ShareThisLAS VEGAS - The name was on everyone's lips all week before Saturday's Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight, and then at the stroke of midnight after arguably the most surprising day of his career, it was on Pacquiao's lips as well:
Floyd Mayweather.
"Let's get it on," Pacquiao said. "Let's make the fight happen and give the people a good fight."
Pacquiao had barely survived his third encounter with Marquez, winning a majority decision and taking 28 stitches over his right eye. One of the most popular athletes in the world, Pacquiao stood in the ring after the decision and listened to the crowd of 16,383 boo. Some fans threw empty plastic drink bottles.
Before Pacquiao took the podium in the interview room, promoter Bob Arum had said he would like to see Pacquiao and Marquez fight again. But what would that prove?
Pacquiao is 2-0-1 against Marquez, with Marquez saying he won all three close fights. The counterpuncher clearly has Pacquiao's number, and the odds are that another fight between them would be close ... with Pacquiao winning.
Just like in the draw in 2004 and the close loss in 2008, Marquez (53-6-1) frustrated Pacquiao (54-3-2), maneuvering Pacquiao out of position and then punching from different angles. "Marquez kept Manny moving into his right hand very intelligently," said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach.
Roach thought the fight could have gone either way. Marquez, 38, was distraught and said the judging might force him to retire.
"This is the second robbery of the two that we had," he said, "and I think this was even more clear than the first," Marquez said. "We won with the clearer punches. The audience protested because they saw us win again. I thought I got robbed. It happens again and again. I don't know what else I can do to win."
When the fight was over, Marquez raised his hands and said he was waiting to be carried around the ring in a victory lap; Pacquiao did not raise his hands. Actually, neither was the true winner.
That would be Mayweather, who was surely having a party and burning money wherever he was watching the fight.
One, he again has a legitimate claim to be the best pound-for-pound boxer. Mayweather beat Marquez soundly when the two fought. And though that doesn't mean he's better than Pacquiao, it starts that conversation once more.
Two, Mayweather knows that he can beat Pacquiao. Marquez gave Pacquiao trouble because he is a counterpuncher with good defensive skills and pinpoint accuracy. Mayweather is an even better counterpuncher, with better defensive skills and better accuracy.
"The style of Mayweather would get very complicated for Pacquiao," Marquez said.
And three, Mayweather's patience paid dividends. Pacquiao was not sharp Saturday, and whether it is wear and tear or distractions with his growing political career, he is clearly beatable, his 15-match winning streak notwithstanding.
Though some believe Mayweather has been ducking Pacquiao, I think he has been waiting him out these past few years, watching him take more and more punches (often from much bigger fighters). Mayweather is as involved in selecting opponents and match-making as any boxer ever, and now he should be ready to sign for this $100 million megafight.
Three previous attempts to make this fight have failed, largely over Mayweather's insistence that Pacquiao be drug-tested by an Olympic-style program. (Mayweather once claimed that Pacquiao used "power pellets" to become a champ in eight different weight classes, and Pacquiao has sued Mayweather for defamation.)
Arum recently said the drug testing would not be an obstacle. The money and how it will be split will be a haggling point, but they'll manage.
This fight is really the only challenge left for both boxers. And though Pacquiao once thought that he and his legacy didn't need a Mayweather fight before he retired in a couple of years, he probably is seeing things differently now. Getting booed for the first time will do that.
(E-mail Vittorio Tafur at vtafur(at)sfchronicle.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit the San Francisco Chronicle
