LAS VEGAS – In the years since Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez began their rivalry, fans have debated what might have happened had Pacquiao not felled Marquez four times with left hands in the men’s first two fights. Saturday, they found out. But somebody forgot to tell the judges.

In a fight at MGM Grand likely to be remembered for Marquez’s technical mastery of Pacquiao through its second half, Pacquiao inexplicably prevailed by majority-decision scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.

The 15rounds.com ringside card did not concur, scoring the fight a clear victory for Marquez, 117-113.

After four uneventful but even rounds, 12 minutes in which each fighter showed the other perhaps too much respect, Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) and Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KOs) began to exchange in round 5, with Marquez throwing left-uppercut leads Pacquiao surely had not seen in training-camp sparring sessions. Marquez also kept Pacquiao off-balance and somewhat confounded by his counter movement and patience.

Through the fight’s midway point, only round 5 had been decisive for either fighter. That round went Marquez’s way.

By the end of round 8, it had become apparent that Marquez understood Pacquiao better than Pacquiao understood Marquez, and that if Marquez could stay fresh and away from the left hand, he’d have the fight won. In the ninth, the fight’s best round to that point, Marquez appeared to expose the myth of Pacquiao’s improved footwork, causing the Filipino champion to swim at him, flailing wildly with both hands.

As each round passed, it became more apparent that uneventful rounds should be scored in Marquez’s favor for demonstrating the Mexican’s superior ring generalship.

Heading into the championship rounds, Pacquiao still did not have a solution for Marquez’s left uppercut lead, but Marquez had picked up every Pacquiao left cross and slipped it or ducked it, sending Pacquiao careening over his lead shoulder. As the fight ended, Marquez triumphantly raised his fist while Pacquiao turned and walked slowly away.

After the judges’ scorecards were read, fans’ disapproval grew so loud that Pacquiao’s voice could not be heard over the roar, and Pacquiao’s postfight interview yielded no new insights.

TIMOTHY BRADLEY VS JOEL CASAMAYOR
While most fights open with a contest between combatants to see who can establish his jab, California junior welterweight Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley’s match with Cuban Joel Casamayor began with a contest to see who could establish the head.

And so it went in Saturday’s co-main event, a fight for Bradley’s titles and a foul-fest that was every bit as ugly as boxing insiders, and even outsiders, expected it to be. Referee Vic Drakulich earned his pay, warning Casamayor (38-6-1, 22 KOs) repetitively for butts and low blows and presiding over an aesthetically displeasing fight in which Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs) eventually prevailed by corner-stoppage TKO at 2:59 of round 8.

From the opening bell, Casamayor pursued a prefight strategy that could best be classified as slip-butt-hold, establishing his bald head as his best weapon. Bradley, who has often and somewhat unfairly been classified as a dirty fighter, held his own head high, keeping Casamayor at a safe distance and whacking him with accurate right hands.

The match’s result was never in doubt – with Bradley too active and Casamayor too old – which left lots of room for doubt as it concerned the making of Bradley-Casamayor in the first place. Matched correctly and given a chance by fans, Bradley could likely be a star in one of boxing’s best divisions. Matched against a cagey Cuban against whom no one has ever looked particularly good, and fighting before a partisan Filipino and Mexican crowd, Palm Springs’ Bradley had little chance to win new fans for himself.

MIKE ALVARADO VS. BREIDIS PRESCOTT

Coloradoan “Mile High” Mike Alvarado, long seeking a career-defining win that would make him popular as his undefeated record says he should be, might have gotten just such a win against Colombian Breidis Prescott.

Appearing to trail by a significant margin in the match, Alvarado (32-0, 23 KOs) rallied in the final round to bludgeon an exhausted Prescott (24-4, 19 KOs) with ferocious uppercuts till referee Jay Nady stopped the match, awarding Alvarado a knockout victory at 1:53 of round 10.

After giving away most of the match’s opening four rounds, Alvarado was bleeding from his nose, right eye and mouth but still marching forward, undissuaded, by the end of the fifth. Rounds 5 and 6 were the best Alvarado put together to that point in the match, and Prescott began to evince fatigue, fighting within Alvarado’s range and backpedaling awkwardly, after the fight’s midpoint.

Rounds 8 and 9 saw Prescott regain his stamina and reestablish distance, outboxing the heavier-punching Alvarado, who appeared at times to be fighting as if protecting a lead. But then the 10th round struck and Alvarado went for broke, leveraging uppercuts that completely changed the fight and kept him unbeaten.

JUAN CARLOS BURGOS VS. LUIS CRUZ
The first televised fight of Saturday’s undercard, Puerto Rican lightweight Luis Cruz (19-1, 15 KOs) against Mexican Juan Carlos Burgos (28-1, 19 KOs), featured two guys who appeared to want to fight each other quite desperately but just never found the rhythm needed to turn the trick.

Although caught by a number of clean punches during the 10-round match, Burgos nevertheless prevailed by majority-decision scores of 91-95, 97-93 and 98-92, in a fight with numerous tough-to-score rounds.

DENNIS LAURENTE VS. AYI BRUCE
After six rounds of even if not particularly enthralling combat, Filipino Dennis Laurente’s (38-3-4, 20 KOs) undercard match with New York’s Ayi Bruce (13-5, 6 KOs) ended abruptly with a perfectly leverage left cross from the Filipino southpaw that ended Bruce’s night. Laurente’s left-handed lightning struck with effect enough to score Saturday’s first knockout at 0:57 round 7.

JOSE BENAVIDEZ VS. SAMMY SANTANA

Phoenix super lightweight Jose Benavidez may well represent promoter Top Rank’s best shot at a superstar for the year 2020, but he is not there just yet.

Against tough but limited Puerto Rican Sammy Santana (4-5-2), Benavidez (14-0, 12 KOs), who hurt both hands during the match, moved well and struck hard but was unable to stop Santana despite dropping him three times in the fight’s opening two rounds and winning a decision all three judges scored 60-50. Benavidez, whose lanky frame and perilous right cross are a little reminiscent of a young Thomas Hearns’, still relies on reflexes too much – often dropping his hands and pulling his head back from punches, in an amateurish maneuver that needs to be remedied.

VICTOR PASILLAS VS. JOSE GARCIA
Saturday’s second bout featured a battle of California featherweights in a four-round match between Victor Pasillos (1-0) of East Los Angeles and Jose Garcia of King City (0-4). Pasillos prevailed in his professional debut by three, one-sided scores of 40-36.

