Score It!... Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez I

It's time for another edition of The Boxing Bulletin's feature series, Score it!

Photo © Ray Kasprowicz

We're going back to May 8, 2004 for the first meeting between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. On that night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the Filipino sensation and the masterful Mexican engaged in a classic 12 round featherweight war.

It was truly a memorable fight, from the stunning opening frame and stirring comeback, to the back and forth struggle down the stretch that culiminated in a decision that left fans arguing on both sides.

Let's go to the cards...

The Boxing Bulletin judges for this one are: Michael Nelson, Lee Payton, Andrew Fruman, Jeff Pryor and Brian McCarraher. "Manny Pacquiao is a storm! Juan Manuel Marquez hasn't ever seen anything like that." - Jim Lampley "Who has?" - Larry Merchant "Marquez comes out aggressively and lands four hard clean blows that have Pacquiao raising his hands in the air as though to pump himself up. Marquez wins the first minute thirty easy. Within the next forty five seconds he hits the canvas three times. The forty five seconds after that, Marquez shows why he will go down as a great. He is still getting hit clean repeatedly, is shaken, but fires back with everything he has. Willing to go down firing if he must go down." -JP "Marquez came out with an aggressive mindset and paid for it. There was still about :45 to go in the round after the three knockdowns. Amazingly, on pure guts and instinct, he survived the brutal onslaught." -LP Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-7 Pacquaio, Guy Jutras 10-6 Pacquaio, John Stewart 10-6 Pacquaio "Pacquiao landed a number of straight left hands in the first half of the round before Marquez began to make the adjustments necessary to avoid them. Marquez had a solid last minute, but Pacquaio clearly won it." -MN "Manny is still the aggressor, but a little overanxious in forcing his left. JMM comes back nicely over the second half of the round to get himself back in the fight." -BM "Like the flip of a switch, Marquez miraculously has adjusted to Pacquiao's speed. He is circling away from Manny's dangerous left, moving his head more and while the round is give and take, and each lands a cadre of clean blows, Marquez lands more. This is a revelatory comeback round. A statement emblematic of Marquez's entire career." -JP Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Pacquaio, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Pacquaio "For the first time in the fight, you remember Marquez' punches at the end of the round. He is discovering the angles for his right hand counters, and the combination punching is starting to warm up. His backward movements shut Manny down in that round." -LP "Marquez is reading Pacquaio's moves. He's taking a step back and landing counters, while Manny is missing more this round." -BM "Marquez controlled the round from start to finish. He used his jab effectively, and landed sharp counters on a number of occasions. He also mixed in some solid body shots, although a couple looked like they may have strayed low." - AF Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Marquez, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Marquez "Gradually, moment by moment, they are edging towards fighting more Marquez's fight than Pacquiao's fight." - Jim Lampley "Although he's more cautious now, Pacquiao is able to slip in a few good left hands. Marquez however is getting his jab working and lands two very hard right hands that earn him the round." -MN "Another Marquez round. Backing up and turning in tight circles has limited Manny's output, and has him controlling the pace of the fight. I felt like he landed the clean blows as well." -LP "This is a close round; much of it spent by Manny overreaching to land a left bomb and missing, Marquez jabbing over the top of Pacquiao, and looking to land a big counter. Neither lands particularly well, but Marquez continues to stifle the whirlwind that is Pacquiao. Very slight edge to Marquez in the round." -JP Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Pacquaio, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Marquez Totals after 4 rounds: Clements 39-35 Pacquaio, Jutras 37-36 Pacquaio, Stewart 38-35 Pacquaio "Not much happens in the first minute and a half. A head snapping Marquez right hand sets off a series of heated exchanges. Marquez handles Pacquiao in the last 20 seconds and wins the round." -MN "For nearly the first two minutes little separates the two, it's hunt and peck, killing time. Marquez is warned again for low blows. Then with just over a minute left, Marquez lands a head snapping strike that