Saint Manny in for a tough fight with Marquez

Promoter Bob Arum practically anointed Manny Pacquiao a saint during Tuesday’s news conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel formally announcing Pacquiao’s rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez on March 15 in Las Vegas.

“Manny lives in a beautiful house in General Santos City in the Philippines and the people come every day for a little support, for money, for food, and Manny doesn’t refuse anybody,” Arum said as he stood on the dais inside the Rodeo Room. “He is a welfare system in and of itself in the Philippines. He’s such a charming, wonderful, caring young man.

“And I’ve had great fighters and great people that I’ve promoted. Muhammad Ali. How can you top that? Marvin Hagler, Alexis Arguello, Ray Mancini. … People who cared and gave back to their communities. But I’ve never seen anything like Manny Pacquiao have the care, have the concern, that he has. The people, the way he gives back to the community. As great a fighter as he is in the ring – and make no mistake, he’s a great fighter – he is even a better person.”

A little maudlin, but Arum is probably right about everything he said. By all accounts, Pacquiao is a giving person who cares deeply for those in his native Philippines, especially those stricken by poverty. And there is a lot of that there.

But being sincere and generous is not going to help Pacquiao one bit when he again steps into the ring with Marquez in two months. In their first fight, in May 2004, Pacquiao dropped Marquez three times in the first round. Marquez amazingly survived the round and put on a counterpunching clinic the next 11 rounds to earn a draw.

Last week in Los Angeles, Arum was asked straight out if, as Pacquiao’s promoter, he is concerned about this rematch considering what transpired the first time around.

“Yes,” Arum said. “I think it’s a very, very tough fight. But I like Manny’s chances because I think he’s fresher and he’s improved from the time they last fought. But Marquez’s style is very difficult. No question about it.”

No question, indeed. About 10 minutes before Tuesday’s news conference began, we flagged down Freddie Roach to get his feelings on the subject. Is he, too, concerned about getting past Marquez, one of the game’s best counterpunchers?

“Yeah, of course,” said Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer. “Marquez is a counterpuncher and counterpunchers love guys that come forward. Manny had a very successful first round, of course, but he kind of got stuck in a mode and didn’t really follow the game plan. He just kept trying to land the left hand and you need more than one hand to beat a guy like this.”

Roach said that, interestingly, Marquez has recently altered his style and become more aggressive so he can be a more marketable fighter. But Roach said he expects trainer Nacho Beristain will have Marquez back in complete counterpunching mode.

“Because they think that we’re going to press the action,” Roach said. “And we will press the action in this fight, but we’ll be a little bit smarter this time.”

Most experts believe that Pacquiao has become a better boxer since the first fight nearly four years ago, and Roach certainly agrees. But he said he has to make sure that Pacquiao – known as a vicious, attacking fighter – doesn’t become too much of a boxer.

“We’re going to have to use that somewhat in this fight,” Roach said of Pacquiao’s improved technical skills, “but then, I don’t want to take away his action style because some fans, they complained about the (second Marco Antonio) Barrera fight. They wanted the old Manny Pacquiao back. But the thing is it’s not about how you fight, it’s about winning. And the thing is to beat a guy like this, a counterpuncher, you’ve gotta make some adjustments. That’s why this is going to be a little bit of a chess match. But when we need to be aggressive, we will be. It’s all about being aggressive at the right time.”

Blaming Roach or Pacquiao for the rematch with Barrera last October going the distance – Pacquiao won – is not fair. Pacquiao did box a bit more than usual, but that’s all Barrera was giving him. Barrera took few chances in that fight because he didn’t want to get stopped again, like he was in the 11th round of their first fight in 2003. It was going to be very difficult for Pacquiao to knock out Barrera in the rematch because of Barrera’s approach.

The combatants had a few words during their respective turns on the dais. Pacquiao said he was astounded that Marquez got through that first round.

“I have to win this fight because we have a lot of plans this year to have some more big fights,” Pacquiao said. “And also I don’t want to underestimate my opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, because in the first fight I was surprised because I felt it was over when I knocked him down three times in the first round.”

Marquez, meanwhile, came off as being somewhat perplexed at what people are saying about Pacquiao because of his 2-1 record against Erik Morales and 2-0 record against Barrera. They are Marquez’s Mexican countrymen.

“I don’t know why many people think that Manny Pacquiao is a Mexican killer,” Marquez said. “I don’t think so. He couldn’t beat me. And on the 15th (of March), I will demonstrate who’s better. This fight is for my country, for my fans, for the Mexican people.”

Therein lies what could be one of the deciding factors here – pride. Arum, whose Top Rank Inc. is co-promoting this fight along with Golden Boy Promotions – perhaps hit the nail on the head in this regard.

“As far as Juan Manuel Marquez is concerned, he is the last Mexican standing,” Arum said. “Manny has defeated Erik Morales, he’s defeated Marco Antonio Barrera. But he hasn’t defeated Juan Manuel Marquez.

“As far as Manny is concerned, it’s hard for you people to realize unless you come to the Philippines, like Freddie and I have, to see the type of feeling that the Filipino people have for this young man. So therefore, with that type of feeling, the responsibility of representing a country is on his shoulders.”

Pacquiao, 29, is 45-3-2 with 35 knockouts. Marquez, 34, is 48-3-1 with 35 knockouts The super featherweight title fight, from Mandalay Bay, will be available on HBO pay-per-view.