FERNANDO LUMACAD VS. JOSEPH RIOS
Latino versus Filipino, the ethnic theme for Pacquiao-Marquez III, began with an entertaining and competitive eight-round scrap between Philippines super flyweight Fernando Lumacad (25-3-3, 12 KOs) and Texan Joseph Rios (10-6-2, 4 KOs). Lumacad prevailed by unanimous decision scores of 77-73, 77-74 and 78-72.

The match began uneventfully, with neither fighter risking much of himself in the opening five minutes. With little time remaining in round 2, though, Lumacad caught Rios with what appeared to be a balance-shot left hook that sent Rios stumbling straight-legged to a far corner. In round 5, Lumacad dropped Rios a second time. But in the three rounds that followed, Rios fought back admirably, even winning the sixth on two of the official judges’ three cards.

Opening bell rang on Saturday’s card at 3:23 PM local time.

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Follow all the action live as WBO Welterweight champion and Pound for Pound King Manny Pacquiao takes on Lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in the third bout of their controversial and action packed Trilogy. The action begins at 9pm eastern/6pm Pacific/10 am in the Philippines and 8pm in Mexico City with a three fight undercard starting with Luis Cruz battling Juan Carlos Burgos; Mike Alvarado and Bredis Prescott followed by Timothy Bradley and Joel Casamayor

12 Rounds–WBO Welterweight Championship–Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) vs Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KO’s)

Round 1Pacquiao lands a left and another…Marquez lands a body shot…Straight left..Marquez lands a body shot...10-9 Pacquiao

Round 2 Marquez lands a body..jab to the body…body shot and uppercut…Pacquiao lands a left and a body…19-19

Round 3 Pacquiao lands a left..Marquez a right…Pacquiao a left…Marquez lands a jab to the body…Marquez lands a body…Pacquieo lands a left…Hard left from Pacquiao…..29-28 Pacquiao

Round 4 Pacquiao lands a straight left…2 lefts from Pacquiao …swelling from Marquez right eye…Great actiom with Pacquiao landing hard lefts…39-37 Pacquiao

Round 5 Uppercut from Marquez…Double jab/left hand from pacquiao Right fromMarquez…Huge right from Marquez…Big right...48-47 Pacquiao

Round 6 Body shot from Marquez…little left from Pacquiao …Good right from Marquez…Hard left from Pacquiao…Hard right and another from Marquez…57-57

Round 7 Good right from Marquez…Good left from Pacquiao…double right…Combination from Marquez…Uppercut from Marquez…67-66 Marquez

Round 8 Trading rights…Right from Marquez..Left from Pacquiao…Right from Marquez……77-75 Marquez

Round 9 Hard right from Marquez…Hard left from Pacquiao..trading inside…trading with great will…Hard right from Marquez,.,,Pacquiao sweing and missing…87-84 Marquez

Round 10Pacquiao cut over his right eye from a butt…right fromMarquez..Marquez lands a body,,,combination from Body.,,97-93 Marquez

Round 11 Left and right from Marquez…2 right hooks from Pacquiao…Hard right from Marquez…Pacquiao lands a left…107-103 Marquez

Round 12 Both guys being conservative

114-114; 115-113; 116-112 Pacquiao

12 ROUNDS-WBO JR.WELTERWEIGHT TITLE–TIMOTHY BRADLEY (27-0, 11 KO’S) VS JOEL CASAMAYOR (38-5-1, 22 KO’S)

Round 1 Bradley lands a right..Casamayor sneaks in a left…Good right from Bradley drive Casa into the ropes…Good right and body shot…10-9 Bradley

Round 2 Casa Holdimg and leading with his head…20-18 Bradley

Round 3Bradley landing and Casamayor holding continuously..hard right over the top..right..30-27 Bradley

Round 4 Casamayor Deducted a point for holding…40-35 Bradley

Round 5 Bradley LANDS A RIGHT THAT DROPS CASAMAYOR…50-43 Bradley

Round 6 LEFT DOWN GOES CASAMAYOR…Left to the body..60-51 Bradley

Round 7 Bradley lands a right to the body…70-60 Bradley

Round 8 Bradley DROPS CASAMAYOR AGAIN AND THE FIGHT IS OVER

10 Rounds–Jr. Welterweights–Mike Alvarado (31-0, 22 KO’s) vs. Bredis Prescott (24-3, 19 KO’s)

Round 1 Prescott landing more...10-9 Prescott

Round 2 More of the same with Prescott being more active…20-18 Prescott

Round 3 Good action with Prescott working hard on the inside…30-27 Prescott

Round 4 Turning into a war with Alvardo bleeding bad from the mouth continues to land hard shots…39-37 Prescott

Round 5 Alvarado lands a right…Prescott lands a big left hook...49-47 Prescott

Round 6 Alvarado bleeding above left eye..Right from Alvarado…Prescott lands an uppercut..another uppercut..Trading uppercuts on the inside…59-56 Prescott

Round 7 Hard right from Alvarado…Right from Prescott…Swelling under left eye of Alvarado…Prescott bleeding under left eye…68-66 Prescott

Round 8 Trading uppercuts…Alvarado lands a hard right...77-76 Prescott

Round 9 Good right from Prescott…87-85 Prescott

Round 10 Alvarado all over Prescott….DOWN GOES PRESCOTT….Alvarado landing hard SHOTS AND REFEREE JAY NADY STOPS THE FIGHT

10 Rounds–Super Featherweights–Luis Cruz (19-0, 15 KO’s) vs Juan Carlos Burgos (27-1, 19 KO’s)
Round 1 Burgos lands 3 body shots…Burgos bleeding from the nose 10-9 Burgos

Round 2 Cruz lands a left hook….19-19

Round 3 Burgos lands 2 hard left hands…Cruz lands a left …29-28 Burgos

Round 4 39-38 Burgos

Round 5 Cruz lands a body shot…Good left hook from Burgos..Long right..Cruz lands a good right to the body…49-48 Burgos

Round 6 Left hook from Burgos…winging right..Left hook..Cruz lands a right…59-57 Burgos

Round 7 Burgos lands a left…Left hook..69-66 Burgos

Round 8 Cruz lands 3 body shots…78-76 Burgos

Round 9 Hard right from Burgos…Cruz lands a right to the head..Hard left from Burgos…88-85 Burgos

Round 10 Cruz lands 2 hard rights..Body…good left hook…Good left hook at the bell…97-95 Burgos

95-95; 97-93; 98-92….Burgos majority decision

LAS VEGAS – Nothing other than perhaps the crowd was bigger than expected.

