Marquez Won’t Be Satisfied To Survive

By Eric Raskin

Photo Credit: Will Hart“Obsession” is a word that has a negative connotation attached to it. It conjures up images of stalking, of Glenn Close boiling bunny rabbits.

But there are also good obsessions. Juan Manuel Marquez has been obsessed for the past three years with fighting Manny Pacquiao a third time, and now that he has the fight, he’s obsessed with officially defeating the man he feels he’s already defeated twice. It’s this unyielding desire to prevail that (a) gives Marquez a better chance of winning than any of Pacquiao’s other recent opponents and (b) all but guarantees a fan-friendly fight.

HBO analyst Emanuel Steward, who will be providing color commentary on Saturday night, called this Marquez’s “dream fight,” a bout he’s been intently focused on for the last three years. He added that when fighters land their dream fights, “they usually take advantage of them.”

If the first two fights are any indication, Marquez will not concede defeat until Pacquiao knocks him unconscious.

“Marquez is so tough,” marveled former fighter Micky Ward, who knows a thing or two about toughness. “He fights better when he’s hurt, and that’s a great trait, you know? I thought [Arturo] Gatti was the closest thing in boxing to Jason [Voorhees, from the Friday The 13th movies]. Then I saw Marquez get up three times against Pacquiao.”

Though Marquez is a sure-shot first-ballot Hall of Famer, he still believes he has a lot to prove. When he fought Pacquiao the first time, in 2004, he had yet to achieve the sort of stardom that his Mexican compatriots Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales had. When he fought Pacquiao the second time, in ’08, he had an upset loss to little-known Chris John to erase from boxing fans’ minds. Coming into Saturday’s third crack at Pac, Marquez is out to redeem himself for a one-sided defeat to Floyd Mayweather.

That’s part of why Steward is predicting another all-out war.

“These guys can’t be boring, because they’re both guys who want to get instant revenge right away for every punch, they both want to have the final say-so,” Steward said. “And remember, Manny got wobbled in those first two fights too. It’s drama anytime these two guys fight. I just can’t see this being a bad fight. There’s a lot of pride involved.”

Pacquiao was asked this week whether it’s a mistake to bring emotion into a fight, as it seems Marquez will. “I think sometimes it’s a mistake,” Pacquiao said. “But sometimes it’s good for a fighter to do that.”

Whether it’s good for him or not, Marquez will fight with some degree of emotion this weekend. He was obsessed with getting a third shot at Pacquiao. And he’s obsessed with finally getting credit for a win over him.

That’s great news for fans of offense-oriented action, regardless of whether it helps or hurts Marquez’s chances of springing the upset.

Raskin & Mulvaney Crunch The Pacquiao-Marquez Numbers

By Eric Raskin

CompuBox has compiled a chart comparing and contrasting the career statistics of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, and as you might suspect with two fighters who’ve shared 24 rounds and are separated by a single point on the judges’ scorecards, these two future Hall of Famers line up quite evenly in most categories. Because sometimes it takes two HBO.com writers to do the work of one man, Eric Raskin and Kieran Mulvaney pulled up chairs in the MGM Grand press room to put their heads together and discuss what these numbers might mean for Saturday’s showdown:

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Pacquiao-Marquez: Another Classic Modern Trilogy?

By Eric Raskin

We often think of upcoming fights in terms of what’s at stake for each individual boxer. Rarely do we think about them in terms of what’s at stake for the two opponents collectively. But in Pacquiao-Marquez III, if these two rivals can produce a fight as competitive and compelling as their first two bouts, they will have done something truly special together: author arguably the best boxing trilogy of an era absolutely loaded with classic three-fight series.

Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales got the fun started in the year 2000. Then Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward battled similarly spectacularly over 30 epic rounds. In the mid-2000s, Morales engaged Pacquiao in another unforgettable trilogy. And though they technically fought four times, the first three fights of the Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez series were as jaw-dropping as any of the aforementioned group. Just how unique has this “golden age of trilogies” been? In the previous three decades combined, there were only two trilogies that would legitimately fit in with those listed above: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier and Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield.

Now Pacquiao-Marquez is poised to join that list, and perhaps stand atop it.

As a survivor of one of these legendary series, Ward insists that being a part of something like that serves as a source of everlasting pride.

“Whenever someone says Arturo’s name, they say my name with it. That’s really something,” Ward said. “It makes all the hard training and all the cuts, the stitches, the bruises, it makes it all worthwhile when you’re remembered like this. As bad as it was when I was in there, when I look back now, I’m glad I went through it. Being part of a great fight, that might get you remembered forever. But being part of a great trilogy takes it to another level.”

That’s what Pacquiao and Marquez are working toward together (even if that’s not either man’s primary goal). Through two fights that went the 12-round distance, on the six official judges’ cards combined, Pacquiao leads by a score 679-678. That’s right: One point separates them after 24 rounds.

We can only hope the third chapter of the Pacquiao-Marquez rivalry will be as competitive as the first two. Some predict Pacquiao will be too big and too strong for “Dinamita” now; others think that Marquez’s style will always cause Pac-Man problems, thus creating another classic triple.

