Pacquiao vs marquez Live

MANILA, Philippines – Juan Manuel Marquez insists he holds the key to solve the Manny Pacquiao puzzle.

After two close fights – a highly disputable draw in 2004 and a razor-close split decision favoring Pacquiao in 2008 – Marquez is confident of victory this time, when he tangles with his Filipino rival for the third time this November.

The Mexican, though, is wary of the challenge ahead, vowing to be at his best against Pacquiao – who has gone undefeated in 14 fights for almost six years.

"This is a hard fight, but I know how to defeat him (Pacquiao),” he said in a report by boxingscene.com the other day.

“We need to get well-prepared mentally and we need to be in better physical condition than we've ever been in the past so we can beat Pacquiao," he added.

Interestingly, Marquez is not the only one who thinks he got Pacquiao's number.

“I think Marquez might have our number. He can do well with certain styles and he seems to do well with our style. I think we’re bigger and better now. But that’s my good solution, that we’re bigger and better now,” Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's chief trainer, said earlier.

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LAS VEGAS -- Although Juan Manuel Marquez's right eye was swollen nearly shut, he kept it focused on his one remaining goal -- a third fight with Manny Pacquiao.

Marquez didn't exactly make himself more attractive to boxing's pound-for-pound champion with his systematic dismantling of Juan Diaz.

Marquez unanimously outpointed Diaz on Saturday night, picking apart his younger opponent to retain the WBA and WBO lightweight titles.

Marquez captivated the crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center with precise punching and slick defense in a rematch that was nearly as entertaining as the fighters' thrilling first meeting, which Marquez won on a ninth-round stoppage in February 2009.

Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KOs), who turns 37 next month, further erased memories of his one-sided loss to the larger Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September by dominating another opponent closer to his own size.

"The first one was difficult, and so was this one," Marquez said. "He's a very good boxer. Like every true Mexican warrior, we both fought with all of our hearts and left it all in the ring."

Marquez reiterated his call for third fight with Pacquiao, believing he's the only fighter outside of Mayweather who can worry the Filipino congressman. Their first two meetings resulted in a draw in 2004 and a split-decision loss for Marquez in 2008.

"It's good for all fight fans," Marquez said. "The Mexicans, the Filipinos, everyone wants to see it. That's the most important fight to me now. I'll be ready for November, and hopefully Pacquiao will take the fight."

But Pacquiao is in negotiations to fight Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13. Both of those fighters are represented by Top Rank, while Marquez is backed by Golden Boy - and the two companies have been increasingly unwilling to match their fighters against each other in recent years.

Diaz (35-4) has lost four of his last six fights, yet showed remarkable stamina and courage against one of boxing's most punishing fighters. The University of Houston graduate and aspiring lawyer was sharp again - just not sharp enough to beat arguably the most accomplished Mexican fighter of his generation.

"I fought the best fight I could," Diaz said. "We were trading punches. We fought in, we fought out. I didn't stand in front of him. I wanted to get in there and then get out, but it was hard, and I got hit with a couple of good shots. ... I did the best I could. I followed the game plan, worked off my jab, but he's a great fighter. He was the better man."

Judge Jerry Roth favored Marquez 116-112, while Glenn Trowbridge scored it 118-110 and Patricia Morse Jarman had it 117-111. The Associated Press scored 10 rounds for Marquez, 118-110.

Marquez landed 288 punches to Diaz's 155, outlanding Diaz in every round, according to CompuBox's statistics. Marquez connected with nearly 50 percent of his power punches, landing 168 to Diaz's 74.

Marquez's performance burnished a career that now likely surpasses the achievements of Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, the other two contenders for Mexican pre-eminence. Marquez is a three-division world champion who could be a significant factor when he moves up to 140 pounds in the coming years, another major player in a loaded weight class - yet Pacquiao looms over everything Marquez does.

Marquez's back-and-forth victory over Diaz was widely considered the best fight of last year. The rematch again was an entertaining contest between two fighters with perfectly meshing styles: the hard-charging "Baby Bull" Diaz against Marquez, the crafty, counterpunching Mexican star.

The second and third rounds of the rematch were close, with Diaz landing enough flurries to keep Marquez on the defensive. But Marquez gradually took control of the fight, peppering Diaz with left hooks and right hands while barely staying out of trouble.