Middle-aged men wrapped in the Mexican tri-color, moms with babies napping in strollers and kids of every age stood in line for more than six hours to watch Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez step on and off a scale Friday in the formal weigh-in for the third chapter to their trilogy Saturday at the MGM Grand.

There were no surprises. Both Pacquiao and Marquez were lighter than the 144-pound limit. At 142, Marquez looked bigger than what the scale showed, yet was still two pounds lighter than the contracted weight and one pound lighter than Pacquiao, who at 141 looked like the same fighter who has conquered everyone and everything in front of him for the last few years.

If a surprise is forthcoming, it will have to be sprung by Marquez, whose reconstructed upper-body had yet to convince gamblers that he has a chance. Odds about an hour after the weigh-in Friday favored Pacquiao by an astonishing number, 10-to-1. The third Pacquiao-Marquez fight, an HBO pay-per-view bout, was scheduled because there were lingering questions about the first two, a draw and Pacquiao victory by split decision.

But the betting public doesn’t have any questions. Follow the money. It says that the first two fights don’t matter anymore. Perhaps, that’s because Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) looked so ponderous in his only other fight at a weight heavier than 140 in his one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Or, perhaps, it’s because Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) has looked so dominant over his last few fights. Or, perhaps, it’s the difference in age. At 38, Marquez could be a few birthdays beyond his prime. At 32, Pacquiao is still there.

“The betting line doesn’t bother me,’’ Marquez said. “I respect the audience. I respect the people who make the betting lines. It’s good for me. It’s going to be a surprise.’’

It would be a shock to Pacquiao’s fellow Filipinos, who dominated the crowd of about 5,500 at the weigh-in. They cheered their Congressman’s every move. For a while, it sounded as if the weigh-in site at one end of the MGM Grand Garden Arena could have been another Filipino province. They waved Filipino flags and mocked Floyd Mayweather Jr. with T-shirts that referred to the long-running soap opera of failed negotiations by saying: Run Floyd.

In the halls outside of the Grand Garden Arena, it was Manny mania, Manny all the time. There was Pacquiao perfume for sale. You can smell like a Congressman, too. There was Pacquiao Produce. Eat broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and you can make weight, too.

Before stepping onto the scale, a large image of the Manilla Bulletin newspaper’s front page was displayed above the stage. In one huge headline, it asked: Pacquiao For President?

Apparently, a victory over Marquez is a foregone conclusion. Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach often talks almost as if it is. He believes that Marquez’ heavily-muscled upper-body will eventually work against the resilient Mexican, who worked with a controversial strength coach named Angel Heredia when he admitted to a grand jury during the BALCO case that he had supplied performance enhancers to Olympic medallists Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.

Roach’s argument is that Marquez has sacrificed speed and his ability to counter, his most effective weapon. He also has said that Pacquiao’s acquisition of a powerful right provides a punch and balance that Marquez never saw in the first two bouts, when the Filipino was essentially a one-handed – left-handed – fighter.

Pacquiao, Roach said, also has his own point to prove. He was insulted by Marquez T-shirts at a Filipino press tour that proclaimed that he, not Pacquiao, had really won those first two fights.

“Respect is the most important thing for me, the most important thing for both of us,’’ Pacquiao said.

For each, there is a version of respect at stake in Chapter III.

Manny Pacquiao 143 – Juan Manuel Marquez 142
Juan Carlos Burgos 129 – Luis Cruz 130
Breidis Prescott 140 – Mike Alvarado 140
Timothy Bradley 140 – Joel Casamayor 141 *
* Must lose a pound and came back to make 140

LAS VEGAS – Jose Benavidez Jr.’s days as a prospect means time as an understudy. There was a lot to study Thursday. At the top of the lesson plan, there were examples of what-to-do, what-not-to-do at a news conference that ended in a profane, trash-talking exchange between Tim Bradley and Joel Casamayor.

“it’s crazy, I’m just not that kind of person, not someone who wants to be talking back and forth,’’ said Benavidez (13-0, 12 KOs), a Phoenix junior-welterweight who faces Puerto Rican Sammy Santana (4-4-2, 0 KOs) in a scheduled six-rounder on a Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez undercard that includes Casamayor and Bradley for the World Boxing Organization’s junior-welterweight title. “I’d just rather stay quiet, show what I can do in the ring. I just don’t think people like hear all of that stuff.’’

Whether anybody wanted it or not, they got an earful Thursday. It started with Casamayor, who ordered Bradley to sit down. He ordered once, twice, three times. Casamayor was just getting started. When Bradley refused, Casamayor, a black man from Cuba, screamed a racial epithet, the N-word, at Bradley, an African-American. Even in a sport where almost anything goes, it crossed a line.

The 19-year-old Benavidez witnessed from a seat in the second row on a makeshift stage in a ballroom at the MGM Grand. One day, that could be him. Top Rank is betting he will be a star. He is perhaps their most prized prospect. If he fulfills those expectations, it is all but inevitable that he will face one the trash-talkers of his time in face-to-face encounter.

“Hopefully, I will be a world champion and get an opportunity like that,’’ he said. “When I was an amateur, I had some moments like that. I wear glasses, so guys would get in my face. But it doesn’t really faze me much. It just actually motivates me more to show what I’ve got.

“But it’s lesson. Oh yeah, a good lesson.’’

Benavidez’ most significant lessons of late have been in sparring at the trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood with Amir Khan. Benavidez said he has spent a lot of time working on his jab and body punches. Meanwhile, he’s in no hurry. He likes being a student.

“It’s important not to rush things, because if I do, if I don’t learn all this basics, I won’t ever be that world champion anyway,’’ said Benavidez, the student who often sounds like a teacher.

AZ NOTES
· After Saturday at the MGM Grand, Benavidez’ next fight is expected to be in February. Day and place have yet to be determined.

· Boxing will be a Thanksgiving appetizer in Phoenix on Nov. 23. A card promoted by Iron Boy and Estrella is scheduled for El Zaribah Shriners Auditorium at 552 North 40th Street. Super-bantamweight Alexis Santiago is scheduled for the main event on card scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather Jr. calls Leonard Ellerbe his advisor, but Manny Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach calls him a go-fer, whom he likens to Pacquiao’s longtime friend and assistant trainer, Restituto Fernandez, nicknamed Buboy.

