Juan Miguel Marquez was no Ken Norton

“If Marquez was a wiser fighter and wants his legacy to be more solid, he should have followed what Ken Norton did: give Ali his hardest fights that up to this day, many boxing observers believe that Norton scored 2-1 or even 3-0 in his trilogy with Ali...Even if the official score of the Ali-Norton trilogy was 2-1 in favor of Ali, Norton up to this day is well remembered (and even looked up to) as the only fighter to break Ali’s jaw (in their first fight). Not even a mighty puncher like George Foreman inflicted that much damage to Ali, although Frazier could be credited with registering the only knockdown in his trilogy with Ali."

Juan Miguel Marquez was no Ken Norton

Written by : Conrad Cariño

The recent death of Joe Frazier brought back memories of his memorable trilogy with Mu-hammad Ali, where the final score was 2-1 in favor of “The Greatest.” The finale of their trilogy was the Thrilla in Manila, where Frazier was restrained by his handlers to continue fighting after the 14th round.

In numerous articles written about that Thrilla, Ali was quoted as saying that his third fight with Frazier was the “closest thing to death.” But Frazier forever lived under the shadow of Ali until his death last week.

Fast forward today, and Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao enters the possible finale of his trilogy against archrival Juan Manuel Marquez, who insists he was the winner in their first two fights.

During the past years, it was Marquez who wanted the fight with Pacquiao so badly, and it is obvious he does not want to live in the shadow of Pacquiao in boxing history.

But Marquez will most likely end up living in the shadows of Pacquiao after November 12. Boxing pundits see
the Filipino winning convincingly over the Mexican.

There are many factors stacked up against Marquez entering his third fight against Pacquiao: he was knocked down in the second round of his fight against former lightweight king Michael Katsidis (although Marquez in the end won by technical knockout); Marquez performed very badly in his lone welterweight fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. who decked and dominated him; Pacquiao has shown that he can inflict punishment on welterweights, and even sent super welterweight Antonio Margarito to the hospital for broken facial bones; Pacquiao also absorbed the best shots of welterweights like Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Sugar Shane Mosley, and a super welterweight like Margarito; and Pacquiao easily dispatched junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton.

While Frazier extended and exhausted Ali in the Thrilla in Manila, Marquez might end up living in more shame after his third fight with Pacquiao.

If Marquez was a wiser fighter and wants his legacy to be more solid, he should have followed what Ken Norton did: give Ali his hardest fights that up to this day, many boxing observers believe that Norton scored 2-1 or even 3-0 in his trilogy with Ali.

Even if the official score in the Ali-Norton trilogy is 2-1 in favor of Ali, Norton never pressed for a fourth bout to erase all doubts that he was the better fighter.

Angelo Dundee, Ali’s legendary trainer, even thought that Ali lost the third fight with Norton even if his fighter was awarded a close unanimous decision. The first two fights ended in a split decision, with Norton taking the first and Ali the second.

Even if the official score of the Ali-Norton trilogy was 2-1 in favor of Ali, Norton up to this day is well remembered (and even looked up to) as the only fighter to break Ali’s jaw (in their first fight). Not even a mighty puncher like George Foreman inflicted that much damage to Ali, although Frazier could be credited with registering the only knockdown in his trilogy with Ali.

The observations from the Ali-Norton trilogy can generate one strong argument why Marquez should just have retired and kept the bragging right to say he gave Pacquiao, the greatest fighter of this era, two of the Filipino’s hardest fights. That would have guaranteed Marquez a more honorable standing in boxing history.

But by the way things look now, Marquez will likely end up as one of the fighters Pacquiao has beaten to lie in his shadow forever in the company of fellow Mexicans Erik Morales and Antonio Barrera, who both lost badly to Pacquiao in their rematches.

Nobody knows what Norton has narrated to his sons and grandsons of his ring exploits against Ali. But he still the right to brag he gave Ali his toughest fights and at one time broke the jaw of The Greatest.

As for Marquez, he still can be credited with being more courageous than Mayweather.