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Dublin: 10 °C Saturday 18 May, 2013

Manny Pacquiao: Bad decisions are just a part of boxing

The Filipino is training in Los Angeles ahead of his meeting with Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8.

Image: Damian Dovarganes/AP/Press Association Images

FILIPINO BOXER MANNY PACQUIAO believes bad decisions by judges are a normal part of the sport and should not be dwelled upon.

Pacquiao is training in Los Angeles ahead of his meeting with Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8.

The pair have faced each other three times before, with the judges’ decisions attracting controversy on each occasion.

The first bout was declared a draw and Pacquiao took the other two by split decisions.

The southpaw then lost to Timothy Bradley in June in the same manner, a decision which a WBO panel later ruled should not stand.

However, Pacquiao believes that, win or lose, boxers should not complain when the judges get it wrong.

“If you compare my fight to the Bradley fight, I think it’s worse – the Bradley fight. But I never complained,” he said.

“Did you hear from me, from my mouth, that I’m complaining that I lose the fight? I never complained. That’s part of the sport.”

Turning his attention to the non-title welterweight fight with Marquez in Las Vegas, Pacquiao is expecting to concede a weight advantage to the Mexican but says he is used to the scenario.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s bigger than me. I can be like that also if I want. I’ve been fighting a bigger guy so it’s no big deal to me,” he said.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said the 33-year-old is primed to defeat Marquez for a third time.

Each of the three fights to date between the duo have gone the distance, but Roach believes a change in strategy by Pacquiao will make things easier this time around.

“The game plan we used the first three times wasn’t that effective so I’m going to let Manny just be himself,” Roach said.

“So, going in there I just want him active, throwing punches and throwing combinations, and backing this guy up.

“I think this is going to be the best fight he’s had against him because he’s really going to let both hands go, and he’s really, really motivated for this fight.”

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Comments (6 Comments)

  • It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
    Theodore Roosevelt

    Reply
  • Well, folks, I can feel a surprise coming. The Pac will lose, and lose big. He has been opening his mouth for too long while the Tex Mex has been quite and gentlemanly. Moreover, the Pac knows he is in his last fights (i.e., last dollars), because he knows he doesn’t have it anymore. Also, trying to do everything and anything (i.e., being a congressman, appearing on shows, etc), he is just a complete mental mess right now. I say mental because, even if you see a physique body, his brain is a total mess. That is what I am talking about. When Marquez give it to him, the Pac brain will not be fast enough to assimilate what’s coming. He will kiss the floor in the 7th, and never come up. You wanna bet?

    Reply

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