“Who’s Leonard Ellerbe?’’ Roach said Thursday during a roundtable with the trainers in the build-up to Saturday’s third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand. “He’s the go-fer guy. He’s Buboy. Where’s Floyd Mayweather?’’

Translation: Roach didn’t believe Ellerbe last week when he said that there’s a good chance the long-awaited Pacquiao-Mayweather fight will happen on May 5.

Roach called Ellerbe’s comment a big tease. Actually, Roach used more colorful language than that. But you get the idea. For Roach, there’s no fight until he sees Mayweather, hands taped and gloves on, step through the ropes and answer an opening bell.

In what ranks as a mild surprise, Roach’s rhetorical slap at Ellerbe was one of the few references this week to the Mayweather-Pacquiao possibility, which has dominated — ad nauseam — the boxing conversation for the last couple of years. Perhaps, talk about Mayweather has subsided because a few people are beginning to give Marquez a real chance in this second rematch.

Marquez’ confidence is as evident as his rebuilt upper-body, which has sparked controversial speculation about his strength coach, Angel Hernandez, who went by a different name, Angel Heredia, when he admitted in testimony involving BALCO that he supplied performance-enhancers to Olympic track-and-field medallists Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.

Marquez believes he was robbed of victory in a 2004 draw and a 2008 loss by split decision in the first two bouts. He has the style to beat Pacquiao, he says. But style can be fickle. It’s in the eyes of the beholder, or in his case the judges. Style also changes. Neither Pacquiao nor Marquez is the same fighter either was three years ago. But the basics are still there, says Marquez trainer Nacho Beristain. It’s in their personalities.

“Pacquiao is a guy who comes to fight,’’ said Beristain, who didn’t say – and didn’t have to – that Mayweather would not engage him in the kind of the battle he prefers in a 2009 loss. “In Pacquiao, he has found a guy with a willingness to fight.’’

But Roach is confident Marquez will regret what he encounters this time, in part because he has added weight and in part because he angered Pacquiao with T-shirts at a media stop in the Philippines proclaiming that he won the first two bouts.

“Manny has been a little meaner to his sparring partners,’’ Roach said. “He didn’t take well to those T-shirts Marquez wore to the Philippines. He won’t say anything. But I can tell by his work ethic that he has a little more fire in him.’’

In adding muscle, Roach believes Marquez is sacrificing quickness and abandoning his best weapon, the counter-punch.

“You don’t add muscle to counter-punch,’’ said Roach, who forecasts that Marquez will pursue an early stoppage. “He feels he wants to exchange with Manny. I would’ve gone back the other way, back to the counter-punches that gave Manny trouble.’’

A lot already has been said about Pacquiao’s acquisition of a powerful right hand since his last meeting with Marquez when he relied on his left.

“His right hand is my baby,’’ Roach said. “I said I’ll only be satisfied if it is as good as his left. And it is.’’

Another difference, perhaps more subtle, might be critical. It’s in Pacquiao’s feet. In his last few fights, he has moved across the canvas, at times almost like a spinning top.

“Manny’s footwork is the key to the fight,’’ Roach said. “He has improved immensely with his footwork. Thing is, you don’t whether he’s coming or going. He’s hard to judge.’’

Hard to beat, too, although Marquez has other ideas.

LAS VEGAS – Juan Manuel Marquez’ strength coach has been called controversial. He’s been called a couple of other things too, including two different last names, once Heredia and now Hernandez. He’s always been Angel, yet with a devil in his past. He testified during the BALCO scandal that he supplied performance enhancers to Olympic track-and-field medalists.

The guess was that he was hiding behind an alias.

But guess what? He wasn’t hiding at all Wednesday. Hernandez or Heredia or none of the above was front and center at the most public of places, a formal news conference at the MGM Grand for the third Marquez fight with Manny Pacquiao Saturday night.

Marquez even introduced him, or at least thanked him.

“Memo Hernandez” Marquez called him as stood at the podium and gestured toward the strength coach’s seat near the stage and suddenly in the spotlight.

Memo to everybody else: Marquez is forthright and open about working with the coach of many names and controversies. Perhaps, it’s an attempt to erase the speculative cloud about whether something more than pumping iron went into the bodywork that has re-defined his appearance. The Marquez camp is acting as if it has nothing to hide. It’s the smart move, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the speculation will subside. It never does. Ask Lance Armstrong.

“I want to make clear I have done a clean preparation for this fight, like I always have done,’’ Marquez said in Spanish translated into English by his promoter, Fernando Beltran.

In terms of integrity, Marquez’ record is unquestioned. But circumstances have created an almost inescapable web. Boxing fans and conspiracy theorists are almost one and the same. Without conspiracies, the game’s history just wouldn’t be what it is.

The contracted weight for Saturday is 144 pounds. Marquez has been at more than 140 pounds only once and that was in a one-sided loss by decision to a bigger Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2009. He says he trained the wrong way to get ready for the jump up in weight. It left him sluggish. He then fought at 133 pounds, 134 and 138 in victories over Juan Diaz, Michael Katsidis and Likar Ramos.

Then, the work began for Pacquiao, who took a split decision from him at 130 pounds in 2008 and fought him to a draw at 126 in 2004. Marquez said he would train differently for the third fight against Pacquiao, his second attempt at fighting at a weight north of 140. Enter Hernandez, who was Heredia when he testified that he gave performance enhancers to Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.

The controversy erupted when Victor Conte, who went to prison for his role in the BALCO, spotted him on HBO’s 24/7. In a tweet, Conte, who works with Nonito Donaire and Andre Berto, revealed that Hernandez had another name and links to the scandal.

Hernandez, who has a degree from Texas A&M, said Wednesday that he is suing Conte for defamation. He also ripped Conte, calling him a hypocrite.

“The guy has not only been convicted,’’ Hernandez said. “He’s a liar. It’s obvious he’s jealous. Because I’m part of boxing today, I guess he feels I’m competition again. His athletes could wind up being mine. He’s always been jealous.’’

Hernandez theorized that his college degree might a reason for that jealousy.

“He doesn’t have a degree,’’ Hernandez said.

Marquez said the strength training designed by Hernandez has involved weight-lifting, but in variety of ways and at changing weights. The idea is to retain his quickness while adding power.

Hard to do, says Pacquiao. Maybe impossible, says Pacquiao’s surprised trainer, Freddie Roach.

“I thought he’d come in at 135 and use his speed and counter-punching against Manny,’’ Roach said. “They moved in a different direction by getting bigger.”

