Throughout his career, no round has been more exciting yet frustrating for Manny Pacquiao.
Manny Pacquiao has competed in some of the biggest fights of all time. Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is arguably the biggest fight ever, while PacMan’s knockout win over Ricky Hatton lives long in the memory of boxing fans.
The eight-weight world champion will attempt to roll back the years when he takes on Mario Barrios on July 19, aiming to add a 13th world title belt to his collection.
He’s seen everything in his incredible 25-year career, but even he was shocked when he failed to win his 2004 bout despite dropping his opponent three times in the opening round.
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Manny Pacquiao knocked down Juan Manuel Marquez three times in the first round
For his 2004 bout against Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao will feel aggrieved that he didn’t earn a first-round knockout victory in Las Vegas.
The Filipino fighter was drafted in with just two weeks’ notice, following Pacquiao’s domination of Marco Antonio Barrera the year prior.
His newfound fame and success prompted the two men to organise a unification fight, with Marquez’s WBA and IBF Featherweight titles on the line, alongside Pacquiao’s The Ring belt.
Marquez went into the fight as a massive underdog, which showed in his performance in the first round. Halfway through the round, a huge left hand sent Marquez to the canvas, but he bounced up ready to take the fight to Pacquiao.
This was a bad move against such a ferocious fighter like Pacquiao, and it quickly ended in Marquez being sent to the mat.
This happened for a third time, as Marquez fell on the ropes and looked out of it, before somehow getting to his feet and beating the count.
PacMan unloaded on Dynamite for the rest of the round, but the Mexican somehow managed to last the entire round. There were calls for the referee to end the fight there and then, but Marquez improved as the fight went on, and it became an impressive back-and-forth contest.
The fight went all twelve rounds, with neither man able to stop the other one. The judges couldn’t pick between the pair, and Pacquiao was furious when the judges scored the fight a draw.
He had good reason to be furious, too.
A judge admitted his error that cost Manny Pacquiao the victory
The draw was a controversial result, especially because one of the three judges admitted he made an error that cost Pacquiao the victory over Marquez.
The judges scored the fight an even draw, but there was some controversy with the scoring for the first round. Two of the judges awarded Pacquiao the first round, 10 points to 6, while the third, Burt Clements, only scored it 10-7, despite the three knockdowns for the eight-weight champion.
“Clearly, it wasn’t non-awareness that there were three knockdowns. I just screwed up. I feel badly because I dropped the ball, plainly and simply,” he admitted after the fight, acknowledging his mistake.
Had Clements scored Pacquiao correctly and awarded the first round a 10-6 win for PacMan, he’d have won the fight by two points and become the unified champion.
Luckily, Pacquiao managed to enact some revenge on Marquez. Their rematch in 2008 saw Pacquiao win via split decision, before the judges awarded him another win in their trilogy fight three years later.
However, Marquez had the last laugh, knocking Pacquiao out just months after his controversial defeat to Timothy Bradley in 2012 in their fourth and final bout.