In an action-packed fight that lived up to the billing, Manny Pacquiao beat Juan Manuel Marquez by majority decision on Saturday night in Las Vegas, the third time these two boxers have battled for 12 rounds and fought a fight that easily could have gone either way.
One judge scored it a draw, 114-114, while one judge scored it for Pacquiao 115-113, and one scored it for Pacquiao 116-112. There will be some complaints -- Marquez and his corner were furious after the fight -- but this was too close a call for either fighter to have been confident he won. These boxers are essentially equals, but Pacquiao managed, for the second time against Marquez, to do just enough to win in the judges' eyes.
This was the third fight between these two great boxers, and the third time that it was a closely matched, exciting affair. Their first bout, in 2004, ended in a draw. Their second fight, in 2008, was a split decision win for Pacquiao. And now Pacquiao has a majority decision win as well.
This time there were no knockdowns and no points in the fight in which either man even looked like he was in any real trouble. Instead, it was just 12 rounds of close, competitive, exciting boxing. Pacquiao was the more active boxer, while Marquez tended to land with a little more authority when he did land, but neither fighter could say he definitively deserved the victory.
As it turned out, the victory went to Pacquiao, who improved his record to 54-3-2. Marquez falls to 53-6-1.
