Juan Manuel Marquez Puts Manny Pacquiao to Sleep!

“Pacquiao’s Dead”

“Pacquiao’s Dead” said a friend of mine when seeing Manny lying face first on the canvas in last night’s bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Juan Manuel Marquez slipped a right hand with seconds left in the sixth round of this epic fourth fight between the two warriors and landed a brutal overhand right, ending the fight as time expired in the sixth and final round. You could compare it to a scene straight out of the movies, in particular, Rocky IV when Ivan Drago knocked out Apollo Creed, who never got up from the canvas and people rushed into the ring. For no short of words, it was devastating.

For six rounds this fight was just as fascinating as the previous 36 rounds they have given fight fans over the years. Going into the sixth, both fighters had suffered knockdowns in the fight along with a broken and bloodied nose for Marquez. Similar to previous fights, it was again close, and all three judges had the bout scored 47-46 for Pacquaio. Different from previous fights between the two, their punches seemed to have a lot of power, history, and bad intention behind them. In particular, Marquez seemed to be finding a home with strong overhand rights all night, which ultimately landed with an exclamation point to end the fight in the sixth round.

It was chaotic in my house during the fight with mixed fans as I am sure it was in households and bars all over; however, after it simmered down a bit, there was some silence as Pacquaio did not pop up right away; but rather, laid still for several minutes before he was finally able to sit up to be checked out by ringside doctors. Pacquaio suffered a vicious knockout that had many worried about his immediate health. My hat and heart goes out to him and his family.

After the fight, Larry Merchant led Pacquiao into the question of a fifth fight with Marquez, and Pacquaio indicated, “Yes, it’s a good fight…If they give us a chance, we will fight again.” As a fan, I would love to see them fight again just for the entertainment value; however, neither one of these guys has anything left to prove to fans or the fight world. They are both clear hall of fame fighters, and both will ultimately go down as two of the most memorable warriors of my or any generation.

My daughter Cruz (happy birthday by the way) told me after the fight, that I jumped in the air and exclaimed, “THOSE ARE TWO REAL FIGHTERS, THOSE ARE TWO REAL FIGHTERS” in excitement and appreciation of all the rounds these two have given us. Here’s to TWO REAL FIGHTERS. Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV…. Unbelievable!