As the hours tick away in preparation for Saturday's highly anticipated bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, the excitement level is rapidly approaching the saturation point.
Nowhere is that fact more evident than the worldwide water cooler. Or, as it's better known, Twitter. The social media website has become a fantastic debate grounds for sports talk, and highly publicized events like Pacquiao-Marquez IV bring out the best anticipatory tweets.
Some boxing fans have spent their anticipatory hours simply arguing the merits of the first three fights. As most know, the initial trilogy in the series each came down to the judges' scorecards and ended in controversial fashion.
More than the past, though, Twitter has been a place where folks can give their opinion on Saturday's fight—whether that's positive or negative. Recognizable pundits and regular fans who just enjoy boxing all have spent their time giving passionate predictions for the bout.
With that in mind, here is a little sampling of some of the most notable tweets in preparation for Pacquiao-Marquez IV:
Though obviously said in jest, rapper Jae Mills perhaps put this series of fights into perspective with a Mortal Kombat reference:
#Random Pacquiao& Marquez has fought more rounds than Ken, Ryu, Sub Zero & Scorpion put together... Carry on tho.
— JAE MILLZ (@JAE_MILLZ) December 7, 2012
Back on the serious side of things, the fighters had a weight discrepancy of four pounds. With that, Saturday will mark the first time in their series that Marquez and Pacquiao have been separated by more than one pound, per ESPN Stats & Information:
This is 1st time in 4 fights between Pacquiao and Marquez that weight differential has been more than 1 pound (Pacquiao 147, Marquez 143)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 7, 2012
Nike Training sent out a tweet that shows the hard workout routine Pacquiao put himself through to prepare for the bout:
"We have been throwing more combinations, and changing our strategy – in movement." – @mannypacquiao #PacMarquez twitter.com/niketraining/s…
— Nike Training (@niketraining) December 8, 2012
Locked out NHL hockey player Taylor Hall is apparently spending his unpaid vacation watching HBO's 24/7 series. It turns out he's not so entertained by Pacquiao and Mayweather:
Winter Classic 24/7 on HBO puts Pacquiao vs Marquez 24/7 to shame. These two guys are super boring
— Taylor Hall (@hallsy04) December 6, 2012
Hall may not be excited for the fight, but the box office receipts leave little doubt that Pacquiao-Marquez IV is among the most anticipated events of 2012. According to Sports Illustrated's Bryan Armen Graham, the fight has already broken the $10 million mark in ticket sales alone:
Pacquiao-Marquez IV is an official sellout, generating a live gate of more than $10.5 million. Cheapest ticket on secondary market is $429.
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) December 8, 2012
Not everyone is just in town for Saturday's fight. Mike Tyson is using the weekend's festivities to help launch his Mike Tyson Cares charity:
It's going to be a great weekend in Las Vegas. #MikeTysonCares#PacMarquez
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) December 7, 2012
On the predictions side of things, HBO Boxing took an impromptu poll that showed 79 percent of people were choosing Pacquiao:
79% of #boxingheads are #TeamPacquiao and 29% are #TeamMarquez. Keep your #PacMarquez predictions coming itsh.bo/XyTEs6
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) December 7, 2012
As he's wont to do, ESPN's Skip Bayless gave out his bold stance, saying Pacquiao would score a knockout victory:
This time Pacquiao gets serious for 1st time in 5 fights, KOs Marquez in 10, makes statement he hasn't semi-retired and ready for Money.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 7, 2012
Magic Johnson will be attending Saturday's fight and joined his ESPN colleague in picking Pacquiao to win.
Flying out to Las Vegas tomorrow to check out@mannypacquiao vs. Marquez IV...I'm picking @mannypacquiao to win!#PacMarquez
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 7, 2012
While ESPN pundits are picking Pacquiao, professional handicapper Incarcerated Bob sees it differently. He also sees a huge paycheck floating away for Floyd Mayweather:
Picking upset tmrw: Juan Manuel Marquez wins and with that @floydmayweather blows his chance at the biggest payday in history of sports
— Incarcerated Bob (@incarceratedbob) December 7, 2012
If Incarcerated Bob is correct, Ryan Bivins of BadLeftHook.com wonders whether Marquez will be seen as better than Bernard Hopkins:
If Marquez finally beats Pacquiao will he go down as a greater 39 year old than Bernard Hopkins who beat De La Hoya? #boxing #PacMarquez
— Ryan Bivins (@sweetboxing) December 8, 2012
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