Both men fought. Both men bled. Both men put it all on the line, and left every ounce of energy they had in the ring.
One man won, and one man lost. Whether or not I agree that Manny Pacquiao beat Juan Manuel Marquez last night (I scored it 114-113 for Marquez), the fact of the matter is that two of three ringside judges saw what was a tight, hotly-contested, and wonderful fight go the way of the Filipino superstar, Pacquiao.
Every time one seemed to have a definitive edge, his foe came storming back into the fight. The ebb and flow was amazing.
Manny is now 46-3-2, and Marquez is 48-4-1. That's the way it is.
Sadly, though, it rarely just ends that way. Yes, the Marquez camp has the right to say they won the fight in their own minds. And if Juan Manuel hadn't tasted canvas in the third round courtesy a monster shot from Pacquiao, they would've maybe won the fight, or at least had another draw.
If Juan Manuel hadn't so frequently eaten the power shots from Pacquiao, maybe they win.
But the fight was what it was -- a sensational series of momentum shifts, with scoring coming down, basically, to what you like in your fighter. Much of the fight saw Marquez dictate pace and counter-punch, and even totally control the offense in spurts. And much of it saw Pacquiao's raw power and speed make him look too damn good for Marquez.
It was such a good, memorable fight that were this a year with no Vazquez-Marquez III, we might be looking at, ultimately, a Fight of the Year, and at the least a very strong contender. It reminded in many ways of their first encounter four years ago, and in some ways of Marquez's win over Marco Antonio Barrera one year ago.
When the dust settled at Mandalay Bay, both men raised their arms, just like the first time around. And like that first time, scoring could've gone either way. There was no robbery. The cards even read similarly: one strongly in favor of Marquez (115-112), one for Pacquiao (115-112), and one very, very close. This time, that close one had a one-point difference rather than making it a draw.
It was a fight so good that you hated to see one guy have to lose. But someone loses, and that's the sport. Either someone wins or, really, no one wins.
Both Pacquiao and Marquez did their jobs to the absolute best of their abilities last night. Pacquiao hasn't looked so good since he creamed Erik Morales in November 2006. Marquez looked every bit as outstanding as he did in his two wins last year.
Neither man should be ashamed. And while Bob Arum, Pacquiao and Top Rank have no intention of making a third fight, that's just business. Sure, I'd love to see them square off again, but Pacquiao's headed to 135. The fact that he ballooned up 16 pounds between the weigh-in and fight time is a sign that he probably does need to.
The fight was great. Afterward? Well...