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Juan Manuel Marquez knocks out Manny Pacquiao in sixth round

LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao never saw it coming. He never saw the punch that snapped his head back Saturday and dropped him to the canvas and left him sprawled there momentarily, face down, while his wife sobbed uncontrollably and the packed crowd at MGM’s Grand Garden Arena rose to its feet in shock.

Juan Manuel Marquez celebrated his victory while Manny Pacquiao remained out cold.

With that, a rivalry known for its lack of a definitive triumph suddenly had the most definitive ending of them all.

Juan Manuel Marquez celebrated his victory while Manny Pacquiao remained out cold.

Juan Manuel Marquez threw both arms skyward, as blood dripped from his nose. Bedlam ensued all around him, but Marquez said little. His face said it all.

His face summarized four fights between two men, two scored in favor of Pacquiao, another one a draw. His face summarized the release of nearly a decade of frustration. For the moment that Marquez waited for and obsessed over, for the moment he set the record straight.

“I threw the perfect punch,” he said.

It happened in the sixth round, after Pacquiao mounted the most furious of comebacks, after he overcame an early knockdown with a reciprocal knockdown, after he stung Marquez with a series of left hands. As Round 6 neared its conclusion, Marquez (55-6-1, 40 knockouts) crept in close to Pacquiao, and he came over the top from a short distance with that right.

The shot crumpled Pacquiao (54-5-2) to the canvas, right in front of Bob Arum, his promoter, who held his hands out as if he wanted to catch his prized fighter in his arms. Pacquiao’s wife, Jinkee, held her face in both hands and cried. It took her husband several minutes to rise, and when he did, his face was bruised under both eyes, which were vacant. He looked lost.

“We knew it would be a tough fight,” Marquez said. “But not an impossible fight.”

Pacquiao was sent to the hospital for a CAT scan.

Before the fight, Pacquiao strode deep inside Grand Garden Arena, through a maze of tunnels. He entered Dressing Room 2 at 5:40 p.m. This was about an hour earlier than for his previous foray against Marquez. Pacquiao was so early that he caught the drug testers off guard. One ran off to fetch a test kit. Pacquiao just smiled, his face filled with confidence, so sure.

The boxer embraced his trainer, Freddie Roach.

“How are you?” Roach asked him. “You good?”

Pacquiao simply nodded.

He wore a blue T-shirt imprinted with his likeness; T-shirt Manny held a microphone, wore boxing shoes and spun a basketball on an index finger. Real-life Manny sat in a chair below where highlights of his previous Marquez fights played on a flat-screen television.

As if to underscore his mood, Pacquiao did not wait for the HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant to interview him. He grabbed the microphone and interviewed Merchant instead. Merchant ably played along. To one query, he said he wanted to confirm HE won the previous three fights against Marquez.

Pacquiao looked up, incredulous. “Wait,” he said, “that’s my line.”

Then it got surreal. In came Mitt Romney. Yes, that Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and the presidential runner-up, every hair on his head in place. Romney, in fact, came in twice. His introduction was at once awkward and hilarious.

“Hi, Manny,” he said. “I’m Mitt Romney. I ran for president. I lost.”

All that really happened, truth stranger than fiction. Or just another Pacquiao fight.

Juan Manuel Marquez threw a vicious right hand that flattened Manny Pacquiao.

The fighter himself stood coiled in his corner before the opening bell ring, his fists already raised. Then he charged at Marquez like a bull at a matador. Pacquiao fought the smarter fight early, as he tagged Marquez with lefts and avoided the right hand.

That all changed in the third round, all changed with one punch. It came from Marquez, who sent his right arm wide, over Pacquiao’s left glove, flush into Pacquiao’s face. The punch sent Pacquiao flying backward, on his backside. He climbed to his feet quickly, his face twisted into a sneer.

It marked the first time in 39 rounds between the fighters that Marquez had knocked Pacquiao down. If anything, it seemed to galvanize Pacquiao. Well, at least until the sixth.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com

UFC on FOX 5 fight card: 'Henderson vs Diaz' in Seattle

UFC on FOX 5: "Henderson vs. Diaz" is all set to pop off tonight (Sat., Dec. 8, 2012) from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, and we've got a complete guide to the show with links to all the major storylines. 

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is all set to blow the roof off the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, with its latest network television offering, UFC on Fox 5: "Henderson vs. Diaz" featuring a lightweight championship showdown pitting Ben Henderson against Nate Diaz.

The rest of the main card is stacked with compelling match-ups that will see B.J. Penn battle Rory MacDonald, Mauricio Rua try to quell the uprising of Alexander Gustafsson, and Mike Swick look to continue his comeback against Matt Brown.

With anticipation running high and so many news stories hitting you at once, we can understand if you missed a few and need an easy guide to get to them all.

Well stand back, Maniacs, because we're using technology. 

Source: http://www.mmamania.com

Jon Jones wants Alexander Gustafsson fight over Shogun Rua

UFC President Dana White has said the winner of the Alexander Gustafsson vs. Mauricio Rua fight will get a light heavyweight title shot, possibly against current champion Jon Jones. For his part, "Bones" would like for that to be the former instead of the latter. 

Later on this evening (Sat., Dec. 8, 2012) at UFC on Fox 5: "Henderson vs. Diaz" at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, Alexander Gustafsson will take on Mauricio Rua in a light heavyweight number one contender bout. That means the winner will reportedly fight the winner of the Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen bout set for April of next year.

If it was up to "Bones," the current 205-pound king, he would like to take on Gustafsson. His reasoning?

"Well, I guess I would prefer to fight Alexander Gustafsson just because I haven't fought him yet and there's a lot of critics who say the reason why I do so well is because I have a size advantage over my opponents, and I don't think that's really fair. I think fighting Gustafsson will kind of get that out of the way, that whole 'Jon Jones is bigger than everyone else' thing that has gotten going."

Makes sense.

But there have been those who have said "Shogun" wasn't at 100-percent when Jones fought him back at UFC 128 in March of last year. What say you, Jonny?

Source: http://www.mmamania.com
"That's really not my fault that Shogun didn't come to our fight 100-percent prepared. I came and I did my job and if Shogun wins than I'll be more than happy to give him a second chance at the belt."

Now that's a champ, huh?