Juan Manuel Marquez says it's not about size, it's about mind and style

There’s very little question that of all of Manny Pacquiao’s recent opponents, Juan Manuel Marquez has presented the most dynamic of challenges. With his great timing, ability to adapt inside of the ring, and iron will, Marquez’s two battles against Pacquiao in May of 2004 and March of 2008 were both exhilarating and controversial.

The first encounter between them saw Marquez floored three times in the first round before storming back to work his way into the fight before seeing a split-draw verdict arise on the scorecards. Nearly four years later, Marquez again fought on even terms with Pacquiao but was nipped on the scorecards, with his third round knockdown coming back to haunt him.

Marquez is now less than a month away from extracting some sort of revenge on Pacquiao, as the two rivals are set to meet on November 12th inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, the same location as their first bout. The three-division champion recently fielded a few questions from our good friend Hermie Rivera at Manila Standard Today and isn't concerned about the fight taking place at a catch weight of 144 pounds, with Pacquiao's WBO welterweight crown on the line.

The previous two duels had been held at 126 and 130 pounds, respectively, but Marquez insists that this fight has much more to do with just weight alone.

"Again, it is not about the size, it is about the mind and style. I have also knocked out bigger guys at 135 pounds. The smarter, best-conditioned fighter will win this fight," Marquez stated.

The cards appear to be stacked against Marquez, a huge underdog in the contest, but he is showing little signs of concern. He finished up by brushing off the notion that he will be finished by Pacquiao, who dropped him a combined four times in the first two bouts, in dramatic fashion.

"We will both find out on Nov. 12 on how easy or how hard it will be for him to beat me or even try to beat me. We both know who won the first two fights and who got the decision. This third fight is a whole new chapter. The first two fights are history, let’s see what happens in the present.”

Source: Examiner.com