The middle rounds had a brutal similarity, with Marquez chopping through Diaz's attack. Although swelling developed around Marquez's right eye, it didn't seem to bother him at all -- and Diaz began bleeding from a cut inside his mouth.

The 12th round was wide open, with the fighters abandoning defense and trading shots to the bell. Marquez leaped on the ropes to celebrate another victory.

The Las Vegas crowd firmly backed Marquez, the Mexico City native from a fighting family that includes his brother, Rafael, who will fight Juan Manuel Lopez in Vegas on Sept. 18 in an attempt to become the first boxing brothers to hold three division titles apiece.

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It looks like Juan Manuel Marquez will get his long-awaited third fight with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com that he made a deal with Marquez on Tuesday in Los Angeles for the lightweight champion to move up in weight to challenge Pacquiao for his welterweight title on Nov. 12.

Arum, however, still needs to make a deal with Pacquiao -- considered a formality -- before the fight is official.

If the fight is finalized, they would meet at a contract weight of 144 pounds, Arum said. Although the weight is three pounds below the welterweight division limit of 147, that isn't an issue.

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"Manny has to eat extra meals just to weigh even 145 pounds," Arum said.

Pacquiao regularly weighs below 147 for his fights, and Marquez would be moving up from the 135-pound division. In 2009, in his only other welterweight fight, Marquez lost a lopsided decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr., who most would like to see Pacquiao face. Most believe it would be the biggest money fight in boxing history, but Mayweather has repeatedly declined the fight.

Barring a gargantuan offer elsewhere, Pacquiao-Marquez Round III will be at Las Vegas' MGM Grand, where Pacquiao-Marquez Round I took place and where Pacquiao scored an easy decision against Shane Mosley on May 7.

With the Pacquiao fight on the line, Arum said Marquez plans to take a tune-up against faded former lightweight titlist David Diaz (36-3-1, 17 KOs) on July 2 in Mexico City. Diaz lost his title to Pacquiao via a lopsided ninth-round knockout in 2008.

Marquez's own promotional company will put the card on, although Arum said Top Rank would help if needed. Arum said Marquez's deal for the Pacquiao bout permitted him an interim fight as long as it takes place by July 17.

"He's going to do that fight, and if he loses, he's out," Arum said.

Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) and Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) have a rich history, battling twice in action-packed fights that ended in controversial decisions.

In 2004, Pacquiao dropped Marquez three times in the first round of their featherweight championship fight, but Marquez battled back to claim a draw that many believed he won. In 2008, they met again for the junior lightweight championship, and Pacquiao won a similarly controversial split decision.

"It's the same old story -- styles make fights, and, for some reason, I believe if we fight Marquez 10 times, we will have controversy 10 times because he's figured something out about Manny that no other fighter can do," Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser, told ESPN.com. "We've had him down three times, but he's able to adapt and adjust. I think it will be a very close fight again if we decide to pick that fight. The question is, what is Manny's monetary reward?"

Mexico's Marquez, 37, has wanted a third fight with Pacquiao for years and is poised to land it because Golden Boy, his longtime promoter, declined to match Top Rank's offer. Marquez's deal with Golden Boy expired earlier this year, but it retained the right to match any offer through February 2012.

Top Rank and Golden Boy, involved in various lawsuits, are bitter rivals. Their bad blood stems from a legal fight over Pacquiao's promotional contract, which Top Rank now controls.

Arum said Golden Boy declined to match his offer to Marquez on Monday during a face-to-face meeting in Los Angeles that included Arum, Top Rank president Todd duBoef and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.

While Arum would not go into details of the meeting, a surprise given the rancor between them, he said of Golden Boy, "They said they would cooperate and not try to interfere. They waived any connection with Marquez and said they would not interfere with us contracting the fight. They let us know that we were free to go ahead. Schaefer let us know. We were with him yesterday.

"He told us we could go ahead with Marquez."

"I can't really talk about anything right now based on the advice of my lawyers," Schaefer told ESPN.com in an email.

Golden Boy apparently was unable to come up with an opponent for Marquez that would meet the terms of Top Rank's offer: $5 million in guaranteed money, upside on the pay-per-view profits and a guaranteed $10 million plus pay-per-view upside for a rematch in the event Marquez wins.

