Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines knocked down Juan Manuel Marquez in the third round before going on to capture the WBC super featherweight championship by split decision on Saturday. Judges Duane Ford and Tom Miller scored the fight 115-112 and 114-113 respectively in favor of Pacquiao while Jerry Roth scored the bout 115-112 for Mexico's Marquez. The two men had previously fought in 2004, Marquez recovering from three first-round knockdowns to earn a draw. There were no such early fireworks in the rematch, as Marquez, 48-4-1 with 35 KOs, scored well with sharp counter-punches and a tight defense. However, in the third round, Pacquiao landed a right-left combination followed by a sweeping left which wobbled his opponent. Marquez threw a right hand in response but a perfect counter left hand from Pacquiao dropped the Mexican fighter onto his back. The defending champion hauled himself to his feet and was able to survive the round in the face of a furious Pacquiao onslaught. Pacquiao (46-3-2, 34 KOs) continued to press the attack in the fourth, landing at will with southpaw left hands but by the end of that round, Marquez had recovered his poise. A clash of heads in the seventh opened a cut above the Mexican's right eye and in the eighth, a right hand from Marquez left the Filipino with a wound above his own right eye. “I thought I was in control of the fight,” Pacquiao told reporters. “But when my eye got cut, it made it more difficult.” Pacquiao seemed bothered by the cut and Marquez appeared to hurt him with a body attack immediately afterward. By the ninth, Pacquiao looked confused and unsure how to respond as Marquez landed sharp combinations. “Manny followed him around the ring too much. He didn't cut off the ring enough,” Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said. “It was a close fight, but we came back at the end,” said Roach. “It could have gone either way, in my mind. Manny was more disciplined in training than he was in the fight tonight.” However, Pacquiao's power was always evident and a strong counter left hand in the tenth staggered Marquez again. Marquez stumbled forward and Pacquiao opened up with a furious two-fisted attack that backed Marquez into the ropes. Again, however, Marquez survived. The final two rounds were closely contested and the result seemed in doubt until the moment the scores were read out. Marquez disputed the result. “I haven't lost anything at all,” he said. “The people know I won this. The fight is not one round. I connected more punches, more jabs and I feel I won.” Marquez landed 172 punches, or 34 percent of his total compared to Pacquiao's 25 percent. Pacquiao threw more jabs, and Marquez landed more power shots. Marquez could have had this fight shortly after their first bout, but his management complained about the financial terms. Marquez ended up fighting for a small purse in Indonesia, where he lost his WBA featherweight title to Chris John two years ago, but Marquez claimed the WBC super featherweight title last year by beating Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao discounted the idea of a third fight with Marquez, expressing instead a preference to fight in the lightweight division. “This business is over,” he said of his rivalry with Marquez. Many Filipinos watched the 12-round bout for free in public gymnasiums across the Southeast Asian country, including more than 2,000 soldiers and their dependents who cheered for him at army headquarters in Manila. Military chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said he declared a seven-hour truce with insurgents so troops could watch Pacquiao, a reserve army officer who had previously visited soldiers in combat zones to boost their morale. Army Brig. Gen. Carlos Holganza said the army gymnasium was filled with deafening cheers when Pacquiao floored Marquez with a left hook in the third round. But the crowd fell silent when the Mexican boxer retaliated with rapid punches. __
