If you are planning on placing a bet on the big Dec. 8 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez this week, it would be smart to avoid betting on Marquez.
The two have met in the ring three times before and they have been some of the closest fights of the past decade.
While the first ended in a draw, the other two matches came to a decision with Pacquiao ending up on top.
This trend will only continue after the fourth contest in this rivalry.
Marquez has been great throughout his career, but he has never been able to win against the elite competition. Although it is little to be ashamed of, he has an 0-3-1 combined record against Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
One primary reason for these struggles is his lack of elite speed to match his technique. At 39 years old, that ability has only gotten worse.
In the last fight against Pacquiao, Dinamita was able to throw 436 punches. This was 142 less than his opponent over the course of the match, according to BoxingScene.com.
Even though Marquez was able to land at a higher percentage, he did much less damage and it showed up on the scorecard.
Then when it came to power punches, he could not stay with Pac-Man and was only able to land 39 percent compared to the 43 percent by his competition.
A year later, both fighters have aged a bit, but Pacquiao still has the speed to stay ahead in the match.
The other problem that Marquez could have is the increased focus from the former champ. Pacquiao admits that his head was not completely on the fights in previous matches.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, the Filipino star discussed the adjustments he has made:
These past fights, I’ve been involved in different lines of work. There’s entertainment, TV hosting and politics. I lost my focus in training...I will be focusing more on training for this fight even to the extent of killing myself at the training camp.
If he is truly completely intent on winning this fight, Marquez might not have a chance.
Pacquiao is incredibly tough to knockout, as he has only lost twice in his career due to a stoppage, and never since 1999.
This means that the Mexican will have to win on points, and that does not seem likely. He is likely to be severely outnumbered in the amount of punches landed and he does not have the ability to cause too much damage on his opponent.
In addition, the judges have certainly favored Pacquiao in these matchups, and that is unlikely to change in this one.
While this match is likely to be close with these highly competitive fighters, Pacquiao will once again come out on top like he has so many times throughout his career.
Follow @TheRobGoldberg
Read more Boxing news on BleacherReport.com
