Pacquiao vs. Marquez III: Why Pac-Man Is Still Prime for Bout with Mayweather

Juan Manuel Marquez may not think Manny Pacquiao is ready for a fight with Floyd Mayweather, but the rest of the world is.

Pacquiao recently triumphed over his rival for the second time in three meetings—the other meeting was a draw—and can now possibly look towards a clash of the titans between himself and Mayweather that is becoming more and more anticipated. Mayweather actually has a fight scheduled for May 5th of next year, but there is no one currently listed as his opponent.

Believed to be arguably the greatest fighter heading into November 12th, Pacquiao's stock greatly declined after the close contest that could have gone either way in his bout against Marquez.

The Mexican-born Marquez had a slight advantage for the majority of the early rounds before Pacquiao began making his push in the final rounds to take a majority decision with two judges having the champion winning 115-113 and 116-112 while another judge had it tied at 114 apiece.

Marquez was so distraught by the news that he lost that he is now considering retirement. The biggest story to arise from this match, however, is the fact that Pacquiao came a few punches away from losing to Marquez and possibly blowing his chance to take on Mayweather in a later fight to truly determine who is the best fighter in the world.

So why did Pacquiao struggle?

For one, Marquez knows Pacquiao inside and out from their two previous fights. Both of those fights went down to the wire with Pac-Man, with one fight ending in a split decision in favor of Pacquiao and the other in favor of a draw.

After 24 previous rounds of fighting and countless hours spent watching footage of Pacquiao, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Marquez was ready for everything that the Filipino was going to throw at him.

Mayweather won't have that advantage if the two ever decide to take on the greatest challenges of their lives. Pacquiao's speed and power has supported him his entire boxing career and it would be a dream to see that matchup with the finesse and power of Floyd.

There aren't many more chances for these two to take each other on and this May 5th matchup that Mayweather has set up may be the last chance we get to see it take place.