Manny Pacquiao Escapes With Majority Decision Over Juan Manuel Marquez

Everyone was emotional after the controversial ending to the year’s biggest boxing match, a majority decision in favor of Manny Pacquiao over Juan Manuel Marquez, heck, Marquez is threatening to retire he’s so upset over the outcome. The scene afterwards was indicative of a fight like this: confusion, an unsatisfying post-fight interview (by, of all people, Mario Lopez), with both fighters telling different stories of what happened in the ring.

Here is Pacquiao’s post-fight interview, sponsored by his promoter, Bob Arum, who is Public Enemy No. 1 in Mexico today:

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez met last night to close the book on a trilogy that saw three incredibly competitive fights over seven and a half years. While the trilogy may be over, we may now be treated to one more fight to make it a tetralogy.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports has the word:

Juan Manuel Marquez had strong words for the judges that declared Manny Pacquiao the winner by majority decision in Saturday’s HBO pay-per-view title fight, calling the decision “terrible” and declaring the bout “a robbery.” And while Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum immediately following the fight suggested the two fighters should a fourth time, Marquez hinted that Saturday’s loss may instead drive him into retirement.

“What I need to do is sit down with my family and my camp and make a decision about continuing in this sport or just simply retire from the sport,” Marquez said through an interpretor, according to Reuters. “It will be difficult. I have to decide, I have to see what happens. Maybe I will retire, maybe I won’t.”

Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

It’s the fight that the world has wanted to see for years now and it may be closer than many realize in the wake of Pacquiao’s narrow majority decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez.

When Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez stepped into the ring in the MGM Grand on May 8, 2004 there was no one who anticipated it being the start of one of boxing’s greatest rivalries. 36 rounds later, in the same building where it began, it closed with Manny Pacquiao’s hand being raised after winning a narrow majority decision.

Amazingly, after those 36 rounds, it still feels somehow unfinished.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will forever be tied in boxing history as incredible opponents who brought out the best in each other in three amazing fights. Pacquiao won tonight’s fight by majority decision with one judge scoring it 114-114 and the other judges seeing it 115-113 and 116-112 for Pacquiao. The crowd booed very loudly at the decision and booed during the in-ring interview with Pacquiao after the bout.

Myself, Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook, Steve Kim of MaxBoxing and Eric Raskin of Grantland all scored the fight for Marquez very close, but there were many, many close rounds throughout the bout and it’s hard to get upset over Pacquiao winning the bout.

The final round in the HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez saw the fight hanging in the balance on my card.

Jab lands for Marquez. Right hand gets through for Manny early.

Round 11 of the HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez saw Pacquiao dealing with a cut from a headbutt the previous round.

Marquez needed to do something big this round and get it back on track as he is likely to have lost some close rounds on reputation if nothing else.

The 10th round of the HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez saw Pacquiao coming off his best round in a while.

Left hand by Marquez gets through. Two nice shots for Marquez. Big left hand smokes the face of Pacquiao. Pacquiao shoves him to the ground in a clinch.

The HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez continued into the ninth round with Marquez having a somewhat commanding lead on my scorecard at 78-74.

Marquez fires two shots and Pacquiao picks them off. Right hand lands for Marquez. One two combo by Marquez and then he goes body, body, head. This is an incredible performance by a 38-year-old great who no one gave much of a chance.

In round eight of the HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, I had Marquez ahead on my scorecard, shockingly.

Right hand by Pacquiao and one in return by Marquez. Left hand to the body by Marquez. Right hand by Marquez around the gloves.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez continued their fight into the seventh round of their HBO pay-per-view bout and it was shaping up to be another great fight.

Big right hand for Marquez early sent Pacquiao backward. Pacquiao looked like he was trying to figure out a way to keep his punches coming while not getting countered by Marquez, which is exactly what happens as Manny throws and Marquez lands a left hand.

The sixth round of the HBO pay-per-view main event between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao saw Marquez coming off his best round of the fight. He looked to have his timing down and his right hand was getting more and more effective.

Left hand by Pacquiao was a solid punch but Marquez landed a hard body shot that forced Manny back for a second. Two hard punches to the body by Marquez. Manny tried to push Marquez back and Marquez hit him with a counter right. Pacquiao got in some hard shots that stunned Marquez a little bit.

Round five of the HBO pay-per-view main event between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez saw Marquez go twice to the body. It was a little bit more measured in the first minute before both men got punches through.

Uppercut, right hand by Marquez. Another big right hand by Marquez and he’s found a home for that right. Stiff jab from Marquez. Jab gets in for Pacquiao but a big right hand by Marquez. Left hand for Pacquiao and this is what makes boxing great. Two men, perfect styles for each other and evenly matched.

