Pacquiao vs. Marquez: Bold Predictions for Pac-Man and the Undercard

Pacquiao-Marquez III for the WBO Welterweight title is just a day away now. Redemption for Marquez is just around the corner. A chance for Pacquiao to dominate Marquez and erase questions from the last two fights is looming. 

First though, there are plenty more fights going on in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas before the final installment of the Pacquiao-Marquez thriller. Let's take a look at who's fighting and who is going to come out on top.

Victor Pasillas vs. Jose Garcia—Featherweights (4 rounds)

Pasillas comes in with the upper hand with a 4-2 record with two knockouts. Garcia has fought only three professional fights, losing each time and being knocked out twice. Still, both fighters are making a move up to Featherweight—the move from Super Flyweight to Featherweight is a big one for Pasillas. Garcia is only moving up from Super Bantamweight and has a slight advantage with the weight and will have his chance to deliver Pasillas his third consecutive loss.

Jose Benavidez Jr. vs. Sammy Santana—Junior Welterweights (6 rounds)

Santana comes in with a big advantage in age being 26 years old against the 19-year-old Benavidez, but the experience is certainly on Benavidez' side. Benavidez is a perfect 13-0 with 12 knockouts. Santana, on the other hand, is 4-4 but has won his last two fights. I've got the kid continuing to throw powerful punches in this six-round bout and getting another win.

Fernando Lumacad vs. Joseph Rios—Junior Bantamweights (8 rounds)

Lumacad comes into this fight having knocked out three straight opponents en route to his 24-3 record. On the night highlighted by Filipino star Manny Pacquiao, fellow Philippine-native Lumacad will get it started for his country with another big win over Rios, who has fought unbeaten in his last four fights himself.

Dennis Laurente vs. Ayi Bruce—Welterweights (8 rounds)

The 25-year-old Bruce comes in with a 20-4 record and has made it through some stiff competition lately. He will get another test against Laurente, who has won 16 straight decisions dating back to 2006. Laurente, also from the Philippines, will have his hands full against an accomplished Bruce who is 11 years his junior. I've got Bruce withstanding early pressure and winning this one after eight rounds.

Luis Cruz vs. Juan Carlos Burgos—Junior Lightweights (12 rounds)

This ought to be a good one, Luis Cruz is 19-0 and ranked No. 13 in the world, and Burgos is 27-1 and ranked No. 21. Burgos is coming off a recent loss in Japan two fights ago. I'm going to go with Cruz who has yet to lose and knocked out 15 of his 19 opponents.

Mike Alvarado vs. Breidis Prescott—Junior Welterweights (10 rounds)

The 31-year-old Alvarado is a perfect 31-0 and will fight Colombia's No. 1 fighter Prescott, who is an impressive 24-3. Prescott has dropped three of his last six after a perfect start. The superior competition has given him some problems lately, and he will drop this one to Alvarado as well.

Timothy Bradley Jr. vs. Joel Casamayor—Junior Welterweights  (12 rounds)

The 40-year-old Cuban Casamayor is 38-5 but has dropped two of his last four fights. One of those losses was to Marquez who is the night's headliner. In that bout, Casamayor was knocked out in the 11th round. Now, he will challenge Bradley for his Junior Welterweight title. Bradley is a perfect 27-0 and has beaten three straight undefeated fighters en route to claiming his WBO title. Bradley is 12 years younger than Casamayor and often goes the full fight winning by decision. He will take care of the older Casamayor, who has not been the knock-out specialist he was in his earlier years.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez—Welterweights (12 rounds)

Now for the fight of the night.

Marquez finally has his shot at redemption after he felt he beat Pacquiao not once, but twice and was robbed by the judges. He was beaten mostly because of being knocked down four times in the two fights, which factored largely into the judges' decisions. 

Pacquiao also is fired up for this one as the world's No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter has been slandered a bit by Marquez, who truly believes he had beaten Pac-Man. With both fighters weighing in at the 144-pound catchweight for this fight, it will be new territory for their rivalry. Pacquiao's Welterweight title will be on the line. 

Many are expecting Marquez to look much better at the Welterweight division than he did against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but still, it has been a challenge for him. On the other hand, Pacquiao has raised his weight with ease and beaten some of the top contenders in the weight class already.

Marquez will want to counter punch his way to tallying a lot of connections once again in this one. I can see him getting a little overzealous late in the fight if he is down, and I can see this one being decided before round 12 with a much stronger Pacquiao certain to be on his game.

I like Pacquiao to finish off Marquez in 10 this time around and dispelling any controversy by the judges.