Nacho Beristain's frustration made sense. For the second time in 15 days, the venerated Mexican trainer's fighting Marquez brothers had lost a close decision in a scintillating fight - and it had to hurt. What didn't make sense to most observers at Juan Manuel Marquez's split-decision loss to Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night was the way Beristain and the rest of Marquez's camp inexplicably blamed corrupt judging for a defeat by the narrowest margin: one point on one judge's scorecard. “It is embarrassing now with what is happening with boxing,” Beristain said, using the Spanish word for “disgrace.” Two weeks earlier, he was in Rafael Marquez's corner during his loss to Israel Vazquez in a similarly thrilling bout. But anybody at the Mandalay Bay Events Center who watched the bout without bias would have to disagree with Beristain. The WBC super featherweight title bout is sure to be remembered as one of the year's most entertaining fights, from Pacquiao's third-round knockdown to Marquez's fantastic final rounds, and a career peak for both courageous competitors. By the 12th round, it was close enough to go either way - and that's precisely why it was so great. “The fight was very close, but I thought the knockdown was the difference,” said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach. “If it would have gone the other way, I would have accepted it, because with a fight like that, the difference is almost nothing. In that sense, it doesn't really matter who got the decision. Both guys fought a great fight, and they should both come out like winners.” Marquez was knocked down by Pacquiao's crushing left hook in the third round, and the point he lost for that fall on judge Tom Miller's scorecard made the difference in Miller's 114-113 decision for Pacquiao. If Marquez had stayed upright, the fight would have ended in another draw, and Marquez would have kept his WBC title. Both Pacquiao and Marquez wore the consequences of their bout afterward, when both showed up late to their news conference after getting stitches. Pacquiao hid behind dark sunglasses and stooped with pain from Marquez's body shots, while Marquez's face was puffy and gashed. While Pacquiao was his usual conciliatory self after earning his $3 million payday, Marquez still was in the mood to fight. “The judges don't know what they're looking at,” said Marquez, who made more than $1 million. “I was doing everything possible to win the fight. They took a victory that I won clearly.” The post-fight posturing said more about the complainers' biases than any actual problem with judging, by nature an inexact science with thousands of variables. The judges, the corners, the promoters and media observers all came to several different conclusions about the bout in both fighters' favor - and even a few draws. “One judge had it for Marquez, one had it the other way for Pacquiao, and another judge had it close for Pacquiao, one point,” said Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum. “The media was all over the place, some for one guy and some for the other. Grow up and be a man and accept the judges' decision. ... There's one thing everyone can agree on, and that's that it was a damn close fight. There was no skullduggery, nothing like that.” Marquez's camp called for an immediate rematch, with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer offering a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for the fight. Arum, still stinging from the less-than-stellar revenue from Kelly Pavlik's immediate rematch with Jermain Taylor in February, said the fight probably will happen eventually, but only after there's time to “put a little air under it.” “Nobody is saying wait another four years for it, but you've got to give it some time,” Arum said. If Pacquiao's cuts and abrasions heal on schedule, Roach said he should be able to fight WBC lightweight champion David Diaz on June 28 in a bid for a title in Pacquiao's fifth weight class. Arum acknowledged a rematch with Marquez could occur as soon as the fall in Macau, but refused Schaefer's attempts to get a firm date. __
