By Michael Katz

Oh, brother, and I don’t mean which Klitschko is next for the evergreen  Samuel Peter. Brother acts in boxing, generally, have been more successful than say brother acts in the Bible, which started with  Cain’s knockout of Abel and included Jacob’s rasslin’ victory over Esau and Joseph being sold out by his brethren. Two weeks after his younger brother, Rafael, lost in what will probably be the 2008 fight of the year, Juan Manuel Marquez probably will lose Saturday night in a possible FOY runnerup.

In a rematch of a remarkable 2004 scrap, the older of the Mexico City  pound-for-pounders is about a 2-1 underdog, deservedly, to Manny  Pacquiao, who also has a boxing brother. Bobby Pacquiao, who appears on  a Vegas card the night before the big pay-per-view show at the Mandalay  Bay, is not in the same class with his brother or Juan Manuel’s.

Yes, there is a strong preference here for Manny Pacquiao to end the long debate of who won their first meeting. Pacquiao knocked down a rather cocky and loose – trainer Nacho Beristain’s assessment – Marquez three times in the first round only to wind up with a draw. Never mind the scorecard of Burt Clements, who didn’t realize he could have scored the opening round 10-6, as did the other two official judges, instead of 10-7 and ended up having the bout a draw.

For four years, there has been a chorus of “experts” who claim Marquez got up and clearly dominated the rest of the bout. Give Marquez credit – he got up three times, including the third when he was hit while he was down (he said he was angrier with Referee Joe Cortez than he was with his opponent).

He shifted into his usual counter-punching mode and suddenly the southpaw Pacquiao’s left hands were falling short and the Mexican was raking him with right hands.

Yes, to a degree. But while Marquez incredibly fought his way back, he did not win. I don’t remember my ringside scorecard, but I had the Pac Man clearly ahead. I watched the HBO tape of the original again and, leaning over backwards for Marquez, still had the Filipino star ahead by three points.

This means, of course, that after the four-point edge Pacquiao had after one round – five after two – Marquez won the majority of rounds – six – afterwards. There can be no denying Marquez’s performance that May night in Vegas was astonishing. But he did not win, nor did he deserve a draw.

The Filipino southpaw, who said he hurt his left hand on the second knockdown, recovered to win the second half of the fight, four rounds to two on my card. If his left hand was hurt, he didn’t compensate by throwing more right hands, as his trainer, Freddie Roach, kept begging. But that was then and may be no more pertinent than Marquez turning down a reported $750,000 offer for a quick rematch, instead taking $32,000 and going to Indonesia to lose his featherweight title to Chris John.

All this is history. Times have changed. Since 2004, the Pac Man is four years’ better, finally listening to Roach’s pleas to incorporate a right hand in his attack – and even four years ago, the few times he threw meaningful right hooks, they seemed to hit the target. Pacquiao is also better defensively. At 29, despite a humdrum 2007 (a second victory over the faded Marco Antonio Barrera and a struggle to score an eighth-round knockout of Jorge Solis), he should be in his prime.

Marquez is four years older and morning runs at elevations of 16,000 feet will not bring back his youthful reflexes. Oh, he’ll be in great shape – Pacquiao is smart enough to prepare for a 100 percent Marquez – and technically, he is still the superior boxer.

His brother’s split-decision loss to Israel Vazquez two weeks ago will not negatively affect him, he said. “Not at all.” In fact, he said it “motivated” him for the long-awaited rematch. “I need to win because of what happened to my brother,” he said.

He predicted “people are going to see a great fight,” though it is difficult to believe it could be any better than the third meeting of his kid brother and Vazquez. But if there is a “great fight,” and not a tactical chess match, it is even more difficult to think the family fortunes will change this weekend.

Marquez could not hurt Pacquiao at 126 pounds and the Pac Man, now at 130 going on 135, has filled out to be the bigger man here.

Most importantly, as good as Marquez is (and he’s No. 3 on my latest pound-for-pound list), Pacquiao is better (No. 2, behind only the honest rassler’ Money Mayweather). Plus, he no longer is running for elective office back home, he has put his film and singing careers on hold and, remembering that boxing got him all these other opportunities in the first place, for the first time he volunteered to leave the Philippines to train eight weeks at Roach’s Hollywood gym.

“I’ve never seen him more focused,” says Roach.

Pacquiao is now the bigger man, and though he concedes he doesn’t have the same speed when he won his first world title at 110 ½ pounds, he is by far the faster and stronger of the two.

