"Unfinished Business": Chronicling the past 10 years of Boxing's best (part 12)

"Unfinished Business"

Despite besting Marco Antonio Barrera in their rematch on October of 2007, many people were being critical of Manny Pacquiao’s suddenly souring reputation. His many distractions were starting to catch-up on his public image as lawsuits flew from a slew of various matters that was associated with him like an alleged tax evasion on a vehicle he brought in from abroad to rumors and controversies linking his name to an actress he starred in a film in. His alleged gambling and other extra-curricular activities were also taking heat from the media and his fans. And with a ho-hum performance against Barrera, people were also wondering whether all the distractions were also catching up on Pacquiao’s boxing career.

During the Christmas season, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach and his promoter Bob Arum stepped in to intervene and reminded Pacquiao the significance of his actions and his career. Roach and Arum took their turns in flying in from the states to the Philippines and sat Pacquiao down to address issues regarding his boxing career. Arum and Roach laid down an ambitious outline of possible mega-fights and title fights that would propel Pacquiao as one of the greatest the sport has ever seen, but before any of those could come true, it had to start from the source. Pacquiao had to understand and realize that despite his good nature, there were certain sacrifices he had to take to take his career to the next level.

Pacquiao’s career was yet at another crossroads. Will he follow suit to the requests of his trainer and promoter? Or would he be content with the accomplishments and riches he had already achieved?
Next in line was some unfinished business. Juan Manuel Marquez was lined up to face Pacquiao anew. Four years after their epic clash in 2004 that garnered fight of the year accolades, both fighters would find themselves crossing paths once again. This time Marquez had the WBC super featherweight belt at stake and The Ring belt was also up for grabs.

For Marquez, it was personal. He was the last Mexican standing in the list of Mexican legends Pacquiao set forth in conquering. He also claimed that he was victorious and was robbed of a victory in his previous outing with Pacquiao wherein he came back from three first round knockdowns to masterfully box Pacquiao majority of the way. Incidentally one of the judges for that bout admitted an error he committed in scoring the first round 10-7 instead of 10-6 in favor of Pacquiao due to the three knockdowns which would’ve given Pacquiao a split-decision win. Regardless of the result however, everybody that knew anything about boxing knew they had to do it again.

And again they would in a bout fittingly dubbed “Unfinished Business”. On March 15, 2008 the rematch boxing fans were clamoring for was finally going to take place. The venue was the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and right from the promotional tours through the weigh-ins, passionate Mexican and Filipino fight fans received the bout with ardent support. It was another chapter to be added to the Philippines-Mexico rivalry that was initiated by Pacquiao’s dominance of the best boxers in the divisions he dwelled in who happened to be Mexicans.

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Both men entered to the ring amidst a raucous jam-packed crowd. Here’s a video from a fan’s perspective of Pacquiao’s ring entrance to give you an idea of the excitement that filled the air during that night. If there's one thing this video shows, it's the fun-loving nature of Filipinos that despite everything the country goes through, from poverty to violence and natural disasters, nothing can stop Filipinos from smiling.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10947-Indianapolis-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m8d5-Unfinished-Business-Chronicling-the-past-10-years-of-Boxings-best-part-12