Juan Manuel Marquez Knocks Out Manny Pacquiao in Sixth Round

Pacman just got gobbled up. It took six rounds, but underdog challenger Juan Manuel Marquez brutally knocked out the fighter many think is the best in the world: Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.

The loss marks back-to-back losses for Pacquiao, who may have his legacy called into question after such a decisive loss. Pacquio got away with one in his last loss, as many cried foul when Timothy Bradley was awarded a win after an extremely controversial split decision. But there’s no controversy involved in Pacquiao’s latest loss, as Marquez knocked him out cold in the sixth.

It’s not the first time the two fighters have met, in fact this was billed as Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV as the fighters had fought three times prior, watch bout going to Pacquiao. Marquez didn’t have that much of an age advantage on Pacquio either, in fact Marquez is five years older and pushing forty years old.

Marquez knocked Pacquiao down in the third round, but he popped back up and put Marquez down in the fifth. Many thought the fight would end at this point, as Pcquiao had a clear advantage and was in charge in the ring. But Marquez hung in there, staying on his feet after that to eventually shock the sold out crowd at the MGM Grand Garden as the next round ended.

As the sixth round concluded, Pacquiao missed with a right hook and Marquez countered with one, landing the punch right on Pacquiao’s chin and sending him to the floor.

Marquez hit the Filipino so hard that Pacquiao’s wife was seen visibly shrieking and leaping for the ring and her husband.

Had he not been knocked out at the 2:59 mark of the sixth, Pacquiao likely would have been awarded the round. This is a fact that Marquez was not unaware of after the match. He said that had he not knocked out Pacquiao then and there, he likely would have been knocked out himself at anytime.

“I knew Manny could knock me out at any time,” Marquez said. “I threw the perfect punch. We always work on that [counter right]. The change in rhythm was important. We knew he was going to come out aggressive, so we had a fight plan that was more technique and we were able to capitalize on it. We knew it would be a very difficult fight, but not an impossible fight.”

Pacquiao said after the match that he was knocked out by a punch he didn’t even see coming.

“I got hit by a punch I didn’t see,” Pacquiao said. “He caught me with my hand down,” Pacquiao said. “That was an error and we corrected it. We worked strength, we worked speed and you can see the result.”

Manny Pacquiao was out cold on the ring floor for two minutes before his team could get him back on his feet.

The next question beyond how many more fights Pacman has left in him, is how this knockout effects his legacy as one of the greatest fighters to ever live. It doesn’t cripple his legacy, but it gives it as decisive a blow as Marquez’s knockout punch was. Pacquiao will be back for more fights, but now he’s not simply a spectacle, he’ll have something to prove for the first time in a long time.

And the next opponent of Pacquiao likely won’t be sending any thank you baskets the way of Juan Manuel Marquez. But what does he care, it took him four fights but he has finally knocked out his longtime foe Manny Pacquiao.