The fourth round of the HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez had a variety of scores throughout media sources with either Marquez or Pacquiao up 29-28 in what was shaping up to be a close fight.

Big left hand got through for Pacquiao and then another. Marquez just missed with a left hook and Pacquiao looked to be getting his punches off a little bit better.

The third round of Manny Pacquiao’s HBO pay-per-view bout against Juan Manuel Marquez had Pacquiao come out looking for the left hand but missed a little wide.

Big uppercut landed for Marquez and Pacquiao connected with a looping right hand. Stiff left hand from Pacquiao got through. A stiff jab from Marquez landed as Pacquiao continued to walk forward trying to find the left hand. Marquez went back to the body with the left hand and a right upstairs.

The second round of the HBO pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez saw the men come out still fighting somewhat cautious. Marquez threw a stiff jab and tried to follow up with a right hand which missed. Pacquiao came back with a left hand to the face.

Marquez continued to think body throwing jabs downstairs but Pacquiao answered with his own body shot and a stiff jab. Marquez went body, uppercut and a right hand -- that was his best combination of the fight so far -- and then a right hand that got through a bit. Pacquiao returned with a left hand and body shot.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez opened their third fight on HBO pay-per-view from the MGM Grand with the crowd going wild for both men.

Both men opened up pawing with their jabs and trying to get a feel for the fight. Pacquiao eventually started to get it going a little with left hands to the body and the face. Marquez dug in with a left hand to the ribs. The men exchanged shots with Marquez looking to continue working the body and Manny looking for openings to the head.

Joel Casamayor came into his bout with Timothy Bradley on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez undercard as a very heavy underdog. He is 40 years old with his best days well behind him.

The story of the fight coming in was playing out through the early rounds. Casamayor had little beyond the occasional left hook and his trademark headbutts while Bradley’s superior skills were allowing him pick apart Casamayor. It was not a particularly fun or pretty fight and in many ways probably hurt what the point of this fight truly was.

Mike Alvarado and Breidis Prescott met on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez pay-per-view broadcast. Prescott made his name with a knockout of Amir Khan in under a minute but hadn’t found a ton of success afterward, which led to his being brought in to play opponent to the undefeated Alvarado.

Prescott looked to work a very stiff jab as the fight opened which allowed him to throw off the rhythm of Alvarado. Alvarado came out in the second round throwing jabs of his own to set up his right hand, which was somewhat effective but his defensive holes resulted in him still getting tagged at times by Prescott.

Juan Carlos Burgos and Luis Cruz met in the opening bout of the pay-per-view for Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. Cruz was the slightly favored prospect heading into the bout but ran into some very big trouble from Burgos.

Burgos managed to hurt Cruz with regularity during the first three rounds of the fight. Cruz was fighting a slower pace but he was unable to get power punches in while Burgos’ pressure and hooks and right hands got through. Burgos also was able to get off combinations that seemed to bother Cruz.

We will have live results and play-by-play of all the bouts on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez HBO pay-per-view card tonight. The show gets underway tonight at 9 p.m. ET and will feature four bouts.

The main event sees Juan Manuel Marquez take on boxing’s pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao for the third time in their careers. The fighters battled to a draw in their 2004 bout and Pacquiao took a very close split decision in their 2008 meeting.

Manny Pacquiao enters the ring again on Saturday night, facing Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time. The two were relatively even in their first two fights, battling to a draw in one before Pacquiao took a split decision in the second.

As usual, a fight involving Pacquiao comes with a ton of attention and interest to boot. No matter who he fights, it seems as though Pacquiao is a draw, and Saturday night should be no different. If you’re unable to order the HBO pay per view on Saturday night and want to join the masses watching the fight, there are options.

Yahoo! Sports is providing live streaming undercard action before the pay-per-view broadcast for Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez gets under way. The stream should start around 7 p.m. ET and last until the pay-per-view broadcast of the main card kicks off at 9 p.m. ET.

Here’s the video:

Boxing’s pound-for-pound king, Manny Pacquiao, is set to return to action tonight as he takes on his biggest rival, Juan Manuel Marquez, on HBO pay-per-view live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be the third meeting between the two men with Pacquiao having won the rematch by a very close split decision after a draw in their first encounter.

The HBO pay-per-view will kick off at 9 p.m. ET with a cost of $59.99 for standard definition and $69.99 in high definition. Boxing fans in the United Kingdom will be able to watch the event on Primetime for £14.95.