Both guys say they have new strategies. Certainly, we are not likely to see a three-knockdown opening round, but there should be plenty of action from the start.. They’re billing the fight as “Unfinished Business,” and Pacquiao should finish it quickly.

MOVEABLE BEAST: Four years ago, Arum was Marquez’s promoter, now he is Pacquiao’s (along with Golden Boy, which also has the Mexican). Four years ago, Arum thought Marquez won; now he says Pacquiao was robbed. Four years ago, Marquez said Arum promised him southpaw sparring partners, but did not send them to Mexico (Golden Boy, he said, has taken care of this detail)….Marquez also blamed Arum for the delay in having the rematch, claiming that the promoter lied to him about the money. Whatever. The fight is here now and it should be another good night for boxing, as it usually is when a Pacquiao or Marquez head a card….David Diaz, Pacquiao’s hoped-for (only by Arum and Diaz) next opponent, opens the nondescript pay-per-view undercard against someone who has never scored a knockout. Diaz holds one of the lightweight alphabet titles, but the REAL 135-pound champion is Joel Casamayor, who defends against Mike Katsidis later this month. That winner should be Pacquiao’s goal, but then, Diaz is also promoted by Arum. David is a good guy, an earnest, if slow, brawler and should be no danger to the Pac Man – who is smart to be concentrating on the greater problem at hand.

HYPE-NOTIC: Samuel Peter, despite HBO’s best post-fight comments, was hardly impressive in stopping rusty 39-year-old Oleg Maskaev last Saturday night in a heavyweight title bout from Cancun. The Nigerian Nightmare is slow, hittable and seemingly out of shape – we can safely guess there are no steroids on his diet, though there might be too many Krispy Kremes. He had his knees buckled by a left hook, but after his three-knockdown scare from Jameel McCline, showed better whiskers when Maskaev unloaded one of his good right hands on the button. But, as my old boss at maxboxing.com, Doug Fischer, noted the bout mostly resembled a tough man’s contest.

But the definitive if familiar ending – Maskaev suffering the sixth KO of his spotty career – was enough to have HBO foaming at the mouths. Max Kellerman went from shrill to shill in hyping Peter for a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, the only man to have defeated him, and Emanuel Steward, suspecting an easier night in Wlad’s corner this time, heartily agreed. Jim Lampley went all the way to the OUTHOUSE for his post-fight assessment, that “knockouts are what people want to see, not decisions,” in an unveiled reference to Wlad’s recent outpointing of Sultan Ibragimov that is now a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize…..In fact, Maskaev and Peter began their knockout drama by tip-toeing to the center of the ring and engaging in a slow-motion simulation of boxing.

Over on Showtime, the moderate moderator, Al Bernstein, was lamenting the second-round stoppage by David Haye of Enzo Maccarinelli in a cruiserweight unifier. Bernstein said it was “a very, very disappointing ending.” He wanted to see more. Lampley’s observation that fans want to see “thrillingly definitive knockouts” was based on the wish to get Peter and Maskaev over with for the night. Lampley’s opinion might be fairly refuted by history. Ali-Frazier I wasn’t a bad fight, even thought it went 15 (not a wussy 12) rounds to the judges. And if it hadn’t been for the great Eddie Futch’s humanity in not allowing Joe Frazier out for the 15th round, the Thrilla in Manila would have ended in a decision. And, was there ever a better heavyweight title bout than the one where Larry Holmes won a split decision against Ken Norton with nary a knockdown.

In 24 rounds of their first two meetings, there were as many parachutes dropping into the ring as fighters dropping to the canvas, but Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield indelibly put their signatures on heavyweight boxing.

Lampley and Max the Shill were openly rooting for “concussive” results; bet they’re a riot at the scenes of auto accidents.

OUTHOUSE: Joining Lampley, is Jose Sulaiman and his Woeful Bandidos Club, first for making Vitali Klitschko, 39 months from his last fight and the meter is running, the mandatory for Peter instead of allowing the most sensible heavyweight matchup, Peter and Baby Brother, to ensue as part of boxing’s natural order. And another thing, even Lampley was fulminating against Sulaiman’s dreadful rule to have open scoring in WBC fights.

PENTHOUSE: Obviously, Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez get the No. 1 stars here, but let’s make a quick appreciative nod to Bob Arum, who finally called one right. When his middleweight champion, independently of the promoter’s own position, endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Ohio Democratic primary, Arum confidently predicted she would win by 10 points. Clinton did, then in her victory speech, without mentioning Pavlik by name, said how wonderful it was for someone to get up off the floor to win.

