General Admission
Only a knockout
By Al S. Mendoza
KNOCKOUT is the only word needed to describe the Pacquiao-Marquez fight today.
A knockout win for Pacquiao.
Or a knockout win for Marquez.
Pacquiao must win by knockout or his credibility, if not his reputation, will suffer terribly.
He’s been saying all along that it’s about time he put an end to the Pacquiao-Marquez rivalry that began eight years ago.
To punctuate his stand, Pacquiao has also said “Marquez has an expiry date.”
That “expiry date” should be today, which means Pacquiao has to defeat Marquez by knockout, if not batter him into submission should the 12-round fight goes the distance again.
Remember, even if Pacquiao won the second and third fights, those victories were hallow as they came on mere points.
Meaning, those wins weren’t that decisive as Pacquiao pocketed Fight No. 2 on split decision in 2008 and Fight No. 3 in 2011 on majority verdict.
Fight No. 1 in 2004 ended in a draw even as Pacquiao decked Marquez three times in the first round.
The reason Marquez managed to survive 12 rounds in 2004 was because Pacquiao failed to pursue his follow-up plans, allowing the Mexican to escape by taking a passive stance the rest of the way.
But then, there’s the danger in Pacquiao embracing a battle plan geared only towards scoring a knockout.
His mindset might derail his focus, giving Marquez the chance to dig an opening and sneak in the punch that could end the fight in a snap.
While aggressiveness is the key for Pacquiao to score a knockout, it might backfire as Marquez has proved time and again that he is a tough nut to crack.
Aggression is material, but its downside is, it could throw you off-balance since it could spur you to unnecessarily go for the kill even if it appeared it would be unwise.
While reason dictates that Pacquiao should win by knockout almost by hook or by crook, PacMan shouldn’t force the issue if trouble seemed imminent.
If you ask me, it should be Marquez really who should be the aggressor all the way.
The mental battle is Marquez’s to conquer.
Between the two, Marquez has more reason to attack and destroy than Pacquiao.
On record, Marquez was the loser twice and the draw in 2004 should have been a win for Pacquiao had one judge not erred in his scoring, which he admitted he had committed after submitting his scorecard.
That’s why as I said from the start, Marquez can only genuinely claim victory by knocking out Pacquiao; a points win would amount to nothing.
And, take this, only a win by knockout will give Marquez the luxury of forcing a fifth fight against Pacquiao.
That one will be another blockbuster at the tills.
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