Monday, November 14, 2011

Pacquiao-Marquez Trilogy: A Viewer's Perspective

As I was walking to work this morning, the euphoria of the Pacquiao vs. Marquez bout yesterday was still high.  The debate regarding the result of the fight was in high gear when I boarded the bus which was tuned in to the early morning news.  As I walked the streets on my way to the office, the same debate was the focus of discussion by the FX drivers.  





I watched the match yesterday and after the final bell rang, I said that Pacquiao's 14 game win streak will end in this fight.  I guess, it was because Pacquiao was not able to dominate the game as I expected him to do.  Fortunately, God was on Pacquiao's side as he still got off a win via a unanimous decision from the judges.   

Pacquiao was supposed to be a better fighter today compared to his last two meetings with Marquez.  This was why many were expecting that he will will convincingly win yesterday.  However, Marquez, expecting Pacquiao to attack, strategized to go with his strong point which is to counter-punch and he did so with great effectiveness.  This proved frustrating to Pacquiao.  While he was aggressive in attacking Marquez he was also cautious in doing so in respect to the counter-punching power of his opponent.  After all, a lucky punch is  a possibility.

I'm not familiar how boxing is scored so my definition of a convincing win is plain domination.  Neither Marquez nor Pacquiao dominated but the latter played his game while the former was out of his.  And then there's the much anticipated Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight.  Put 1 and 1 together and you'll think that a Pacquiao loss would not do well in making this match happen.  Boxing IS big business and that dream fight would mean major money.  But this is just me.

If it was a matter of hitting the other guy the most, statistics would show that Pacquiao was the winner.  He led Marquez in terms of punches connected, jabs, and power punches connected.

                               Pacquiao:
                                  578 punches connecting 176
                                  304 jabs connecting 59
                                  274 power punches connecting 117

                               Marquez:
                                  436 punches connecting 138
                                  182 jabs connecting 38
                                  254 power punches connecting 100

No wonder Marquez's face was with cuts and pulpy after the fight while Pacquiao looked untouched.

So how is a boxing bout scored?

In a nutshell, he who connects with the most punch wins a round.  Winning a round would mean being awarded 10 points while the other gets a 9.  This is referred to as the 10 Point Must System.  Winning all the rounds would mean getting 120-108 judges score.  If a knockdown is scored that would mean a score of 10-8.  If two knockdowns are scored, 10-7.  However, if a round is dominated by neither side a 9-9 score is given.

In a bout where a championship is at stake, the challenger need to be the aggressor.  If a challenger fails to show this in the fight then he is bound to lose it.  I guess this alone would justify why Marquez did not win.



                                           

                                           


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