Marquez the last Mexican standing

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao is often called the Mexecutioner because of the way he sends his Mexican opponents to the gallows. He isn’t fazed by the fearsome reputation of the legendary Mexican warriors. When Pacquiao enters the ring and bangs his gloves together, there is rage in his eyes – a rage that he parlays into a winning formula, bout after bout. It doesn’t matter whom he battles. 

But in Pacquiao’s storybook boxing history, his wins over Mexicans were the ones that defined his greatness precisely because they brought the best in him. Writer Ron Borges, in Boxing Monthly, said in some circles, Pacquiao is called “Republica Enemigo Numero Uno” – Public Enemy No. 1. There’s a huge target on his back and every Mexican gladiator worth his salt wants a shot at hitting the bull’s eye.

It’s not just national pride at stake. It’s defending the race. Too many Mexicans have littered the wayside in the wake of Pacquiao’s fury. Mexico is looking for redemption and Juan Manuel Marquez could be the savior.

Tonight, Pacquiao and Marquez will face off to write a third chapter in their thrilling trilogy. It will be Pacquiao’s second three-fight series and Marquez’ first. Pacquiao’s first trilogy was with another Mexican, Erik Morales. He lost to Morales on points in 2005 then knocked out “El Terrible” in the 10th and third rounds to complete their series the next year. Aside from Pacquiao, Juan Diaz was the only other fighter to meet Marquez at least twice. Diaz was stopped in the ninth round in 2009 and outpointed in the rematch the next year.

In all, Pacquiao has figured in 15 fights against Mexicans, winning 13, losing once (to Morales) and drawing once (with Marquez). Of the 13 wins, nine were by knockout. It began with a fourth round demolition of Gabriel Mira to retain his WBC flyweight title at the Araneta Coliseum in 1999.  Pacquiao has also halted Emmanuel Lucero, Marco Antonio Barrera, Hector Velazquez, Morales twice, Jorge Solis, David Diaz and Oscar de la Hoya. Losing on points were Marquez, Oscar Larios, Barrera in a rematch and Antonio Margarito.

On the other hand, Marquez is 3-1-1 against Filipinos. The draw was with Pacquiao in 2004 and the loss to Pacquiao by a split decision in 2008.  His victims were Reynante Jamili (KO3) in 2000, Baby Lorona, Jr. (KO2) in 2001 and Jimrex Jaca (KO9) in 2006.

Pacquiao has wiped the welterweight division clean of Mexican title pretenders. There’s nobody left South of the Border to pose a threat. In the WBC top 40 ratings, no Mexican is listed in the first 15 and only five made it to the honor roll – No. 18 Omar Chavez, No. 20 Alejandro Barrera, No. 25 Jesus Soto Karass, No. 30 Daniel Sandoval and No. 32 Jorge Paez Jr. None of the three other welterweight champions recognized by the governing bodies is a Mexican. The WBC champion is American Floyd Mayweather Jr. who refuses to fight Pacquiao while the WBA titlist is Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Senchenko who is trained by Freddie Roach. The IBF ruler is Andre Berto, an American of Haitian descent.

So Marquez is arguably the last Mexican standing.  

According to Ring Magazine editor Michael Rosenthal, Pacquiao’s mastery of Mexican fighters isn’t taken against him by Mexican fans. “The Mexican fans don’t seem to hold it against him, though,” wrote Rosenthal. “Pacquiao and Marquez recently traveled to Mexico City to promote their fight and a reported 30,000 fans showed up, the vast majority of whom greeted Pacquiao warmly. The Mexicans appreciate a great fighter, particularly one as humble as Pacquiao. Even if he does beat up on their own.”

Although Marquez hasn’t beaten Pacquiao in two previous fights, he insists he was robbed. “He hasn’t beaten me and he won’t beat me,” said Marquez. “He hasn’t beaten me yet. And he won’t. In the first fight, he won the first round and I won the next 11. I can tell you Manny has become more of a boxer. I can predict better now where his punches are coming from. That’s an advantage for me.”

Marquez’ claim that he was cheated of victory in both fights against Pacquiao has rubbed Roach the wrong way. Roach said his ranting is disrespectful to Pacquiao and he’ll pay for it.

For the record, here are interesting figures from the two bouts. In the first encounter, Marquez landed more punches, 158-148, and had a higher connection rate, 29 percent to 23 percent. Surprisingly, Marquez threw more power punches, 339-231, landing 122 to Pacquiao’s 100. The fight wound up a draw but judge Burt Clements made a crucial mistake in scoring the first round 10-7 instead of 10-6 for Pacquiao. The round was a 10-6 because Pacquiao decked Marquez thrice. If Clements scored it correctly, Pacquiao would’ve won by a split decision. Under state rules, a judge’s error cannot be overturned – unless it is arithmetical. 

In the rematch, Marquez again had the edge in total punches landed, 172-157 with a higher connection rate, 34 percent to 25 percent. The Mexican also connected more power punches, 130-114.

Cumulative figures, however, don’t determine who wins the decision unlike in amateur boxing. In the pros, each round is scored separately from the other and the round scores are added up in the end to decide the winner on points. Theoretically, it’s possible that a fighter could outpunch his opponent by a margin of 10 blows in one round and could be outpunched by a margin of only five in another round – the scores would only be even in those two rounds, 19-19 under the 10-point must system for every round assuming no knockdown or deduction.

If you add up the scores of the six judges in the two fights, Pacquiao would be only a point up, 679-678.  Marquez would be ahead, 330-305 in total punches landed.