Manny Pacquiao sets record straight on the KO that changed everything
Twelve years later, the Filipino legend returns to the scene of his most brutal defeat – and says it wasn’t what it seemed.
One of the most unforgettable fights in Manny Pacquiao’s legendary career was his fourth showdown with Juan Manuel Márquez – the bout in which the Filipino icon was knocked out cold in the sixth round. For a terrifying moment, he lay motionless on the canvas, and his wife, desperate and in tears, tried to climb into the ring. Security at the MGM Grand wouldn’t let her.
Pacquiao blames himself, not fate
That night has become one of boxing’s most iconic moments, not only for the brutal knockout but because it marked the beginning of the end for Pacquiao. He was never quite the same again, slowly fading from the sport as he shifted his focus to politics. But now, years later, Manny has a very different take on what happened that night in Las Vegas – as he prepares to return to the same venue where he was sent, as they say, to “the land of dreams.”
“He got lucky,” Pacquiao said in an interview with FightHub TV during a press conference ahead of his upcoming WBC Welterweight title fight against Mario Barrios. “I was about to finish him in that round. If not then, the next. I let my guard down and he caught me with a lucky punch.”
But Márquez sees it differently. In a separate interview, he recalled how he had been carefully studying Pacquiao throughout the fight, looking for the perfect opening – and then capitalized on it.
“I was thinking: ‘He’s studying me, I’m studying him.’ We had already fought 36 rounds. So what mistakes does Manny make?” Márquez told ProBox TV. “He covers up well, he’s fast, he hits hard. But I noticed: when he fakes, he comes in. We exploited that – I knocked my sparring partner down twice with that same punch. So no, it wasn’t luck. I’ve always said luck is for idiots.”
This Saturday, July 19, Manny Pacquiao will return to boxing, stepping into the ring against Barrios for a title – a comeback that has drawn heavy criticism from boxing insiders, given that he hasn’t fought in four years.
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