If he has added muscle and sacrificed speed, Roach suggests Marquez will be in trouble against Pacquiao, who has added a potent right hand to power that dropped Marquez three times in the opening round of their first fight.

“I don’t think he’s going to be able to get up from this Manny Pacquiao punch,” Roach said.

A one-punch knockout from Pacquiao might be the only answer to any of the drug questions floating around in the dwindling days before opening bell. But Marquez, an astonishing 7-to-1 underdog late Wednesday, says it won’t happen, in large part because of the work he did with Hernandez. Or is that Heredia?

“My name is this,’’ Hernandez said as he tried to explain the name game in HBO 24/7. “My name is very long. My first name is Angel. I have a middle name, which is Guillermo. But in Mexico, they use ‘Memo,’ which is my nickname. Heredia, for some people, it’s very difficult for them to catch up.

“You can ask anybody here in the media sometimes they call me Heredia. Dr. Heredia. For some reason, I told you guys Hernandez, and it was easier for you guys to write it down.”

Next time, we’ll write it down with a pencil that comes with a very eraser at the opposite end. You never know when it’s going to change.

LAS VEGAS – Bob Arum threw a combination as only he can, first by praising Home Box Office for its work in the build-up to Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez and then ripping the network for its documentary, Thrilla in Manila, a look at the Joe Frazier-Muhammad Ali rivalry that HBO will replay Thursday and Sunday in honor of the late Frazier.

“That documentary, I find is disgusting,’’ Arum said Wednesday after HBO senior vice-president Mark Taffet announced the scheduling during a formal news conference for the third chapter in the Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy Saturday at the MGM Grand.

The 2009 film tells a story about the Muhammad Ali-Frazier rivalry through the eyes of Frazier, 67, who died Monday from liver cancer. Through most of his life, Frazier was bitter at the way he was treated by Ali, who called him “ugly”, a “gorilla,’’ and an “Uncle Tom’’ during their heavyweight trilogy.

Arum remembered Frazier as a great fighter, yet he was angry at the film’s portrayal of Ali.

“I’m 80,’’ said Arum, a former Ali promoter. “I was there. It is an unfair attack on Ali. Watch it. But don’t believe a word that is said.’’

The 90-minute documentary is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Thursday and 5:30 p.m. (ET/PT) Sunday.

Superstar Manny Pacquiao and three-division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez pose during the final press conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Wednesday for their upcoming third mega-fight. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions,Marquez Boxing,Tecate and MGM Grand, Pacquiao vs Marquez III will take place, Saturday, Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be produced and distributed by HBO Pay Per View

Philadelphia, PA—Undefeated welterweight contender Mike Jones, of Philadelphia, PA, who faces two-time world title challenger Sebastian Lujan, of Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, in an IBF world title eliminator on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito card on Dec. 3 at Madison Square Garden, feels that this weekend’s Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight will end in a knockout.

“I think somebody’s going to get knocked out,” said Jones, who is ranked No. 1 by the WBO and in line to fight Pacquiao next year if he (Jones) gets by Lujan. “It’s going to be a great war, but somebody’s going to go down and stay down. Both of those guys got bigger, got stronger – obviously Pacquiao got bigger and stronger. I believe it’s going to be a great fight for the fans.” ________________________________________________
*** Follow Mike Jones on twitter: @boxermikejones
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Jones also has thoughts on how he would do against Pacquiao.
“I’m 100% focused on just beating Lujan, but if I were to fight Pacquiao I see myself outboxing him,” Jones said. “I see him coming in like the whirlwind he is but by the time that I fight him I’ll be clicking on all cylinders. I see me beating Pacquiao.”
Jones’ trainer, Vaughn Jackson, also weighed-in on his thoughts about the Pacquiao-Marquez fight.
“If Pacman doesn’t stop him early then Marquez will win a split decision,” said Jackson, who’s in the midst of training Jones for the Dec. 3 fight against Lujan. “Marquez has more skills than PacMan. PacMan jumps off his feet too much. In spite of his age, Marquez is a better all-round fighter who puts his punches together better. Marquez will box his way to a decision if it goes the distance.”
ABOUT DEC. 3
The Mike Jones-Sebastian Lujan IBF eliminator is part of the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II world championship telecast, which begins at 9 pm (EST)/6 pm (PT). It will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 292 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HDTV for those who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry.
Tickets for the Madison Square Garden card are priced at $600, $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50. They can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office, online at www.thegarden.com and all Ticketmaster outlets. They also are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing (215-765-0922).

Three-division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez is surrounded by hundreds of fans wanting autographs during a special boxing exhibition at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia,Ca. Marquez is preparing for his upcoming third mega-fight against superstar Manny Pacquiao. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions, Marquez Boxing, Tecate and MGM Grand, Pacquiao vs Marquez III will take place, Saturday, Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be produced and distributed by HBO Pay Per View

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

LAS VEGAS (Nov. 11) – After ripping his shirt neckline to bellybutton and tossing its remains to a group of aghast Filipino fans, Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez mounted the MGM Grand scale Friday and weighed in at the welterweight limit. Marquez’s musculature was grotesque enough to make Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, plead for an immediate ruling from “anyone who knows anyone with the USADA, great God!”

Now be honest. If you are a boxing fan sitting on the fence about his investment in Saturday’s Pacquiao-Marquez III pay-per-view, would a spectacle like that make you more or less inclined to buy the match? It’s a rhetorical question, frankly, for at least three reasons we’ll treat in a moment.

Tuesday brought news that a man in the Marquez camp – one known as Angel Hernandez and Angel Heredia and a few other friendly cognomens – 10 years ago provided performance-enhancing drugs to disgraced American Olympian Marion Jones. This revelation raised the possibility Marquez, a lightweight world champion who looked awful in a welterweight fight against Floyd Mayweather in 2009, had found someone to help him take advantage of Pacquiao’s skittishness round blood-testing needles, as it were.

Despite a temptation to bask in what irony the Pacquiao camp’s refusal to do blood testing may have wrought, we’re well-advised to dismiss the hypothetical weigh-in explored above.

Firstly, Marquez has been a man of integrity in our sport, one of its genuine shining lights, for a long time. He deserves every benefit of the doubt, no matter the rippling, back double biceps pose he hits on Friday’s scale.

