It looks like there is no bad blood between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez after all, as the fierce competitors who fought for four epic fights only have good things to say to each other.
In an interview with Juan Manuel Marquez , he said that he believes "Pacquiao won a close decision," in his June, 2012 duel against Tim Bradley.
The match went on for 12 grueling rounds and when it was time for the judge's decision, it was Bradley who came out victorious as two judges' scorecards was in favor of him and beat Pacquiao via split-decision.
Asked about his prediction on Pacquiao's coming rematch against Bradley, Marquez said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times yesterday: "I think Pacquiao wins. This time, I expect him to be more aggressive, throw more punches, use more speed, while I think Bradley will use more of the ring to just box.
Juan Manuel Marquez might be exactly right about that statement. Especially when Bradley taunted Pacquiao by saying that he has lost his killer instinct. As a result, he only made Pacquiao more hungry to score a victory against him and prove that the unbeaten American's highly-questionable victory in their first match two years ago was just a fluke.
"The more he says that, the more he inspires me to show the hunger and killer instinct he's talking about," Pacquiao said Tuesday. "It's good for me but not for him I think."
Also, Marquez, who fought against Pacquiao four times, losing two, drawing one and winning the last one by a stunning knockout, is fighting Mike Alvarado on May 17.
The winner of that fight will eventually face the winner of the Pacquiao-Bradley rematch.
The 40-year-old Marquez (55-7-1, 40 knockouts) says he's prepared for a desperate welterweight opponent in Alvarado (34-2, 23 KOs), who will try to avoid a career-threatening third loss in four fights.
Alvarado in a March, 2013 decision avenged a seventh-round TKO loss to Brandon Rios in 2012, but then was battered badly by Ruslan Provodnikov, quitting on his stool following the 10th round after getting floored twice in the eighth.
"That's exactly it, he can't lose again," Marquez said of Alvarado. "I believe that this fight with Mike Alvarado will be a great one and one that the fans will enjoy. He is a big, tough fighter who gives his all in the ring. I expect a difficult fight."
