Pacquiao vs Marquez: Why Marquez Is No Easy Bout

On Saturday night the third installment of Pacquiao versus Marquez will commence.  After a draw in the first bout in 2004 and a split decision win by Pacquiao in 2008, Marquez has been on the hunt for another shot at Pacquiao.

Juan Manuel Marquez felt like he was twice robbed in previous bouts with Pacquiao.  He was even spotted promoting a third fight by wearing a shirt that read, "Marquez Beat Pacquiao Twice!" which got its fair share of media attention, but more importantly got Manny Pacquiao's attention.

All signs point to a big Pacquiao victory in this bout after Marquez's struggles in higher weight classes are compared with Pacquiao's ease in fighting at higher weights. The last two bouts were fought at featherweight and super featherweight where Marquez is much more comfortable fighting at 130 pounds or less.

Marquez even looked shaky against lightweight Juan Diaz despite coming away victorious.  Now he is being asked to fight at 144 pounds where he looked extremely slow against Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

The weight disadvantages are a serious cause for concern for those wanting another highly competitive fight like the last two offered.

There has even been word of Marquez failing to train as hard for this fight as he has in the past, this after he worked so vigorously to get another shot at Pacquiao.

All this leads you to believe it will be a landslide victory. Vegas sees it no differently, making Pacquiao an 8-1 favorite after he was just a 2-1 favorite in 2008. 

Still, after seeing these two fighters slug it out for 12 rounds the past two fights, I think Marquez knows how to fight Pacquiao and had the upper hand in a few of the later rounds in 2008.  Marquez knows that Pacquiao has gotten better since 2008, being only 32 years old while he has notably slowed a bit at age 38. 

Pacquiao will come in with the speed advantage and the power advantage and a lot of people liken this fight to Shane Mosley's attempt at beating Pacquiao this past May.  While the age is a concern for those in Marquez's corner, he did manage to go 12 rounds with Mayweather at 144 pounds.

There is a lot to be excited about leading into the third edition of this matchup and Pacquiao will not take it easy as he tries to clear up the discussions of who should have won the last two fights.  This is a fight that will largely write the story for Marquez's career and he will bring his all. 

Don't get caught up in the lack of training hype or the disadvantages that face Marquez because of the weight class.  He is a successful professional fighter who may be fighting out of his comfort zone, but he has a fire in him when it comes to fighting Pacquiao. 

This will again be a slugfest and Marquez has been right there with victory in his grasps each time.  He will bring everything he has to claim the victory he and many others believed he should have before.