Pacquiao vs. Marquez 4 Will Be the Same Old Tired War

There is almost nothing intriguing about an announcement of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez's fourth meeting in the ring. Per Dan Rafael of ESPN, it seems that very announcement is forthcoming.

Rafael writes:

"

Manny Pacquiao appears headed for a fourth showdown with rival Juan Manuel Marquez rather than a rematch with Timothy Bradley Jr., Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said Wednesday.

Arum oversaw the final news conference at Wynn Las Vegas for Saturday's Sergio Martinez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. middleweight championship fight, ate lunch and then dashed off to a meeting with Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz, who also is here this week.

The goal of the meeting, Arum said, was to lock down final terms for Pacquiao-Marquez IV.

"

It feels like boxing fans are being force-fed video of two guys playing a spirited game of tic-tac-toe, with each contest ending in a cat-game.

At this point, if one of them slips up and misses a square, I'm not sure anyone would really care.

Technically speaking, Marquez has never beaten Pacquiao, although many would argue that Marquez earned at least two wins in the three previous fights.

Their first fight was in 2004, and it was an absolute classic. Pacquiao dropped Marquez three times in the first round. It looked like it would be a very short and dominant night for Pac-Man.

However, Marquez regained his footing and confidence and devised a counter-punching approach that has befuddled Pacquiao ever since.

They fought to a draw with one judge scoring the fight 115-110 for Marquez, another giving the fight to Pacquiao by the same score, and a third judge calling it even.

Here are highlights from their first meeting:

The bottom-line decision wasn't preposterous, but a five-point gap was hard to see for either fighter.

After this epic battle a rematch only made sense, and it took place in 2008. It really shouldn't have taken so long, but it did.

The second fight was another classic clash. This time there was no lopsided first round, and each fighter had his spectacular moments. In my opinion, this is still the jewel of the trilogy. Pacquiao won a very controversial split-decision (115-112, 112-115, 114-113).

Here are the highlights from that fight: 

Because this fight was a great one, and because of the controversial decision, it made sense for there to be a third meeting.

Again, it took too long for the men to fight again. The third fight took place in 2011, and it was more of the same. It was a thrilling bout, but again Pacquiao took a disputed majority decision (115-113, 114-114, 116-112).

Here are highlights from the third fight.

One thing became clear in this last bout, and that was that it is almost impossible for either man to decisively beat the other. That is a great concept in most boxing matchups, but in this case it is tired and boring.

There is nothing really at stake for Marquez here. If he's defeated again it doesn't really matter; he won't lose any points off his legacy as it'll probably go down as another disputed loss.

If he wins it will offer some vindication, but people will say Pacquiao has fallen-off, and the win will lose some of its luster.

Pacquiao does have something to lose, but it's almost as if Marquez represents his safe house. When he doesn't want to fight a more logical opponent, like Timothy Bradley, he falls back on Marquez.

For a fight to be intriguing boxing fans need to care about who wins. Aside from the diehard Pacquiao and Marquez followers, I can't see the impartial fans being emotionally plugged into this one.

When fighters who are obviously at the end of their careers find an opponent that delivers a great show it's a great thing for the sport. Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward's trilogy was an example of that.

Both men knew they weren't real contenders by the second time they fought each other, but the chemistry and action in the ring made us care. That isn't what's happening with Pacquiao-Marquez.

Pac-Man has more interesting and meaningful options; he just isn't taking them.

This fight will be another competitive and spirited affair, but there are only so many times I can get excited about watching the same action movie.

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