If the third Pacquiao-Marquez match were a non-title bout, I would have agreed with the opinion that Juan Manuel Marquez won the fight. However, it was a title defense, so the challenger had a heavier burden to prove himself the better fighter inside the ring.
From its definition, a “challenger” is the one obliged to engage, test and breach the Bastille of the person he wants to overthrow. Hence, Marquez, the challenger, should’ve been the one engaging Manny Pacquiao. The role of the belligerent was with him, not with Pacquiao.
But it was Pacquiao who initiated most of the exchanges. No fort can be taken by anyone who doesn’t go aggressively and consciously for the flag.
Marquez, the boxer, may seem to have won the match. But Marquez, the challenger, lost it.
—RUEL H. ESPALDON,
ruelespaldon@yahoo.com