Pacquiao vs. Marquez: Why Great Rivalry Should End at 3 Fights

As much as us sports fans love rivalries, many of us insist that a rivalry isn't really a rivalry unless the competition is actually even.

For example, many insist that Yankees-Red Sox is not a true rivalry by this standard, as the Yankees have dominated the matchup throughout history. Numerous other rivalries fall under this same umbrella.

The rivalry between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez does not. Outside of the first round of their first fight way back in 2004, the three fights Pac-Man and Marquez have fought managed to be as even as fights can possibly be, and we still don't truly know whether or not one fighter is better than the other.

This is true now more so than ever. Pac-Man and Marquez stepped into the ring for the third time on Saturday night, and they proceeded to engage in 12 rounds of back-and-forth mayhem. It was practically a carbon copy of the first two fights, and the controversial finish—a majority decision for Pac-Man—was the icing on the cake.

Because three fights haven't been enough for Pac-Man and Marquez to decide which of them is the better fighter, the obvious question is whether or not a fourth fight is a possibility.

In speaking after the fight, Pac-Man breathed life into the idea.

"Anytime, anytime," he said of a fourth bout with Dinamita, per ESPN.com. "I am a fighter. My job is to fight."

Marquez, on the other hand, sounded a little too frustrated to even consider a fourth fight.

"It would be difficult to decide. Maybe I retire, maybe I don't," he said. "It is so hard when you're fighting against a rival and also against the three judges."

In so many words: What would be the point?

I may be alone here, but that's kinda how I feel about the idea of a fourth fight in general. Sure, it could happen, but does it really need to happen?

In my opinion, not really. This is a rivalry that is ready to go into the books as one of the greatest of all time, so I hope for the sake of us boxing fans that both fighters decide to leave good enough alone.

On the Marquez side of things, I sympathize with Dinamita. He's tried and tried and tried again, but he has enough evidence to suggest he's not going to get a fair deal in the ring with Pac-Man. He's already going to be remembered as Pac-Man's one and only equal (for now, anyway), so there's really no point in him risking a truly definitive loss.

Besides, Marquez is pushing 40. It's easy to buy his talk of retirement, especially considering how his advancing age is not going to help him maintain whatever edge he has against Pac-Man.

On the Pacquiao side of things, he has other, bigger fish to fry, and now is the time to fry them. Instead of immediately pursuing a fourth bout with Marquez, the time is now to make Pacquiao vs. Mayweather happen.

Besides which, Pac-Man should know by now that he's at risk in the ring against Marquez. The rivalry is and always will be a big part of Pac-Man's legacy, and right now history is in his favor.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Pac-Man should quit while he's ahead.

If he does, this rivalry is finished. 

And that wouldn't be a bad thing. Seven years and three fights later, the rivalry between Pac-Man and Marquez is secure in its epicness.

Why mess with it?