Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Still unfinished, business looks good for Pacquiao
WITH a split decision against Juan Manuel Marquez and a belt in a third division tucked under Manny Pacquiao’s belt, the Filipino icon now has a lot of choices to ponder in the next few weeks.
One is another match with Marquez for a cool $6 million, a match that Sports Illustrated said would answer all the questions left hanging during their epic fight last Sunday.
If Pacquiao won’t go for another tussle with Marquez, Pacquiao can ditch his newly claimed title and go for his fourth belt against David Diaz this June, a fight already calendared by Bob Arum for his prized ward.
“It’s my chance now, they have already fought twice,” David Diaz told Philboxing.com. Diaz (34-1-1, 17 KOs) scored a unanimous decision victory over Ramon Montano, Pacquiao’s sparring partner, in the undercard of the fight.
Diaz could earn the biggest payday of his career with a fight against Pacquiao, a fight that also offers an interesting subplot.
The 32-year-old Diaz, who owns the WBC lightweight belt, sent Erik Morales, a Pacquiao rival who has endeared himself to Filipino fans and has appeared in commercials with the Filipino, to retirement in his last title defense last year.
Diaz defeated Morales via unanimous decision to keep his WBC belt in Aug. 4, last year.
Meanwhile, veteran boxing analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz said a third match between the two will clear the doubt regarding Pacquiao’s close win.
Not convicing
“Manny’s victory was not convincing, but the one that made the difference was the knockdown in the third round. After that, Marquez was very good. Everybody wants a rematch. They want to really finish the unfinished business,” Nathanielsz told ABS-CBN.com.
The boxing writers at Yahoo, and the Associated Press all gave the fight to Marquez.
Sports Illustrated also said the split decision during their rematch failed to answer the biggest question, “who the best featherweight in boxing is.”
The respected magazine reported in its website that, “If you were looking for definitive answers Saturday night, all you came away with were more questions. Few fighters could have withstood the sporadic onslaughts from Pacquiao, who connected on several left hands that would have KO’d any other featherweight in the division.
The magazine also lauded Marquez for deciding to brawl with Pacquiao.
The site said, “Pacquiao showed a more tactical side, using his right hand more than in the first fight and occasionally boxing with the technically superior Marquez.” (ML)
