Pacquiao vs. Marquez: Pacquiao Will Lay Rival's Excuses to Rest

When you're a fighter as respected as Manny Pacquiao is, you don't expect your victories to be discredited.

But that is what Juan Manuel Marquez has essentially done, wearing a T-shirt imprinted with "I beat Pacquiao twice" to one of his trips to the Philippines.

What actually happened in the competitors' first two fights was a draw and a split-decision victory for Pacquiao. And the draw was controversial. But that was only because Marquez hit the mat three times in the first round.

There's no debating that Marquez has been one of Pacquiao's toughest opponents throughout the years. Pacquiao may have a 53-3-2 career record, but Marquez was responsible for one of those draws.

That's why Pacquiao wants this fight just as much as Marquez: to simply shut Marquez up.

Since the split-decision victory in 2008, Pacquiao has gone on to win his next seven bouts, including the stunner against Ricky Hatton in May 2009.

Marquez has gone 5-1, with his sole loss coming at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision.

Pacquiao is simply one of the best there has ever been, and in my mind he's better than Mayweather.

A fighter like Pacquiao is head and shoulders above even someone like Marquez and it took some of Marquez's best fights of his career to stand toe-to-toe with the eight-division world champion.

There will be vindication on Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but it won't be Marquez proving he's the better fighter. It will be Pacquiao finally hammering it into Marquez's head that he will never be as good as Pacquiao.

No amount of T-shirts will ever change that fact.