Pacquiao vows to prove superiority over Marquez
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Filipino boxing icon and Congressman Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, left, gestures with Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez as they pose before the photographers during the kick-off of their World Press Tour Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011 at the Manila Hotel, Philippines to promote their fight on Nov. 12 in Las Vegas, USA. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)
MANILA, Philippines >> Manny Pacquiao vowed to remove any doubt about his superiority over Mexican challenger Juan Manuel Marquez when they meet for the third time in November.
Marquez insists he won the previous fights — a draw in 2004 and Pacquiao’s split-decision victory in 2008.
WBO welterweight champion Pacquiao said Saturday the 37-year-old Marquez has no chance of beating him when they meet again in Las Vegas on Nov. 12.
"I won’t let that happen," Pacquiao said. "And I have to train hard for this fight and to give my best and to give a good show. This is the fight that will answer all the questions."
If Marquez doesn’t accept the result this time, Pacquiao said he would "just challenge him to a basketball game."
Pacquiao and Marquez faced thousands of fans in the Philippine capital Manila on Saturday to promote the fight.
They appeared first at a news conference at a hotel before moving on to Manila’s Rizal Park Grandstand where they raised their right hands and took an oath of "a true sportsman" in front of about 3,000 cheering fans, partly drawn in by Pacquiao’s television game show, Manny Many Prizes, later Saturday night.
Fight promoter Bob Arum said less than 50 of the 16,000 seats for the fight at the MGM Grand were still available and he expected the pay-per-view sales to exceed the 1.4 million for Pacquiao’s last fight against Sugar Shane Mosley in May.
Four years on from their last fight — which was at super featherweight — Marquez is expecting a different challenge this time around.
"This is a different fight, because he changed," he said. "He’s working with two hands. He uses the right hand."
He said he would "take care inside the ring," noting that Pacquiao had improved his speed.
Marquez is generally considered Mexico’s top boxer. He decisively won a rematch with Juan Diaz in July 2010 in his first fight since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. the previous year.
Pacquiao acknowledged Marquez as a "really strong fighter."
The experienced Mexican said the fight "is very important to me."
"I trained very hard for this fight," he said. "I am looking very hard for victory for my fans in Mexico, for my fans around the world, for my fans here in the Philippines."
