No need for Juan Manuel Marquez to impress the judges. No need for the referee to count to 10. There was no controversy this time, but on Saturday night in Las Vegas, only a knockout of Manny Pacquiao would satisfy Juan Manuel Marquez to keep alive hope that their rivalry would continue and Marquez delivered. Marquez took care of all of his business with a thunderous right hand that left Manny Pacquiao face first on the canvas with a remarkable career in question. Unable to win a decision in their 1st 3 fight, Marquez won the old fashioned way with a huge right hand that put Pacquiao down for the 2nd time in the fight at 2:59 of the 6th round. Referee Kenny Bayless never bothered to count as Marquez leaped into his handlers arms in celebration and Pacquiao’s wife broke into tears at ringside. “I threw a perfect punch,” Marquez said. “I knew Manny could knock me out at any time.” It was a stunning end to a thrilling fight, the 4th one in the last 8 years between the 2 men. It could also be the end of the Filipino’s career, though he said in the ring afterward he would like to fight Marquez for a 5th time. “If you give us a chance, we’ll fight again,” Pacquiao said. “I was just starting to feel confident and this I got careless.” Pacquiao had been down in the 3rd but knocked Marquez down in the 5th and the 2 were exchanging heavy blows in the 6th round before Marquez threw a right hand that flattened Pacquiao face down on the canvas. Pacquiao was down for about 2 minutes before his handlers managed to get him up as Marquez celebrated and the sold out crowd at the MGM erupted. After being helped to his corner, Pacquiao sat on a stool, blew his nose and stared vacantly ahead as his handler cut his cloves off. It was a stunning end to a furious fight, and Pacuiao was later taken to a hospital for precautionary examination. Marquez had vowed to finally beat Pacquiao after losing 2 close fights and settling for a draw in the 1st fight. But after Pacquiao knocked him down in the 5th round and was landing big left hands, it looked like it would be Pacquiao’s night. The 2 came out for the 6th round and the pace was just as relentless. Both were landing big punches and both were brawling when suddenly as the round came to close Marquez shot out a right hand that landed flush on the jaw of Pacquiao, who crumpled to the canvas in a heap. It was the 2nd in a row for Pacquiao, who dropped a decision to Timothy Bradley in June and who had vowed to regain his prominence in the ring. Pacquiao was aggressive from the opening bell, but paid the price in the 3rd round when he got caught by a Marquez right hand that put him down. Pacquiao got back up and seemingly took control of the fight, dropping Marquez in the 5th round and landing the bigger punches until he was dropped. Pacquiao earned more than $20 million for the fight, was ahead 47-46 on all 3 scorecards after the 5th round. There was no title at stake in the 147 pound fight, but that didn’t stop 16,348 fans from filling the MGM Grand Arena and roaring in unison from the opening bell as the 2 fighters went after each other. Ringside punching stats underscored the ferocity of the bout, showing Pacquiao landing 94 of 256 punches to 52 of 246 for Marquez. But it was the 1 big right hand from Marquez that counted more than anything, knocking Pacquiao out for the 1st time in a career that goes back 17 years. Pacquiao weighed the class limit of 147 pounds, but it was Marquez who looked like the stronger fighter entering the ring after having bulked up with the help of a strength conditioner, though he weighed in at 143 pounds. In the earlier fights, Pacquiao had been the bigger puncher, knocking Marquez down a total of 4 times, but on this night it was Marquez who had the biggest punch. The stunning knockout was the 1st real loss by Pacquiao in 7 years. He lost a close decision to Bradley in his last fight, but most ringside observers believed he had won it fairly convincingly. Marquez improved to 55-6-1 with 40 knockouts, while Pacquiao fell to 54-5-2.
The Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fight lived up to the hype and was a great fight. I am still in shock of how the fight ended and watching Marquez knocking out Pacquiao right at the end of the 6th round. It looked like Pacman was taking control of the fight and at a blink of an eye he got careless and got caught by Marquez punch the ended the fight. As a boxing fan I would love to see a 5th fight between them, but with Pacquiao now losing 2 fights in a row and being the most exciting boxing after all these year, it looks like his career is coming down to the end. Marquez got the biggest win of his career and possibly got a lot of new fans out of this fight but showing his warrior mentality. I would hate to see Pacquiao last fight end like this and I would love to see him end his career on a high note. Congrats to Juan Manuel Marquez after finally getting his big win without no controversy.