Pacquiao vs. Marquez 3: Pac-Man's Unimpressive Performance Is Troublesome

Manny Pacquiao put on an average performance Saturday night against Juan Manuel Marquez. It was very unlike what we have seen throughout his career. Pacquiao’s struggles heading into a possible fight with Floyd Mayweather are troublesome beyond belief.

Pac-Man destroys opponents in the ring physically and mentally. Marquez matched both of those impressive traits and used it to his advantage on Saturday night to almost pull off an incredible upset that would have destroyed boxing.

Confidence. That’s what Marquez has, and that’s what's needed to defeat Pacquiao. There's no fighter in the world who's as confident as Mayweather.

I think this outcome had much more to do with Pacquiao being beatable than Marquez always fighting him well. Pacquiao no longer carries that persona that identifies him as the best fighter in the world. Boxers used to be terrified to step in the ring with Pacquiao, but I don’t think that will be the case after Saturday night.

If he struggles to defeat Marquez, how does he expect to fare against the great Mayweather? You could forget about Pacquiao having any type of success against Mayweather if he even remotely repeats his performance.

A stronger, quicker, more durable fighter would have overcome what Pacquiao was bringing in the late rounds of that fight. Instead, Marquez proved that his age (38) was indeed a major factor.

If it wasn’t for what Marquez didn’t do (be the aggressor) Pacquiao would have lost in one of the most improbable victories in recent memory.

His narrow victory is more troublesome than people may believe. Pac-Man fans should be very worried heading into future fights.