Marquez bout no easy job for Pacquiao - Mayweather

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao’s scheduled fight with Juan Manuel Marquez won’t be an easy fight, contrary to what many people might think.

And Roger Mayweather, the uncle of the undefeated and ex-pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., is one of those saying it’s going to be tough.

He’s basing his prediction on the two previous fights between Pacquiao and Marquez, two fights that really could have gone either way.

“I think it’s still going to be a hard fight because they know one another,” Mayweather told Chris Robinson of The Examiner the other day.

Pacquiao and Marquez definitely know each other, having fought twice, in 2004 and 2008, and they know too well that they can hurt each other.

Pacquiao knocked down Marquez three times in the first round of their first encounter that ended in a draw, and floored the Mexican once in a razor-thin victory in the second fight.

On both fights, Marquez showed that he’s got Pacquiao all figured out as well, seriously hurting the Filipino a couple of times, leaving him bruised and bloodied.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, admitted a few weeks back that this could be the only fight that scares him because he feels that Marquez has Pacquaio’s number.

But Roach sounded confident that this time, at a catchweight of 144 pounds, Pacquiao can knock Marquez out for good. They fought at 126 and 130 lbs the first two times.

“Pacquiao has stopped guys that I never thought he would stop. With Marquez, they fought twice and he had Marquez down two times in the first and even the second time they fought. He had him down three times altogether,” said Mayweather.

Too bad his memory is not serving him well, because Pacquiao did floor Marquez thrice in the first fight.

Pacquiao was scheduled to leave for the US last night for a short vacation with his family and a scheduled Nike event in Portland.

His legal adviser, Franklin Gacal, however said plans could change at the last minute.

Pacquiao has also been invited to play at the Tahoe Celebrity Golf on July 12 but it is doubtful if the Filipino congressman has plans of staying in the US that long.

If he does play in the annual event, there’s a strong possibility that he will be grouped with tournament regulars Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and other Hollywood celebrities.

The uncle-trainer of the undefeated American also told The Examiner he’s still hoping that the Pacquiao-Mayweather super fight would push through.

But it will have to go through the process, some legal process. Pacquiao hauled the Mayweathers to court, the boxer, uncle and father (Floyd Sr.), for accusing the Filipino icon of using steroids.

There’s a court case in progress and just the other day, Mayweather was a no-show in a court-mandated deposition in Las Vegas.

But Mayweather is scheduled to fight WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, and people look at that fight as a possible step toward Pacquiao-Mayweather.

“Mayweather-Pacquiao is going to be the biggest fight in the history of boxing. The highest grossing fight in this time in boxing was Floyd and (Oscar) De La Hoya. And you know a Floyd and Pacquiao fight is going to gross more than that,” he said.

Abac Cordero, Philippine Star