Pacquiao vs. Marquez: Why This Will Be the Fight of the Year

On Saturday night, a fight that is three years in the making is finally going to go down.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will step into the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to do battle for the third and final time.

It may seem a bit premature to assume as much, but this is going to be a fun fight to watch. A big part of the reason we can assume this is because the first two fights between these two were classics.

The first, back in 2004, resulted in a draw. The second, in 2008, was another hard-fought battle that ended in a split decision for Pac-Man.

The hope, obviously, is that the third fight will provide us with a fitting end to one of the best rivalries in recent memory.

Pac-Man definitely thinks it will. Per the Los Angeles Times, he actually went ahead and made a bold promise:

Yup, you heard him correctly: "It's going to be the fight of the year."

I would normally write something like this off as garden-variety prefight hype talk. However, I actually find it easy to take Pac-Man's word for it. His promise is essentially the same thing as my very own prediction for this fight.

We know from their first two fights that Pac-Man and Marquez are evenly matched. Look beyond the first round of the 2004 fight and you'll notice that few of the ensuing 23 rounds between these two were particularly one-sided. Both fighters doled out plenty of punishment and took plenty in return.

Saturday's bout will feature more of the same, but it is also going to be different. Pac-Man and Marquez will going at it at welterweight, and I think you can expect to see some heavier hits because of that. In fact, that's a big reason why you're hearing Pac-Man's camp predict a knockout this time around.

That's another sentiment I happen to agree with. Given what Pac-Man has already done to Marquez in the ring, and how far he has come as a fighter, I do think it's going to be evident early on that Marquez is overmatched. Nonetheless, Marquez is going to keep battling, and he's going to get his shots in. Not many fighters have made Pac-Man look human throughout his career, but Marquez is definitely one of them.

Besides, Pac-Man isn't the only fighter who will be trying to prove something in this fight. Marquez openly boasts that he actually beat Pac-Man in the first two fights. If he wants people to take his word for it, he needs to beat Pac-Man fair and square. 

Make no mistake, there's plenty at stake in this fight. The fact that there is a welterweight title on the line almost seems like a secondary concern.

What really matters is that these two have a score to settle.