De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight a big hit

Philippines—Although he is salivating to be in Oscar De la Hoya’s shoes, Mexican icon Juan Manuel Marquez says the Dec. 6 battle between his tormentor Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Oscar De la Hoya is going to be “a great, great fight.”


Marquez was reacting to a question posed by the media as he prepares to challenge Ring Magazine lightweight king Joel Casamayor on Sunday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.


“Well, I mean that’s (De La Hoya-Pacquiao) a fight that everybody wants to see, everybody is talking about it now,” said Marquez, who still insists that he beat Pacquiao in their two outings in 2004 and 2008.

“Obviously, I support the Mexican, I support Oscar,” added Marquez in the report on EastSideBoxing.com on Monday. “Oscar is my promoter and obviously I’m behind him. But, I think it will be a great, great fight.”

The 35-year-old Marquez, who went to the extent of flying to Manila in April to challenge Pacquiao for a third encounter, said he will prove to everybody that he can beat the world’s best lightweight in Casamayor.

Marquez was obviously taking a dig at Pacquiao, who beat former World Boxing Council lightweight champ David Diaz who was considered by many to be the weakest among the lightweight champs before the title fight.

“I chose to fight Joel Casamayor who, I’m telling you, has won the title as the best 135 pounder,” said Marquez. “Yes, fighting him and getting a victory against him—I just wanted to prove that I’m fighting the best like you mentioned,” said Marquez.

“Manny Pacquiao fought David Diaz, who was a champion yes, but not a top fighter in the 135 lb division.

“But I’m going to prove it. I’m going to prove it to myself, I’m going to prove to the people that I’m the best 135-pounder out there.”

Casamayor, for his part, has indicated that although he is not looking past Marquez, the bigger fight that awaits him will still be Pacquiao.

“I’ll tell you one thing, I’d like the chance (to fight) Pacquiao,” said Casamayor, a boxing gold medalist for Cuba in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“I really like the 140 lb division. If it’s not over here, I’ll fight him over in England. It’s not a big deal. First off, while I’m against Juan Manuel Marquez, there is no other fight if we can’t get past him.”

Asked about the Pacquiao-Marquez fight, Casamayor took another dig at the Filipino ring hero.

“I’m a savvy guy in the ring,” he said. “I’m not a guy that goes out there like a robot, someone’s robot—nothing like that. I’m a guy that gets loose in the ring.

“When I get in there, I invent. I’m the guy that dictates the pace.” (Salven Lagumbay; INQ.net)