Pacquiao vs. Marquez 3: Did Boxing Give Edge to Pac-Man to Save Its Future?

The first fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was too close to call. The second was an even closer fight, but Pac-Man got the nod via a split decision.

The third—and apparently final—bout went Pac-Man's way again on Saturday night. Despite the fact that a Pac-Man knockout was widely predicted, the two fighters went 12 rounds once again, with Pac-Man winning via a majority decision.

Ah yes, but did he truly win the fight?

That is indeed the big question. Not surprisingly, Marquez thinks the decision was a "robbery." In fact, per ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, Marquez said it was the worst of two clear robberies.

Naturally, Pac-Man disagreed, saying after the fight that he "clearly" won.

So who do you believe?

One train of thought is Marquez was not robbed. As surprising as it was that he was able to hang in there against Pac-Man for a third time, the world's best pound-for-pound boxer got his punches in, and won fair and square.

The other train of thought is Pac-Man did not win, but he didn't lose either. Many have come forth with scorecards showing 114-114, indicating yet another draw took place.

Thus, we clearly have another controversy here.

And where there is controversy, there is conspiracy—especially in a sport like boxing, which is a welcome home for those who like to wear cloaks and daggers to work.

The conspiracy theory that comes to mind is that Pac-Man was given the fight because, well, he's Manny Pacquiao. He's billed as the best fighter on the planet and one of the greatest fighters of all time, and the sport of boxing needs these labels to apply. Were Marquez to take them away, disaster would have certainly followed.

As if that wasn't enough, a loss for Pac-Man would have cast a lot of doubt over boxing's future. With a loss under his belt, surely Floyd Mayweather Jr. and/or Amir Kahn wouldn't want anything to do with Pac-Man, right?

If so, boxing was clearly protecting its own interests, and it did so by blatantly robbing Marquez of a much-deserved victory.

There it is, the conspiracy theory in a nutshell.

Between you and me, though, I don't buy it.

As strange as it may sound to say it, you have to give Pac-Man a little credit here. What we saw was a close fight, but it was not a close fight that could have gone either way. It was either a narrow victory for Pac-Man or a draw. To be honest, exactly how Marquez should have won is obscure to me.

Did Pac-Man's reputation earn him a few extra points? Probably, but Marquez should have been prepared for that. He did well to give Pac-Man a fight, but he didn't do enough to beat him. The fact that Marquez's corner was telling him late in the fight that he was winning didn't help.

So as controversial as the decision was, it wasn't robbery; disrespectful to Marquez, maybe—but nothing criminal.

As a result, boxing has a bright future. Nothing dark had to happen to make sure of that.