Secondly, for all the reactionary dudgeon about PEDs sportswriters have heaped on the public in the last decade, fans, as a general rule, could not care less. We now know at least one of the stars of the Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series team was ingesting any PED he could get in his body, and yet, to this day, have you heard one Bostonian say “Boy, do I regret our snapping that curse!”?

Better yet, despite what we now know about Sammy Sosa’s historic run, have you ever heard a Chicagoan say “You know, when I think back to what happened in 2003, the possibility we might have won a World Series with the help of a PED-using athlete, I’m certainly glad we didn’t get out of the NLCS”?

Thirdly, promoter Bob Arum assured us Wednesday in two different conference calls that if, in the year 2011, we’re still fixated on steroids, why, we’re idiots.

“Many of you are really behind the times,” Arum said. “The conditioners who know what they are doing wouldn’t touch steroids because they are not as effective as the natural substances and the sophisticated training methods now used.”

There are lots of appropriate rebuttals to such a statement. A reader named Joel Stern offered an excellent one on Twitter: “I expect baseball players to start hitting 70 home runs a year again next year once they adopt (Arum’s) modern training methods.”

This year’s leading slugger belted 43 home runs. In 2001, Barry Bonds hit 73. That’s the difference between “the natural substances and the sophisticated training methods now used,” and steroids.

And before anyone offers up a loony rebuttal that boxing trainers have discovered some secret the rest of the sports world knows nothing about, he should visit a boxing gym. Eating ice chips, rubbing one’s body with Albolene and training in a garbage bag is the way most boxers still make weight in 2011. From such a laboratory next year’s Nobel Laureate in chemistry is not likely to emerge.

Tuesday’s news, though, can only help Pacquiao-Marquez III’s pay-per-view buy rate. The most commonly cited reason for not planning to buy the rubber match is that it will not be competitive because Pacquiao has beaten up natural welterweights while Marquez is not even as big as his lightweight opponents. The specter of Marquez being unnaturally large will help the fight sell because it will restore some hope to Marquez’s fans their guy has a chance.

He does. Marquez will always present a challenge to Pacquiao because Marquez has high ring intelligence and knows Pacquiao well. Pacquiao’s left cross, thrown from a southpaw stance, is his difference maker. But Marquez neutralizes that punch by doing two things other Pacquiao opponents do not: He hooks to Pacquiao’s lead shoulder, and he ducks down and to the right.

As an orthodox fighter, Marquez has few opportunities to hurt Pacquiao with left hooks to the head or body. The angles are all wrong. What Marquez has determined, though, is that a hard left hook to Pacquiao’s right shoulder spins Pacquiao leftwards, which takes away the balance upon which Pacquiao’s left cross relies. By the time Pacquiao gets resettled and launches the left cross, Marquez has time to find it and duck beneath it, sending Pacquiao over his left shoulder.

One other thing to consider is what happened when Marco Antonio Barrera made his third match with Erik Morales. Barrera had been summarily undone by Pacquiao a year before. Morales, meanwhile, was on a six-fight win streak and the larger man. As Barrera later said about their 2004 rubber match, “(Morales) came to bury me.”

Morales wanted to knock Barrera out so badly, though, that he eschewed good boxing. He held his right hand high and cocked, with no thought of defense. Barrera caught Morales with an uppercut in the fourth round and outboxed him the rest of the night, winning a majority decision.

Could Pacquiao be outboxed by Marquez? Sure. It has happened twice already. Can Marquez survive Pacquiao’s maniacal onslaught? Yes. That happened twice before, too.

But it says here it won’t be enough, again. Marquez will probably make it to the final bell, and Pacquiao will follow his corner’s instructions – something Morales never did – and win a comfortable decision.

I’ll take Pacquiao: UD-12, then – unless Marquez splits his seams at Friday’s weigh-in.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3–SINGS HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE

A contentious conference call full of questions about Juan Manuel Marquez’ hiring of a controversial strength coach linked to performance-enhancers included an offer that represents an opportunity for Manny Pacquiao.

“Whatever testing they want to do, blood or Olympic, I am ready to do it,’’ Marquez said. “We’ll do it, no problem, as long as he does it too.’’

Memo to Pacquiao: Say yes. Call the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Schedule the test.

It’s hard to know if Marquez was serious or just bluffing Wednesday when — in an exasperated tone – he made the comment after another question about how he met Angel Hernandez and what he knew about his past, which includes testimony during the BALCO case that he provided PEDs to disgraced Olympic sprinter Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery when he had a different name, Angel Heredia.

It almost sounded as if Marquez just wanted to move beyond the controversy and back to the day-to-day business of preparing for his second rematch with Pacquiao on Nov. 12 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. Can’t blame him, but the questions won’t go away easily, in part because of Hernandez or Heredia or whatever his name is this week. An alias, if that’s what it is, is a way to hide. At least, BALCO founder Victor Conte, who unlike Heredia-Hernandez did time in prison, didn’t change his name to Vinnie Barbarino before he started working for Nonito Donaire and Andre Berto.

In the short-term, an Olympic-style test would alleviate some of the suspicions that threaten to erode anticipation for a third fight expected to settle the debate about whether a draw and a split-decision for Pacquiao should have been scored in favor of Marquez.

In the long-term, it would eliminate any further debate about whether Pacquiao has agreed to the tests demanded by Floyd Mayweather Jr. Negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao fell apart in late 2009 over the issue. According to Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, Pacquiao has agreed to random testing.

“Manny Pacquiao has said for two years that he will accept Olympic style testing, so that question is absolute nonsense,” said Arum, also exasperated at continuing talk about an issue that wouldn’t matter much if Marquez upsets the Filipino.

Nevertheless, Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe told ESPN.com that the fight might happen on May 5. Drug-testing has been resolved, said Ellerbe, whose timing was interpreted by the Pacquiao camp as a grandstanding attempt to take away attention from the Marquez rematch.

But Mayweather, himself, has had more elusive moves for questions about Pacquiao’s reported agreement to random testing than Angel Heredia-Hernandez has names. During a news conference after his controversial stoppage of Victor Ortiz, Mayweather simply ignored them.

Now, however, there’s a chance to eliminate more of the same old talk with a test. Take it, Manny.

An awkward reunion
Friends aren’t supposed to fight, but that’s what super-middleweights Lucian Bute and Glen Johnson will do Saturday night at Quebec City’s Pepsi Center in a Showtime-televised bout. They grew to like each while sparring.

