time.
I scored it a 115-115 draw after Pacquiao came on strong in the last
third of the fight.
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