crunches into Pac's face. The next twenty seconds it's a firefight, and in a round that was up for grabs, Marquez grabs it with gusto and cuts the Filipino to top it off." -JP Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Marquez, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Marquez "Marquez's whole focus is strictly on Pacquaio's left hand. That's all. No jabs, no nothing, just his straight left hand. He's getting away from it every time, and Pacquaio's having problems finding another way to be effective" - Emanuel Steward "Marquez is now landing the harder punches, and when he nails Pacquiao, he doesn't get too brave. His focus is on staying in control. It's efficient and impressive work." -LP "Remarkably, Marquez has asserted his control over the fight. He's blunted Pacquiao's offense with subtle footwork and is scoring with counter rights." -BM "Not a very active round from either man, although the key shots were landed by Marquez. Shortly before the mid-way point Marquez landed a huge right hand that stunned Pacquiao. He also landed a nice uppercut and followed up with a good body shot with about 40 seconds left." - AF Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Marquez, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Marquez "Marquez controls the first 30 seconds with body work and a stiff jab. Pacquiao starts landing his left hand behind his own double jab. Marquez lands a few hard rights. Close round that I give to Marquez." -MN "Pacquiao lands some lefts but Marquez keeps rocking him in return and when he backs Pacquiao up, there is nothing Manny can do." - BM "This was the hardest round to score so far. I went back and forth on it about 10 times. It was so close down the stretch that I gave it to Manny because he landed the last big one." -LP "Close round. Each guy does good work. Manny is more determined, more energetic but Marquez continues to be the sharper of the two. For me it comes down to the final 15 seconds; Marquez lands a great, straight shot that pushes Manny of balance. Manny quickly gets inside before the bell and lands two jarring blows that punctuate his renewed will this round. By the slimmest of margins it swings for Pacquiao." -JP "Marquez controlled the first minute by a comfortable margin, while Pacquiao came back strong in the second minute with a couple nice straight lefts to even things up. Both had their moments in the final minute, and at the bell, I think it was virtually a dead heat. Not enough in it for me to pick a winner – so I’m not going to. 10-10." - AF Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Marquez, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Pacquaio "I gave the older man a very small edge because I thought he had it more his way and landed a few more clean punches." -LP "It was a slow round, with a lot of missing by both fighters. Marquez edged the last minute to take it." -BM "This is one of those rounds where having the option of giving the winner a ½ point edge would be nice, as the action was sparse with few punches of significance landed. I gave it to Marquez as he landed the best punch of the round, a good right hand with about 35 seconds left and followed it up with a flurry that included a couple nice shots to the body." - AF Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Pacquaio, Guy Jutras 10-9 Pacquaio, John Stewart 10-9 Pacquaio Totals after 8 rounds: Clements 76-74 Pacquaio, Jutras 76-75 Marquez, Stewart 76-73 Pacquaio "Pacquiao has his first strong round since the 2nd. He landed several straight lefts, an uppercut, and some nice counter punches off the ropes (even as Emanuel Steward is saying he can't counter punch)." -MN "After Marquez shaded the first couple minutes of the round, Pacquiao showed some real energy and took charge over the last 45 seconds. Marquez closed strongly, landing a couple nice shots near the end of the round, but it wasn’t enough." - AF "Although Marquez started strong, I gave it Manny as he breaks through in the final minute and started to finally score cleanly." -BM "These rounds just get harder to call. Marquez takes the first third with body work, including an impressive three punch combo to Manny's torso. The middle minute slides by on even terms, but Pacquiao edges the third minute with a few explosive shots to get things rolling towards the bell. Marquez returns with a couple crisp punches of his own. You could argue it either way. I nudge it to Marquez, his emphasis throughout on bodywork making the difference." -JP "I thought Marquez clearly won the round. He was the boss through the first half. Totally owned every aspect. Manny landed 3 heavy lefts in the second half, but had it taken away in the final seconds with clean straight