“When Glen and Lucian would spar, everyone in the gym would stop training to watch them fight,’’ Bute trainer Stephan Larouche said. “I thought, ‘If this is a sparring session, what would a fight be like?’ Saturday, we all get to find out.”

It’s intriguing on several levels. If Bute and Johnson can put aside their friendship for maybe as long as 12 rounds, it could be a heck of fight.

AZ Notes
Junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez, Jr. (13-0, 12 KOs) of Phoenix returns to boxing’s biggest stage on the Pacquiao-Marquez undercard. He is scheduled to face Gary Bergeron (12-8, 7 KOs), a Louisiana fighter who has lost his last three. The agile, talented Benavidez should be ready.

He has been sparring with Amir Khan, who faces Lamont Peterson on Dec. 10 in Washington D.C. Sparring sessions with Khan a couple of years ago helped Benavidez gain some quick fame a couple years ago when they were seen on YouTube.

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that Floyd Mayweather will fight May 5th and would like to the biggest fight possible and his adviser indicated a fight with Manny Pacquiao could loom for that date.

Mayweather’s opponent has not been determined but Mayweather’s adviser Leonard Ellerbe said, “We’re looking to make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella.”

“Floyd made it very clear that he wants to give the fans the biggest fights that are out there. He wants to stay active,” Ellerbe said. “We’re going to do everything in our power to make the biggest fight out there for the fans and we all know what the fight is.”

“We had a discussion, Floyd, me and Al,” Ellerbe said. “Floyd made it very clear to us what he wanted to do. He told us he is looking to make the biggest fight that is out there and to make it in May.”

“I’m very excited that the sport’s biggest pay-per-view star is going to be back on May 5,” Schaefer told ESPN.com. “We have informed the pay-per-view industry and I have the arena on hold. I’m excited to continue my relationship with Floyd and his team. It’s always fun to work with Floyd.”

“We have to plan any time you’re the biggest star in the sport,” Ellerbe said. “You have to plan in advance because his fights are events. In order to maximize the exposure you want to plan as far in advance as you can to make your event as big as possible. May 5, that is the date Floyd is fighting on. We have secured May 5 at the MGM. Floyd is excited to make his return.”

Philadelphia, PA—Undefeated welterweight contender Mike Jones, of Philadelphia, PA, who faces two-time world title challenger Sebastian Lujan, of Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, in one of the featured fights on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito card, will be in line for a pair of much-coveted title shots with a win on Dec. 3 at Madison Square Garden.

A Jones victory over Lujan in their scheduled 12-rounder will gain him the No. 1 position in the welterweight rankings of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), currently ruled by Andre Berto, which could lead to a fight for Berto’s title in 2012. He also might possibly be matched with No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world Manny Pacquiao, according to Top Rank’s Bob Arum.

“There are some guys who we could match Pacquiao with,” Arum said at a recent press conference. “Mike Jones (pictured) and Sebastian Lujan are going to be fighting at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 3 for the No. 1 mandatory position against Berto. And the winner of the fight will get to meet Berto down the road, or if that doesn’t come about for any reason, will be ready to meet Manny Pacquiao down the road. But this fight is a very, very important fight for Mike Jones.”
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*** Follow Mike Jones on twitter: @boxermikejones
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“This is an opportunity for me to show the world I am one of the elite fighters out there,” said Jones, who will be fighting for the first time at Madison Square Garden. “I can’t wait until it happens. I’m in the gym everyday, working hard and preparing myself to be the best out there that night.”
A pro since 2005, Jones, 28, has a 25-0 record with 19 knockouts. He is ranked No. 3 by the IBF, No. 1 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) behind champion Manny Pacquiao, No. 2 by the World Boxing Association (WBA), No. 3 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
Jones currently holds three titles—North American Boxing Association (NABA), North American Boxing Organization (NABO) and WBC Continental Americas, but it’s the world title he craves.
Lujan, 31, scored a big win in his last fight July 1 in San Antonio, TX, when he rallied to knock out Filipino southpaw Mark Melligen in nine rounds after accepting the match on less than one week’s notice.
A pro since 2001, Lujan is 38-5-2, 24 K0s. In two world title fights, he was stopped—due to a badly torn left ear—in 10 rounds by Margarito for the WBO welterweight title in 2005 in Atlantic City, NJ, he lost a 12-round decision to lefty Sergii Dzinziruk for the WBO junior middleweight title in 2006 in Munich Germany.
Lujan has won his last 12 fights.

ABOUT DEC. 3

The Mike Jones-Sebastian Lujan 12-round IBF eliminator is part of the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II world championship telecast, which begins at 9 pm (EST)/6 pm (PT). It will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 292 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HDTV for those who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry.

Tickets for the Madison Square Garden card are priced at $600, $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50. They can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office, online at www.thegarden.com and all Ticketmaster outlets. They also are on sale at the offices of Peltz Boxing (215-765-0922).

Superstar Manny Pacquiao(L) hitts the mitts with chief trainer Freddie Roach(R) during a jam-packed,standing-room-only media day at the Wildcard Boxing Club as he prepares for his upcoming third mega-fight against three-division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions,Marquez Boxing,Tecate and MGM Grand, Pacquiao vs Marquez III will take place, Saturday, Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be produced and distributed by HBO Pay Per View.

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

According to TMZ.com Manny Pacquiao’s former accountants claim they’ve discovered the boxer’s BIGGEST WEAKNESS … he sucks at paying his taxes … this according to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ.

The number crunchers claim they were called in to save PacMan’s ass last year … because, according to the suit, Manny’s tax issues “seriously affected [his] ability to fight.”

The accountants claim they straightened out his money problems — and even let Pacquiao borrow some cash — but Manny never paid the them back and totally ignored the bill.

Now the pencil pushers are suing for their jack — $649,016.95.

Calls to Manny’s people have not been returned.

Photos by Chris Cozzone / Top Rank

We are where we were 20 months ago. Floyd Mayweather knows he can beat Many Pacquiao, doesn’t understand why the rest of us don’t, and wants every detail just so before he’ll agree to do it. Pacquiao, when he thinks about boxing at all, fears Mayweather less than he feared a half-dozen previous opponents. Promoter Bob Arum wants no part of a Mayweather match. Boxing fans are polarized. Everyone else has moved on.

In frustrating and disillusioning moments such as these, it can be a valuable exercise to imagine the future, 30 years along, and ask yourself if any of this will truly matter.

If Mayweather and Pacquiao never fight, none of this will matter even a little. That’s worth remembering as you look back on two years of Mayweather and Pacquiao fights and imagine two more years of Mayweather and Pacquiao fights.

