TAKE it from the Mexican ring legend who beat Manny Pacquiao by knockout.
Juan Manuel Marquez believes the Pinoy ring icon will be the new World Boxing Council welterweight champ after battling American titleholder Mario Barrios on Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
“Let me tell you something, I think Manny Pacquiao is the new (WBC welterweight) world champion,” Marquez told FightHype.com in an interview posted yesterday (Sunday in the US) on its YouTube channel, as Pacquiao was wrapping up his training camp in Hollywood before he and his entourage were scheduled for their overland trek to the American gambling capital.
“The most important thing is experience. The experience is for Manny Pacquiao. Power, speed and everything. I think Manny Pacquiao is the new world champion,” reiterated the Mexican “Dinamita” of his former rival, who, at 46, is emerging from a four-year layoff to face the taller and younger Barrios, 30.
After hounding Pacman since losing the last two fights to the popular Filipino fighter by close decisions, Marquez was finally able to gain his revenge on Dec. 8, 2012 in front of a packed gallery at the MGM Grand Arena.
He knocked down Pacquiao in the third round, then completed his smashing victory with a picture-perfect right straight counter punch, sending his opponent down face-first into the canvas, just one of three knockout losses in Pacman’s celebrated career.
But given his long inactivity and the age of his former nemesis, Marquez acknowledged that “this fight is dangerous for Manny Pacquiao.”
Mexican trainer Joel Diaz, who was in Marquez’s corner during that memorable win and also present during the interview, said beating Pacquiao was all about “timing. Look at him (Marquez), he waited for the right time and he beat him.
“If you wait on the timing and frustrate him, Pacquiao has this little in-and-out-in-and-out (of the boxing pocket), if you catch him, you beat him.”
Drawn into the same interview was former world light welterweight and welterweight contender Paulie Malignaggi, who was inclined to give Barrios the edge, given Pacquiao’s age and long layoff.
“He’s (Pacquiao’s) 46. I don’t know if he has the same (quick) step closing the gap. That was one of his old strengths,” said Malignaggi, given the fact that at 5-foot-6, the Filipino challenger is giving away six inches in height and reach to Barrios.
‘He (Pacman) was sometimes overaggressive so he ran into the right hands. Manny was high energy. He was high energy when he beat (Keith) Thurman at 41 years old,” recalled Malignaggi.
In one of his most epic fights, the Pinoy southpaw wrested the World Boxing Association super welterweight title from the erstwhile undefeated Thurman with a close split decision win at the MGM Grand Arena on July 20, 2019 at the MGM Grand Arena, becoming the oldest champ in the weight division at 41.
Malignaggi noted that, “If he (Pacquiao) doesn’t fight at a fast pace, he is pretty ineffective. He never learned that crafty boxing that older guys learn.”
However, the Italian-American pro, who fought the likes of Michael Cotto and Ricky Hatton, pointed out that “Barrios is very limited. He fights with his front foot. I don’t find the logic in that. What is this amateur hour?
“I don’t know if he can fight on his back foot now. He is a ‘manufactured’ fighter.”
