MARQUEZ FINALLY LAYS PACQUIAO GHOST TO REST

On Saturday night at the MGM Grand, Juan Manuel Marquez finally managed to exercise a demon.

Marquez scored a savage knockout on Manny Pacquiao with just one second remaining in round 6 so telling that referee Kenny Bayliss abandoned his count with Pac Man out cold on the canvas.

The Filipino and former pound for pound king has haunted the Mexican, ever since the first of their four explosive bouts, eight and a half years ago.

That night at the same venue, Marquez dusted himself off from three early knockdowns and was able to fight his way back to a controversial draw.

Since then, with the fighters reputations and stock greatly rising, the pair fought twice more, with each fight perhaps controversially going the way of Pacquiao, the first by way of split decision in 2008 before scoring a majority decision last year.

The Mexican legend will have every right to feel aggrieved with the results of each fight, but being the consummate professional he is fought on and no fight fan was disappointed when it was announced that a fourth bout would take place.

The fight was just as important for Pacquiao as for Marquez. Despite winning two of the three bouts, the Filipino still felt that with the results of the previous fights much argued and separating many opinions he needed to stop the Mexican to put an end to the arguments once and for all.

Barely minutes had gone before the Las Vegas crowd knew they were witnessing a 'Fight of the Year' contender, but even they could not have predicted things panning out quite as they did.

Marquez, who had bulked up considerably since the pairs previous meeting, scored an early knockdown, evading a Pacquiao shot before throwing a devastating overhand right to see his rival hit the canvas in third round.

Pacquiao picked himself up almost straight away and was full of movement and as he usually does, dictated the pace of the fight, but was up against a clever fighter in Marquez.

The Filipino scored a knockdown of his own in the fifth round, with a straight left hand shot forcing the Mexican to touch his glove on the canvas and face a mandatory eight count from referee Bayliss.

As the sixth round got underway, it looked more as though we would be seeing a result we had become used to, with Pacquiao controlling the fight and ahead on all three of the judges scorecards.

Marquez was bruised and bloodied, and with a broken nose, Pacquiao as promised moved in for the kill, in an attempt to prove his killer instinct has not yet deserted him, and in search of his first knockout victory since stopping Miguel Cotto in 2009.

But as the saying goes, 'One punch can change a fight' and that was to prove exactly the case. With Pacquiao hunting down Marquez, whose legs had clearly been wobbled earlier in the round, he made one glaring error, one he had not learned from after suffering his knockdown just moments before. Pacquiao deserted his head bobbing and weaving for just long enough to allow one of the finest counter punchers in the sport to land a devastating blow and saw the former pound for pound champion suffer his first knockout defeat since 1999, before his career in the United States took off.

As HBO's Jim Lampley said at the time, the knockout was one of the most devastating seen since Sergio Martinez put Paul Williams out cold during their second encounter, and Marquez certainly would have troubled most Middleweights with his shot.

Pacquiao remained on the canvas for over two minutes while Marquez was mobbed by his corner, the relief and joy clear to see, with the Mexican finally vindicated for his self belief and the efforts given during 42 rounds with the Filipino.

But what now for the two fighters?

In an interview after the fight, Pacquiao called for a 5th bout between the two, while many believe that he should hang up his gloves after suffering two defeats in a row.

The fact is, there is no shame in losing a fight like that to a fighter of Marquez calibre. Pacquiao proved that he was more than in the fight, and looked to be closing in on victory, while his previous defeat to Timothy Bradley was nothing but a farce, with Pacquiao the clear winner.

At 33 years of age, Pacquiao could fight on, and a rematch with Bradley could be on the horizon before a potential mouthwatering 5th matchup with Marquez does take place.

One thing that does appear certain for Freddie Roach's prized asset, is that a mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather may not have slipped just too far out of reach.

Pacquiao has stated last week that he was ready to give into Mayweather's previous demands and a fight had seemed destined to finally take place in 2013. However another defeat for Pac Man means a less desirable prospect for Mayweather who no longer has his position as the top ranked pound for pound fighter in doubt.

Marquez on the other at the age of 39 is surely entering the final stages of career. Although he rolled back the years on Saturday night displaying superb ring knowledge and a formidable display of power, there may not be too many fights left in the Mexican hall of famer.

With another fight with Pacquiao being a viable and an extremely lucrative option, a second bout with Mayweather may tempt him more. This could prove a step to far though even for Marquez who was convincingly beaten by Mayweather in their previous bout in 2009. Mayweather would not leave himself open for Marquez to land bombs like he did on Saturday night, and any rematch between the two would surely go a similar way to their first meeting.

Or perhaps now after finally laying the Pacquiao ghost to rest, Marquez can rest on his laurels and slip into retirement content with being one of the finest boxers of his generation. But with being as capable as he proved on Saturday night, I speak for any fight fan when I say that I would love to see the Mexican fight again. If not with Pacquiao, then perhaps with Miguel Cotto at Welterweight, with the Puerto Rican losing his previous light-middleweight fight to Austin Trout. An all Mexican clash with the unbeaten Saul Alvarez would also be a mouthwatering prospect.

Either way, as much as a Pacquiao victory would surely have edged things closer to a mega-fight with Mayweather, Marquez victory on Saturday night was a victory for boxing, and finally brought justice to a fine boxer.