Pacquiao-Marquez III one of most debated decisions in boxing

CEBU, Philippines —  The outcome of the third fight between Pinoy ring star Manny Pacquiao and his Mexican archnemesis Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez is one of the most debated decisions in boxing history.

In the only match of their four bouts that fans did not see a knockdown, Pacquiao won by majority decision to retain his WBO welterweight title on November 12, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Marquez seemingly got Pacquiao’s numbers in the first half of the 12-round rumble but Pacquiao rallied to take four of the last five rounds.

Statistics provided by CompuBox showed that Pacquiao landed more punches, 176-138, but Marquez was  the more accurate fighter (32%-30%).

Ultimately though, Pacquiao earned the judges’ nod.

While Robert Hoyle saw it even 114-114, Glenn Trowbridge scored 116-112 and Dave Moretti had it 115-113 both for the Filipino sports icon, thus, the majority verdict that raised many eyebrows  given the close nature of the fight.

ESPN, in partnership with Top Rank, will air the Pacquiao-Marquez III today as part of its encore presentation featuring some of boxing’s most controversial decisions of all time.

Also included in ESPN’s lineup of epic bouts that ended up in a highly questionable verdict are Oscar De La Hoya vs. Félix

Trinidad; Oscar

De La Hoya vs Shane Mosley II; Marvin Hagler vs Sugar Ray Leonard; and Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs José Luis Castillo I.