Golden Boy had toyed with offering Marquez a fight with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, the Mexican sensation who recently won a junior middleweight belt.

Alvarez, who defends his title in June, has fought most of his career at welterweight. However, with Top Rank's offer specifying 144 pounds, there was no way Alvarez could get down that low.

Arum's next hurdle is to close a deal with Pacquiao, which has never been a problem.

"Marquez is definitely the frontrunner we're looking at, but I have not yet sat down with Bob to discuss our financial deal," Koncz said. "Bob and I will do that this week before I leave to go see Manny in the Philippines on Sunday. I'll talk with Bob and see what his offer for Manny's purse is and all the other things involved, and then I will take that to Manny. I have the parameters from Manny, but Bob and I have not yet had a meeting of the minds.

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Manny Pacquiao still was inside the MGM Grand Garden ring celebrating his lopsided win over Shane Mosley on Saturday night when his promoter, Bob Arum, approached reporters at ringside.

The Top Rank chairman wanted to talk about Pacquiao's next fight, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 12 in Las Vegas.

Earlier Saturday, Arum met with Juan Manuel Marquez, who has staged two epic battles with Pacquiao, about a third meeting with boxing's pound-for-pound king. Top Rank initially had offered Marquez a contract two weeks ago, but Marquez turned it down, reportedly wanting more money.

"We've made a revised offer to Marquez," Arum said. "We will send it to his lawyers (today) and we believe he will accept."

But there's a potential deal-breaker: Golden Boy Promotions, which has the right of last refusal to participate in any fight Marquez takes through next February, may insist on being involved. Arum said if that's the case, there will be no Pacquiao-Marquez fight.

"We're not doing business with people who steal other people's fighters," he said, referring to reigning bantamweight champ Nonito Donaire, who Golden Boy tried to sign away from Top Rank in March and whose contract was found invalid in court. Donaire's case has gone to arbitration. A decision is expected in June.

If Pacquiao-Marquez III doesn't materialize, Arum said options include current IBF junior welterweight champion Zab Judah and Timothy Bradley, the WBC and WBO junior welterweight champ. And, as always, there's the specter of Floyd Mayweather Jr. lurking, should he decide to get back in the ring.

Arum hasn't heard from Mayweather, and the likelihood Mayweather and Pacquiao would meet in 2011 isn't good.

"He knows us," Arum said of Mayweather. "If he had any desire to fight Manny Pacquiao, he would call Todd (duBoef, Top Rank president) and tell us. We have that kind of relationship with him.

"He said if he comes back, he wants a tune-up fight. If that's the case, it wouldn't be until next year that he would be available (to fight Pacquiao)."

Pacquiao (54-3-2), who won his 14th straight fight and dominated Mosley over 12 rounds in earning a unanimous decision, said he'll leave it up to Arum as to whom he fights next. As for Pacquiao's performance Saturday, he said he was surprised that Mosley wasn't more aggressive.

"I was expecting him to fight me toe-to-toe so we could test our power, our stamina," Pacquiao said at Saturday's postfight news conference where Paris Hilton somehow found a spot on the dais. "I am glad I won, but I want people to be satisfied with my performance."

Because Mosley couldn't or wouldn't engage Pacquiao, many in the sellout crowd of 16,412 booed the lack of action. Mosley, 39, said after the fight it wasn't in his best interests to trade with Pacquiao.

"I wasn't going to take those kind of risks," he said. "I was looking to land my shot."

That never happened. Despite his left leg cramping in the fourth round, Pacquiao moved well enough to keep Mosley at bay.

"He just tried to survive," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said of Mosley, whose record fell to 46-7-1. "When you get to that point, it's time to call it a day."

Mosley said he will contemplate whether he wants to continue his career. Arum said Top Rank has no further contractual obligations with Mosley and, by shifting gears to Marquez, he attempted to quickly put Mosley in his rearview mirror.

But if the Marquez fight falls through and Pacquiao does meet either Judah or Bradley, both of whom would be huge underdogs, Arum said people will still buy the pay per view.

"People will pay to see Manny Pacquiao," Arum said. "It's not about who the opponent is. People want to watch Manny perform."

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