Pacquiao vs. Marquez, and HBO fight card
( Member of Boxing Writers Assc.)
Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez finished their trilogy Saturday night or have they? A few observations on the fight begin with the Oscar De La Hoya syndrome. In 2004, De La Hoya was beginning his promotion for his bout with Bernard Hopkins and the promotional team thought of a having a double header with Hopkins defending his title while De La Hoya would attempt to wrestle German fighter Felix Sturm title away. Hopkins won his bout but De La Hoya found the German Middleweight a little more than he could handle. While De La Hoya took the early rounds, Strum dominated the second half of the fight and most observers had him winning the fight seven rounds to five but he lost by that score. While De La Hoya threw nearly double the punches, Sturm was more accurate, connected on more punches and his punches started to shake De La Hoya. Many of the judges gave the close rounds to De La Hoya and there were many who wonder how much the prospective Hopkins-De La Hoya fight was a factor in the scoring. Many Marquez fans will be wondering; did the prospect of a Mayweather-Pacquiao color the judges’ decision in a fight with many close rounds?
There is the Ken Norton Syndrome that affected Team Marquez. In his third fight with Ali, Norton gave the last round away as he thought he had the fight in the hand. In addition, he gave away another round in the middle of the fight. He lost a decision that he should have won by simply giving away the last round in a fight that was much closer than Norton thought. Team Marquez told their guy that he had the fight in the bag, so Marquez simply took the foot of the gas pedal and lost the last round, a round that could have cost him the fight. Marquez should have known better and so should have his corner. Team Marquez had as much to do with their fighter losing as any one. Read more…

