rights." -LP Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Marquez, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Pacquaio "This guy is tired. Do not let him take control of this fight. This is too close a fight right now." - Freddie Roach "Pacquiao landed some clean left hands, including one midway through the round that buckled Marquez' knees. It looked to that Marquez fought the last minute in a little bit of a daze." -MN "Some fierce exchanges in this round, with Pacquiao finding a home for his left. I thought this was Manny's best round since early in the fight." -BM "Pacquiao lands a string of solid shots midway through, and it marks his biggest success since round one. Marquez edges towards disaster again, failing to move his head, but rolls with the shots enough to blunt their traumatic purpose. At the end of the round, Marquez surges forward, making Pacquiao back up, but can never land a blow to turn the round in his favor. He does succeed in letting Manny know, if he doesn't already, that while the first round may have been easy, no other round will pass without furious contention." -JP Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Pacquaio, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Pacquaio "Marquez flashed an excellent jab throughout the 11th. Along with some sharp right hands, it was a good comeback round for him after a couple rough ones." -MN "Marquez lands just about every kind of punch you can throw in this round, jabs to the head and body, hooks, uppercuts, straights; he is rejuvenated here and it may be his best overall round. Pacquiao tries hard, particularly as the round ends, but fails to really make a mark in this one." -JP "Marquez landed a number of strong right hands in what was the most decisive round for either fighter over the second half the fight." - AF Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Marquez, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Pacquaio "Both fighters believe they can win this fight if they win this round." - Larry Merchant "Marquez is using his jab energetically now and having great success with it. Pacquiao lands a few hard left hands, but most of them are missing their mark. They both step up the intensity in the last minute. Marquez wins the round because he couldn't miss with his jab." -MN "Fitting close to a great fight. Neither had an edge in the final round from what I saw. I'm going to make it even. I wouldn't feel right giving it to either man. Marquez' clean jabs vs a few of Pac's power shots." -LP "Pac just too predictable with that left. Marquez too sharp. Better fundamentals and a more balanced attack for Marquez." -BM "Pacquiao looks like he wants to make a final impression, Marquez is a little more patient. Another pretty even round, but Manny forces the issue more and lands better." -JP "This was a very tough round to score. I thought Marquez just edged it on the strength of a very solid first 75 seconds. Pac had a good burst in the middle of the round where he landed a few nice left hands. The final minute was razor close, although I thought Marquez was just a shade better. Like the fight as a whole, it was razor close and I can’t argue with anyone that had it scored differently." - AF Official Judge's Cards: Burt Clements 10-9 Marquez, Guy Jutras 10-9 Marquez, John Stewart 10-9 Marquez Final Scores Official Cards Burt Clements: 113-113 Draw Guy Jutras: 115-110 Marquez John Stewart: 115-110 Pacquiao The Boxing Bulletin Cards Michael Nelson: 113-112 Marquez Lee Payton: 113-113 Draw Andrew Fruman: 113-113 Draw Jeff Pryor: 113-112 Marquez Brian McCarraher: 113-112 Marquez The Boxing Bulletin Official Scorecard R1: Pacquiao (4 point round) R2: Pacquiao R3: Marquez R4: Marquez R5: Marquez R6: Marquez R7: Even R8: Marquez* R9: Pacquiao R10: Pacquiao R11: Marquez R12: Marquez *All 3 official judges gave Pacquiao round 8, while all 5 Boxing Bulletin judges scored the round for Marquez. Overall, we scored it 7-4-1 for Marquez, which comes out to 113-113. However, 3 out of 5 of us gave Marquez the fight by a single point, with the other two scoring a draw meaning the average scores added up to 112.8-112.4, giving Marquez the edge by the slimmest of margins. Marquez swept 6 rounds on our cards (3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11), while Pacquiao had the unanimous edge in 2 (1, 10) and a 4/5ths share of the 2nd round. The contentious rounds were 7, 9 and 12. We split 2-2-1 on round 7, sided with Pacquiao by a 3-2 tally in the 9th, and had Marquez up 3-1-1 in the final round. Join us again next month when we take a look at the rematch. Previous Editions of Score it! Nigel Benn vs Chris Eubank II Larry Holmes vs Tim Witherspoon Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera I Sugar Ray Leonard vs Marvin Hagler