Pacquiao vs. Marquez 3: Heated Rivalry Has To End with a Decisive Victory

It is not often that you have a trilogy take place in boxing in which one of the competitors has not won one of the previous two bouts, but that just goes to show how deep the rivalry is between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.

The previous two times these men fought, there was controversy to say the least.

The first bout was in 2004 and ended in a draw. In that fight, Pacquiao was able to knock Marquez down three times, but could not finish him and allowed him to come back in the final rounds to force the draw.

The second time they fought was in 2008. Controversy again erupted when Pacquiao was given a split decision victory despite the fact that Marquez landed more punches and was more precise with his striking.

Marquez has not been shy about telling people he won both fights, wearing T-shirts all week leading up to the third bout that read “Marquez beat Pacquiao twice.”

This time, though, Marquez does not plan to leave his fate in the hands of the judges. At the weigh-in, he looked noticeably bigger than he has in previous fights.

According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, there is a simple, logical reason for that:

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Marquez, 38, flashed noticeably larger biceps and an ultimate six-pack abdomen after an 11-week training course under a controversial new strength coach.

The plan for Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Marquez says, is to make the punches he lands against Pacquiao have more effect.

"I think I can knock him down, knock him out, yes," Marquez (52-5-1, 38 knockouts) said backstage after the weigh-in. "I know it's difficult, but I've trained very hard. My training camp was very good."

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Pacquiao is going to be given the benefit of the doubt in those previous fights because he is the biggest star in the sport. When he talks, people listen.

Marquez does not have that luxury, and people just view his talk about being 2-0 against Pacquiao as sour grapes or whining about something that can’t be changed.

But Pacquiao clearly senses that, while Marquez may not have deserved a decision in either of their first two fights, there is unfinished business that needs to be taken care of before either man can move on.

Hopefully that resolution comes tonight because every rivalry deserves an epic conclusion. Pacquiao and Marquez have the chance to settle their issues once and for all, and we can finally have a clear cut winner for the first time in this series.