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by David P. Greisman - It’s impossible to settle a score when the scores don’t settle anything.
Juan Manuel Marquez had a draw with Manny Pacquiao in 2004 and a narrow split decision loss to Pacquiao in 2008. The final scorecards showed Pacquiao to be just a little bit better. Yet the parts that made those sums tilted the conclusion in the other direction – with 12 rounds a fight, and three judges for each, Marquez had been marked down as winning 41 out of 72 rounds.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, had been a one-point scoring error away from victory in 2004. Though one point gave him the edge in 2008, he’d considered himself the winner without controversy. He’d knocked Marquez down four times in two fights. Two of three judges tabbed him in the second fight, and that should’ve been the same result for the first.
These were the justifications Marquez and Pacquiao carried with them for years, evidence underlying assertions that one was better than the other.
Theirs was, and still is, a rivalry without a resolution.
Marquez turned down an immediate rematch with Pacquiao in 2004 and instead had to wait four years for a second shot. He was forced to wait again after the 2008 battle as Pacquiao moved on to bigger opponents, bigger paydays, bigger exposure and bigger stardom. [Click Here To Read More]
Juan Manuel Marquez had a draw with Manny Pacquiao in 2004 and a narrow split decision loss to Pacquiao in 2008. The final scorecards showed Pacquiao to be just a little bit better. Yet the parts that made those sums tilted the conclusion in the other direction – with 12 rounds a fight, and three judges for each, Marquez had been marked down as winning 41 out of 72 rounds.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, had been a one-point scoring error away from victory in 2004. Though one point gave him the edge in 2008, he’d considered himself the winner without controversy. He’d knocked Marquez down four times in two fights. Two of three judges tabbed him in the second fight, and that should’ve been the same result for the first.
These were the justifications Marquez and Pacquiao carried with them for years, evidence underlying assertions that one was better than the other.
Theirs was, and still is, a rivalry without a resolution.
Marquez turned down an immediate rematch with Pacquiao in 2004 and instead had to wait four years for a second shot. He was forced to wait again after the 2008 battle as Pacquiao moved on to bigger opponents, bigger paydays, bigger exposure and bigger stardom. [Click Here To Read More]
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