By Robert Morales
Manny Pacquiao sat in his closet of a dressing room Wednesday at Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. Surrounded by a handful of reporters and one annoying photographer who rarely stopped clicking away, Pacquiao patiently answered questions put to him.
What he didn't do was come clean about how upset he was with Juan Manuel Marquez, who Nov. 12 will challenge Pacquiao for his welterweight championship at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (HBO pay-per-view).
They have fought twice before, in 2004 for a featherweight title and in 2008 for a super featherweight belt. Marquez got up from three first-round knockdowns in the first fight to earn a draw. Marquez complained he had won.
Pacquiao won a split decision in the second fight and Marquez and his entire camp whined in the post-fight news conference as if Marquez had beaten the daylights out of Pacquiao.
That was utterly ridiculous.
Marquez, taking it a step farther, had the temerity to display his feelings on a t-shirt in Pacquiao's native Philippines during the recent media tour for this third fight. Marquez just doesn't want to give Pacquiao any credit, and that would infuriate most fighters.
The Filipino superstar's promoter, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, believes this fight has extra meaning for Pacquiao.
"I think it's very personal for Manny because both fights were so close and I think the whining after the second fight didn't do Marquez any good," Arum said. "Really the (third) fight was going to happen now anyway," Arum said. "In other words, it was senseless. All it did was make Marquez, who is a nice guy, look like a sore loser."
Arum is right about Marquez. He is a good guy. But everything he has done to take away from what Pacquiao has done against him is more than likely going to end up going poorly for him.
Perhaps the way Pacquiao was smiling is the key. The guy who smiles usually is more confident than the guy who is doing all the talking, whether in the ring or in a street fight.
