By Miguel Rivera
One of the great rivalries in boxing history was played out between future Hall of Famers Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico and Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao.
They had four spectacular fights that Marquez closed the book on with a historic knockout in their fourth bout in December 2012.
They fought to a controversial twelve round draw in 2004, and then met again in 2008 - where Pacquiao won a controversial split decision. A trilogy bout took place in 2011, with Pacquiao winning what many felt was a controversial twelve round majority decision.
In the fourth and final meeting, it was fireworks from the very first round. Both fighters were knockdown during the battle - but it was Marquez who landed a perfect right hand counter that knocked Pacquiao out cold in the closing seconds of the sixth round.
Last Friday Marquez announced his retirement from boxing. He says the knockout win was the perfect redemption to erase the demons for what he felt were three robberies in the past.
"When I finished that fourth fight with Pacquiao - everyone was happy, it was a spectacular knockout, everybody celebrated, I think they were even happier than me, a lot of people even cried with emotion. I was very excited and at the same time I released the courage that I was carrying, because of the robberies that I had suffered in the previous fights with him," Marquez told Osiris Mendez.
"When we were celebrating the victory in the ring, Dr. Gatica tells me, 'Juan, Pacquiao is not getting up', I literally, I said 'f*** your mother'; He had said he had won the third fight, but then I regretted saying that in my conscience and said, 'it could have been me'. I immediately went to see him at his corner. That rivalry became more personal and ended in the way that many could not believe."
2023-10-19 05:21:15
