Former WBC exec keen on another showdown
Lamazon, who served WBC president Jose Sulaiman for 24 years, was on the Mexican TV broadcast panel with legendary fighter Julio Cesar Chavez to provide analysis of the WBC superfeatherweight championship bout.
“I thought Marquez won by two points but I’m not complaining,” he said. “That’s boxing. Judges look at fights differently. What I’d like to happen is a third fight but Marquez can’t wait too long. He’s now 34 (he turns 35 in August). They should fight again before the year is over so Marquez doesn’t get too old for Pacquiao.”
Lamazon said Pacquiao and Marquez were made for each other because they are a contrast in styles. Pacquiao is the ultimate puncher while Marquez is the consummate boxer.
Golden Boy matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz said whenever fighters like Pacquiao and Marquez face off, there’s bound to be a controversy if the bout goes the distance because some judges credit aggressiveness more than ring generalship while others don’t.
In last Saturday’s match, Marquez played the matador’s role in trying to tame the raging bull that was Pacquiao. The Mexican displayed poise and used a tactical approach in neutralizing the Filipino’s rampaging style but in the end, fell short because of a knockdown he suffered in the third round.
Judge Jerry Roth, 66, awarded eight rounds to Marquez and only four to Pacquiao to score it 115-112 for the defending champion. Judge Duane Ford, 70, gave seven rounds to Pacquiao and had it 115-112. Judge Tom Miller, 48, saw it 114-113 for Pacquiao with both fighters claiming six rounds apiece but the 10-8 count in the third because of the knockdown made the difference.
Although Marquez’ camp has vehemently cried foul over the decision, Lewkowicz admitted Pacquiao deserved to win. Marquez’ manager Jaime Quintana said he was disgusted by the verdict, insisted his boy was robbed and even accused Top Rank chairman Bob Arum of hanky-panky by putting in Miller as a late replacement for original judge Bill Flaherty.
Golden Boy chief executive officer Richard Schaefer demanded a third meeting right away. Little did Shaefer know that his own matchmaker disagreed with him on how he viewed the outcome.
Arum, however, put his foot down as Marquez’ camp raved and ranted in the post-fight press conference. He told the sourgrapers to accept the decision like men.
The HBO TV panel also agreed with the verdict. So did WBC lightweight titlist David Diaz who’s lined up next against Pacquiao. Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal said Pacquiao was bloodied but unbowed, adding that “Marquez was the more effective fighter, landing a higher percentage of punches, but Pacquiao withstood the barrage and landed enough to sway the judges.” Carp said Pacquiao’s late surge sealed the deal.
“Pacquiao came out firing in the ninth round and nailed Marquez with a big left,” wrote Carp. “It was more of the same in the 10th as Pacquiao was unloading from all angles but Marquez hung tough.”
Carp quoted Pacquiao as saying, “He moved around a lot more this time and he jabbed a lot more … I thought I was in control but when he cut my eye in the fourth, it made it more difficult for me to see.”
Trainer Freddie Roach conceded that the fight could’ve gone either way.
“It was a close fight but we came back in the end,” said Roach, quoted by Carp. “Manny didn’t cut off the ring the way he should have but Marquez may have had something to do with that.”
A sellout crowd of 11,061 shelled out $3.3 million in gate receipts to set a new record for a Pacquiao fight in an Arum show.
Lamazon said he is now semi-retired, appearing on TV as a boxing analyst and operating an Argentinian restaurant he owns in
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