No matter what, this has been the greatest era for trilogies that fight fans have ever seen. And it doesn’t necessarily have to end here. Maybe Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito will go from their December rematch to an eventual rubber match. Maybe if Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fight once, they’ll go on to fight three times.

As fans, we’re all blessed when a great trilogy comes along. And that extends to ex-fighters who are now in the role of fan.

“I don’t know which of these trilogies is the best. I just know that I like watching them,” Ward said. “You sit back, you watch—and you’re just glad it isn’t you in there.”

Trading Shots: Raskin & Mulvaney Play the Percentages

By Eric Raskin

CompuBox has compiled an innovative new data set for HBO.com, ranking active fighters according to a “+/-” stat derived from their offensive and defensive connect percentages over their last five fights. HBO.com’s Eric Raskin and Kieran Mulvaney stepped away from the free media buffet long enough to huddle up in the MGM Grand press room and dissect what the numbers mean and how they might impact several upcoming bouts:

Raskin: The first thing that jumps out at me, Kieran, is that Floyd Mayweather’s score of +30 is more than double the next closest figure. Does this surprise you? And does it make a case that he’s the best boxer in the business?

Mulvaney: What’s interesting to me is that he is number one in both columns. It isn’t a surprise that opponents have a lower connect percentage against him than against anyone, but it’s very interesting that his own connect percentage is so high. It shows how precise, how selective, and how smart he is with his punches.

Raskin: I notice you avoided my question about whether these numbers suggest he might be boxing’s best, and I’m not letting you duck that one. If there’s another surprise on here, it’s that Manny Pacquiao is only a +8. What do you make of that?

Mulvaney: I do think Mayweather is the bext boxer, if not necessarily the best fighter, of this generation. I’m not terribly surprised by Pacquiao’s numbers; he’s always taken one to land one, which is one reason why fans love him.

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Undercard Overview: Morales, Alvarez Offer Early Action

By Eric Raskin

Photos left to right: Ed Mulholland, Jan Sanders, Hoganphotos.com

Two themes carry across the televised undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz event: (1) A plethora of top Mexican and Mexican-American attractions are featured, this being Mexican Independence Day weekend; (2) Generation gaps are on display, with young prospects facing hardened veterans in all three fights. Here’s a glimpse at the matchups and what’s at stake:

Saul Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KOs) vs. Alfonso Gomez (23-4-2, 12 KOs), 12 Rounds, Junior Middleweights

“Canelo” Alvarez is the burgeoning mega-attraction in North American boxing. With skills that seem to improve with every fight and power that’s been there from the start, the 21-year-old Mexican is the favorite over the 30-year-old Mexican-American Gomez, best known for capturing viewers’ hearts as the plucky underdog on the first season of the reality show The Contender.

Gomez is not just some reality-TV fabrication. Since losing to the much larger Peter Manfredo in the semifinals of the Contender tourney back in 2004, Gomez has gone 11-1-1 with the lone defeat coming against Miguel Cotto. He beat Jesse Brinkley, Jesus Soto-Karass, and Jose Luis Castillo and ended the career of Arturo Gatti.

But if Alvarez is what he’s billed to be, Gomez might be in over his head here. Fresh off a thorough destruction of Ryan Rhodes, Alvarez is regarded already as one of the top three or four 154-pounders in the world and should be ready to fight for the top spot by 2012.

Erik Morales (51-7, 35 KOs) vs. Pablo Cesar Cano (22-0-1, 17 KOs), 12 Rounds, Junior Welterweights

Morales has seen it all in his 18-year pro career, so he wasn’t particularly rattled by having to endure three opponent switches for this fight. What he ended up with is a bout against someone who was all of three years old when “El Terrible” turned pro. The 35-year-old Morales meets the 21-year-old Cano in a fight where the action is assured but the competitiveness is uncertain because, well, everything about Cano is uncertain.

Here’s what we know: Cano likes to slug it out, he’s undefeated but has faced nobody close to Morales’ level, and he’s trained by Rudy Perez, who just happens to be the longtime trainer of a guy named Marco Antonio Barrera. As you may recall, Morales and Barrera aren’t best buddies. So that plotline should be fun. And of course, regardless of the opponent, there’s the ongoing intrigue over just how far Morales can take this unlikely career comeback.

Jessie Vargas (16-0, 9 KOs) vs. Josesito Lopez (29-3, 17 KOs), 10 Rounds, Junior Welterweights

This one smells like a show-stealer. Vargas is the 22-year-old hot prospect, Lopez the 27-year-old veteran who’s spent much of his career bumping off hot prospects. Both will be looking to make a statement—and there’s some pressure on Vargas because he’s a Mayweather protégé who has been propped up by “Money May” as the guy Amir Khan needs to defeat in order to “earn” a fight with Mayweather.

In the last two years, Lopez has beaten Mike Dallas Jr., Martin Cordova Jr., and Patrick Lopez, three up-and-comers with a combined record of 53-2-2. His bid to add the gifted Vargas to that list looks like a 50-50 proposition.