- Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao
Manuel Marquez last Saturday flattened Manny Pacquiao with a flush overhand right hand with one second left in the sixth round of their welterweight fight, sending a jolt of human electricity through the sold-out crowd of 16,348 — in a pro-Marquez house — at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Pacquiao went down face-first and was out cold, and the judges, the source of so much controversy through the first three fights, were rendered pointless. Referee Kenny Bayless didn’t bother to — or need to — count as Marquez celebrated on the ring ropes, drinking in the cheers from his Mexican fans, who chanted for him throughout the fight.
It was a stunning scene and certainly brought to a close Pacquiao’s incredible run that saw him win world titles in a record eight weight classes, win a congressional seat in his native Philippines and become a global star.
It was also probably the final nail in the coffin for the fight most have wanted to see for years but that has gone unmade: Pacquiao against pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Before the clean knockout, it had been a tremendous action fight and a fitting bout in their all-time great series, which began in 2004 and has stretched across 21 pounds, four fights and 42 rounds.
Pacquiao and Marquez both said throughout the buildup to the fight that they would be aggressive, hoping to score a definitive victory, a knockout being the preference. They certainly fought like it, delivering all the action the fans could have hoped for in perhaps the best overall action fight of the series.
Pacquiao rocked Marquez in the second round, and then the fight really heated up in the third round when Marquez scored his first knockdown, dropping Pacquiao with a right hand. Pacquiao was clearly hurt and shaky but survived the final 70 seconds to make it out of the round.
Going into the sixth round, Pacquiao, 33, was ahead 47-46 on all three scorecards, but that wouldn’t make a difference. Marquez, his nose a bloody mess — although it was announced after the fight that is was not broken — landed a huge right hand over a jab from Pacquiao that missed. It connected on Pacquiao’s jaw and he crumpled near the ropes, face down, just feet from former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, who sat ringside.