Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez II Saturday night has potential fight of the year written all over it when these top-three pound for pound fighters step into the ring to wage war for the Jr. lightweight undisputed championship. Despite the fact that 4 years ago Marquez gave Pacquiao the fight of his life in a 12-round draw the betting money has been pouring in on the mega-popular Manny Pacquiao. BodogLife.com has Manny Pacquiao as a -200 boxing betting favorite in Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez II.

The general consensus is that Pacquiao has improved since their last encounter with the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach while Marquez now, 34, has slightly declines. Marquez however is very motivated to show that he is the one Mexican fighter that Manny will not get the best of. In the first bout Pacquiao dropped Marquez three times in the opening round but was somewhat outclassed in the final 11 rounds by the super-savvy Marquez. Marquez also has the handspeed and power to compete with the explosive Pacquiao unlike former Pacquiao victims Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. BodogLife.com has the OVER\UNDER at 11.5 rounds with the OVER at -175 for Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez II.

Pacquiao still has a shade more in the way of power and punch resistance but Marquez is a beautiful counter-puncher, something Manny is not. If Marquez fights a more technical, cautious sort of fight he can time Manny coming in and put on a boxing clinic. The reports for this fight are that Pacquiao has been training like a madman and he is the stronger man. Marquez has become more of an aggressive fighter lately however and I feel that Pacquiao’s superior strength will be enough to capture the title in a war.

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