Also, let us not forget Nate Campbell, who the day after his 36th birthday, scored the year’s biggest upset since Carlos Quintana derailed Paul Williams. Campbell, a late bloomer who turned to boxing at 24 and didn’t turn pro until 27, beat the 4-1 favorite, the previously undefeated and partially unified lightweight champion, Juan Diaz.

What’s more, he beat Diaz at the Baby Bull’s own game, using relentless pressure, a steady jab and terrific body attack to break down the Houston University pre-law student. The first half of the fight was a reminder of the Vazquez-Marquez toe-to-toe tussles, but Diaz – perhaps bothered by a cut over his left eye caused by an accidental butt in the opening round, perhaps unfocused a bit because of the long and bitter feud between his manager, Willie Savannah and promoter Don King – was the one who gradually gave way.

Campbell said it was no upset just because others (mea culpa, too) had called Diaz the best of the current lightweights. “He wasn’t the best,” said the Galaxxy Warrior, who gave much credit to the “greatest trainer in the world,” John David Jackson. “I told you I was.”

It was only a split decision (I had Campbell, off television, up by four points) because some Florida clown scored the fight for Diaz. That’s why Lampley is right. We need definitive knockouts. We can’t let judges decide. Let all bouts be fights to the finish.

Just kidding.

I think.

By the way, this probably is more appropriate to the OUTHOUSE than the PENTHOUSE, although we could give kudos to Don King for announcing in the week before the fight that he was “quitting” as Diaz’s promoter. Some spinners might say King didn’t quit, he was fired.

EXCLUSIVE: As I told you, Vazquez-Marquez III could not be missed. No, it did not end in a definitive knockout – Marquez was saved by the bell – but as I predicted (imagine me using Howard Cosell’s voice), it was a thrilling encounter, full of ebbs and flows, and luckily it was on Showtime so we didn’t have to hear Lampley bemoan the necessity of allowing judges to decide. If I were the czar of all pugilism, I would retire all other boxers and only Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez would be allowed to fight. Of course there must be a fourth meeting. They’re getting better as they go along. Their fourth round this time, in which Marquez dropped his Mexico City rival with a right hand only to be wobbled when Vazquez regained his feet, is round of the year so far. This can't be the best trilogy of all time. It has to be a quartet.

I scored it 114-111 for Vazquez. It was close and I have no arguments with anyone who had it 113-112 or even a draw. But 114-111 for Marquez, who clearly was the smaller man, means that Judge Tom Kazmareck ought to read the book he wrote on how to score fights.

The Marquez camp’s refusal to admit defeat is quite understandable. The decision to protest the result was probably promoter Gary Shaw’s somewhat pathetic attempt to curry favor with his fighter. I forgive everyone. Give them a nice rest and hopefully, by November they can do it again. Why? Am I as sadistic as Lampley and Kellerman? No, these little guys deserve to make a lot of money and the best way they can do that is by facing each other.

DIS AND THAT: Has it only been 13 years since Kevin Costner went loggy in “Waterworld”?….My buddy in semiretirement, Royce Feour, upon hearing that George Bush would probably pardon Roger Clemens, said “That means he thinks Roger is guilty, too.”…Glad to see John David Jackson coming along as a trainer. There was a brief time, several rounds against Jorge Castro, that John David was as good as there was in the game. Then he got tired, dropped a hand and got knocked out. But he was a marvelous boxer with some sting in his punches. And smart. There was one undercard fight in Atlantic City, before he became a world champion, when I cajoled some colleagues into leaving the press room to witness a classy all-round boxer. Some followed and were questioning my sanity, as I was, while John David, against mediocre opposition, looked less than overwhelming. Then I realized he was fighting from an orthodox stance, just for fun and some exercise. As soon as he turned back to his natural southpaw, the bout was over. Definitively….Are the Marquez the best brothers in boxing history? Back in the old days, there were the Dundees (in the ring, not Angelo and Chris outside) and the Baers, but I kind of lean toward the Spinks boys (two heavyweight champions, even if both flukey), the Klitschkos (two heavyweight champions, even if both not real), and the Robinsons (Sugar Ray was good enough he didn’t need no stinkin’ brother). Of course, there were Sugar Ray and Roger Leonard, which was kind of like Hank and Tommy Aaron as home run hitters, or Hector Camacho and his kid brother Felix. Better were Marvelous Marvin Hagler and his brother, Robbie Sims….Dandy Dan will banish anyone who suggests Matthew Saad and Eddie Mustapha Muhammad….Alzheimer’s a bitch. I know I’m forgetting someone – and his brother.