Manny Pacquiao: Juan Manuel Marquez No Longer in Pacquiao's League

There was a time, not that long ago, when Juan Manuel Marquez could hang with Manny Pacquiao in the ring. Unfortunately, those days are gone and all he has left are hollow memories of his previous two fights against Pac-Man. 

The first time Marquez and Pacquiao fought was in 2004, when Marquez was one of the best boxers in the world and Pacquiao was still coming into his own. The end result was a controversial draw, with one judge admitting to a scoring error that would have given Pacquiao a victory. 

The second time the two locked horns was in 2008. That fight was just as close as their first fight, but this time Pacquiao came away with a split decision win to capture the WBC super featherweight and Ring Magazine junior lightweight titles. 

Now, three years after that fight, Pacquiao has firmly established himself as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. 

Marquez, on the other hand, has taken on a lackluster group of opponents that includes Likar Ramos, Michael Katsidis and two bouts with Juan Diaz. To his credit, he won all of those fights. His only loss came against Floyd Mayweather in 2009. 

There was a time when Marquez was a better boxer than Pacquiao, but those days are long gone and he is just lucky to be in the same ring with a fighter of Pacquiao's caliber. 

The fact that Marquez is still claiming to have won the two previous fights with Pacquiao is not going to make things easier. 

Greg Beachman of the Associated Press notes that Pacquiao's camp notices something different about him in preparation for this fight. 

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Pacquiao’s trainers are sensing an unsettling edge in the Filipino congressman, who started an all-out training regimen with pre-dawn runs and lengthy gym workouts before the fight was even announced. The steady stream of bloody, beaten sparring partners leaving the Wild Card Gym testifies to a focus that nobody in Pacquiao’s camp has ever seen.

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Considering how strong Pacquiao is already, the last thing that he needs is more motivation for this fight. 

As good as the first two fights were between these two, Pacquiao is going to have no trouble at all disposing of Marquez this time around. 

It would not even be a surprise to see Pacquiao score a knockout in the later rounds after wearing down Marquez in the early part of the fight.