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By Cliff Rold - Pride is always at stake in boxing. Fighters run miles, spar hours, sweat away pieces of themselves, to protect their pride. There’s little pride to be found in defeat and so the best of professionals give themselves the best chance to avoid it. Anyone tuning in on Saturday night to see the four-years overdue rematch, at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez can be certain: these are the best of professionals.
There are other stakes as well this weekend, stakes that will matter immediately and stakes that will matter later. As these two warriors paint the ring canvas with the fresh blood of combat, they will also take a big step towards painting the canvas of their legacies.
It’s that kind of fight.
So just what are the stakes, the questions, hovering above the action this weekend? Let’s begin with the immediate and work forward from there.
The World Championship: The primary stake on Saturday night is the vacant World Jr. Lightweight championship. When Floyd Mayweather Jr. left the 130 lb. class behind in 2002, he left a void at the top of the division that has been filled with some excellent battles to replace him. It’s taken this long to whittle the field down to these two. The Mexican Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KO, WBC titlist) by virtue of his victory last fall against Marco Antonio Barrera, and the Filipino Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KO) by virtue of two wins over Erik Morales and a rematch victory against Barrera last fall, have emerged as the consensus choices at one and two in the division. Ring Magazine will reward their title to the winner of this bout and it’s unlikely that anyone (excepting the consensus choice at three, Joan Guzman) will lodge much disagreement. [details]
There are other stakes as well this weekend, stakes that will matter immediately and stakes that will matter later. As these two warriors paint the ring canvas with the fresh blood of combat, they will also take a big step towards painting the canvas of their legacies.
It’s that kind of fight.
So just what are the stakes, the questions, hovering above the action this weekend? Let’s begin with the immediate and work forward from there.
The World Championship: The primary stake on Saturday night is the vacant World Jr. Lightweight championship. When Floyd Mayweather Jr. left the 130 lb. class behind in 2002, he left a void at the top of the division that has been filled with some excellent battles to replace him. It’s taken this long to whittle the field down to these two. The Mexican Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KO, WBC titlist) by virtue of his victory last fall against Marco Antonio Barrera, and the Filipino Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KO) by virtue of two wins over Erik Morales and a rematch victory against Barrera last fall, have emerged as the consensus choices at one and two in the division. Ring Magazine will reward their title to the winner of this bout and it’s unlikely that anyone (excepting the consensus choice at three, Joan Guzman) will lodge much disagreement. [details]
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