Probability says neither man will retire. Probability also says they will not fight each other. There will always be something. If the drug-test hurdle is surmounted, it will be a matter of what gloves to use. If there’s a treaty on the gloves, it will be a question of who enters the ring first. And all of this assumes – assumes ridiculously, by the way – that a revenue-sharing agreement could ever be reached between Mayweather Promotions, Top Rank and HBO.

HBO, after all, is more responsible for Mayweather’s ascension in pop culture than even Mayweather is. It has also put its weight behind making a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight before. Forget not: It was an HBO executive who told the MGM Grand media center immediately after 2009’s Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight that a Golden Boy Promotions rep had just called and promised negotiations with Top Rank to begin Monday. That was 23 months ago.

While the subject of HBO is up, let’s discuss the rousing finale of the HBO Mayweather-Victor Ortiz movie that premiered Saturday. Along with showing us Ortiz was two parts the guy exposed by Marcos Maidana and one part the monster Andre Berto built, episode 5 of “24/7” provided this: All-access passes make us dumber about boxing, not smarter.

When Mayweather announced he would fight Ortiz, every aficionado said it was easy work for Mayweather. Professional gamblers concurred. Then four, all-access episodes narrowed odds and made aficionados consider a way for Ortiz to win. Most of us didn’t do anything crazy as change our picks, but with the one noble exception of Thomas Hauser, we all wrote previews and watched to see if something unexpected might happen.

Alas, something unexpected and ultimately unsatisfying happens in every Mayweather fight, no? This time it was Mayweather’s exploitation of Ortiz’s fragile brain. Last time it was Mayweather’s exploitation of Shane Mosley’s eroded reflexes. Time before that, it was Mayweather’s exploitation of Juan Manuel Marquez’s slighter frame. There’s always some exploitation.

Mayweather fights are marketed at a very specific type of fan. When a Mayweather fight ends, this sort of guy immediately tells whoever is in earshot that Mayweather reminds him of that time he almost had to throw a beatdown on a guy at the mall. Then this guy goes back into hiding. He threatens to support Graterford Prison’s own Bernard Hopkins, of course, but pay-per-view receipts later prove that threat hollow.

The rest of our sport’s casual fans feel dissatisfied and sort of stupid. They punish what Mayweather did to them with a tool devastating as it is unnoticed: their indifference. That is how it happens, ultimately. It’s a thing Mayweather senses even if he does not know what to call it. But for the 30 minutes he spends in a boxing ring every 18 months, he does not exist in the collective mind of the American mass. It makes him loopy.

Like General George McClellan at the outbreak of Civil War hostilities, Mayweather wants to win his largest battle without having to fight it. He wants us to credit him with beating Pacquiao without he does it. You know what? Most aficionados do assume Mayweather would beat Pacquiao with something between ease and moderate difficulty, but we’ll be damned if we’re going to shout over Mayweather’s inane self-aggrandizement to tell him so.

If this time in boxing is not the Pacquiao Era, in other words, what is it? A mediocre stretch of lumbering European heavyweights and overpriced mismatches that compose either boxing’s final era or an eventually forgotten one. Mayweather is the king, as the saying goes, and boxing is nothing – and that makes Mayweather the king of nothing. If Mayweather never does fight Pacquiao, he won’t be remembered for not-fighting Pacquiao. He won’t be remembered at all.

Some day 30 years from now, some enterprising journalist may do a retrospective on the Greatest Fight that Never Was instead of, say, a feature on women’s figure skating, and what will he treat? Bob Arum will be long gone. Mayweather will be a broke trainer. Pacquiao will be the former president of the Philippines, a man history regards as a better prizefighter than national leader.

Under the poorly lighted staircase of a defunct gym, Mayweather will shout, “You know that I woulda beat that motherf—er!” Those of us still alive will nod and shrug and think about how little it mattered, finally. For a moment, we’ll remember what we were doing back then, remember it the way we remember our aunt’s wedding reception each time we hear Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration” play. And then all of life that has happened to us since will wash back over the moment, and it will be lost.

Mayweather makes veteran journalists wonder why they still bother. He makes young journalists wonder if they should continue bothering. No Mayweather victory is a victory for anyone but Mayweather. Figures like that do not live on as legends; they are either forgotten in time or become cautionary tales.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that two fights have been agreed upon for the November 12th Pay Per View undercard that will be highlighted the third fight between Manny Pacquiao – and Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.

One of the bouts will have junior welterweight contender Mike Alvarado (31-0, 22 KOs) of Denver facing Colombia’s Breidis Prescott (24-3, 19 KOs).

“That’s a pretty good fight isn’t it? I think so. It’s a good test for Alvarado and a good fight,” Arum said.

In a fight that will open the PPV broadcast, Arum said that Puerto Rican junior lightweight Luis Cruz (19-0, 15 KOs), who recently signed with Top Rank as his co-promoter, will face Juan Carlos Burgos (27-1, 19 KOs), a former featherweight title challenger who is moving up in weight.

According to TMZ.com, Manny Pacquiao’s L.A. house has been burglarized … law enforcement sources tell TMZ — and we’re told 4 people have been arrested.

It happened minutes ago. Someone ransacked Manny’s Hancock Park mansion.

Police are on the scene. They are not sure what was taken … they’re trying to contact Manny.

Pacquiao was out of town

(L-R) Superstar Manny Pacquiao and three-division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez pose during a press conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel Wednesday to announce their upcoming third world Welterweight title mega-fight of the Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions,Marquez Boxing,Tecate and MGM Grand, Pacquiao vs Marquez III will take place, Saturday, Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and be produced and distributed by HBO Pay Per View.

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Superstar trainer Freddie Roach breaks down Pacquiao – Marquez 3 plus talks about the 2012 Olympics

Current Lightweight world champion Juan Manuel Marquez talks about his November 12 showdown with Manny Pacquiao

Hall of Fame Promoter Bob Arum talks Pacquiao – Marquez III

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez meet the media in advance of their November 12th Trilogy showdown

If there is a big event in New York, you can bet that 15rounds.com Claudia Bocanegra will be there taking the pictures as she did on Tuesday when pound for pound King Manny Pacquaio and Juan Manuel Marquez met the media to announce the November 12th trilogy fight in Las Vegas

Manny Pacquiao sings the Hit song “Sometimes When We Touch” at the NYC Press conference with Dan Hill