Pacquiao vs Marquez III is rapidly approaching, as we get ready for fight night we sat down with Primetime presenter Andy Kerr to get his thoughts ahead of the broadcast.
“The first two fights between these two were fantastic; the second time they fought was actually one of the first times I ever presented a boxing TV broadcast so it brings back great memories for me. Their styles complement each other which is what makes their fights so exciting. If anything Pacquiao may be bigger now but these are two unbelievably talented boxers and I can’t wait to see what they do on Saturday.”
“There are so many things to consider for this one. Will the return to Welterweight be a disadvantage for Marquez? It’s hard to say, nobody looks good against Floyd Mayweather so it may not have been the weight that made the difference in that fight. Making weight is a science, you can ask Amir Khan about that. You just have to look at how slowly Alex Ariza has gone about moving him from a Light Welterweight to potentially a Welterweight after Christmas. It has to be done so scientifically to get the maximum from it. Look at David Haye, how slowly he moved from Cruiserweight to Heavyweight, it’s not just a case of piling on pounds. We’ll find out at the weekend how scientifically that’s been done with Marquez and if he’s now a natural Welterweight he’ll be very dangerous for Manny.”
“It has been said by Marquez’ camp that with Pacquiao now being more refined it makes him easier for Marquez to deal with. To me that sounds like good psychology, nothing more. Pacquiao may be a better boxer now but that just makes it better for us to watch. Freddie Roach is brilliant, not just at coaching, but at preparing strategies for fighters and personally I don’t see Pacquiao having any weaknesses that Marquez can exploit in this fight.”
“Freddie has done a fantastic job at refining Pacquiao, but Pacquiao can still throw those wild shots from crazy angles. In his last couple of fights he hasn’t had to as he hasn’t been pushed. The last time he was really in trouble was probably the last Marquez fight. Nobody has really pushed him in probably 2 or 3 years. In that time he’s faced Mosely, Hatton, De La Hoya, Cotto and Margarito, the best in the world. It’s phenomenal really as you have to wonder who will be able to push him.”
“Amir Khan will be joining us on commentary for this fight. I’m really interested to hear what Amir’s got to say, he knows Pacquiao and Freddie so well, and that will enable him to give us fantastic insight as the fight progresses. Khan and Bradley still have a serious beef after Bradley wouldn’t fight Amir in a unification fight earlier this year. Then there’s also Breidis Prescott on the card – we all know what happened when they met, so he’s got insight into all the fights. He’ll have to feel his way into it as the night progresses but it’ll be interesting to hear how much he’s absorbed the lessons from Manny and Freddie. He was a brilliant pundit when we had him in the studio for Mayweather, his insight was really fascinating, and if he’s as good a commentator as he was a pundit it’s a great addition to the broadcast.”
“Timothy Bradley has a lot to prove after a long time out of the ring. He would argue he’s the best Light Welterweight on the planet, although Amir may have something to say about that. He’ll have to prove he can shake off the ring rust and come back at his best.”
“Talking about things to prove. Joel Casamayor, if he can roll back the years and be like he was 3 or 4 years ago, could make this a fantastic fight. You never know with older boxers, you see someone like Bernard Hopkins and he looks 15 years younger and then you look at someone like James Toney and he’s just so far removed from where he was in his younger days. The question for Joel Casamayor is has he aged well?”
“Will Bradley have one eye on Khan? He’ll have probably both eyes on Khan and maybe even be looking down at him in the commentary booth when he should be focused on Casamayor. He’ll be looking to say to Khan “I’m the number 1 and you should be fighting me next”. This is a huge potential banana skin for him. If he’s focusing on Khan, or a potential fight with Pacquiao, and Casamayor can roll back the years Bradley could be looking at his first defeat. He can’t afford to look ahead to future fights or down at Khan at ringside. It’s just another reason why it’s so intriguing to have Khan there commentating.”
“Then we come to Breidis Prescott. Prescott will always be mentioned around the world level because of what he did to Amir Khan and his name will always be tied to Amir. Was he lucky against Khan? Was it just two lucky punches? Time will tell. He looked great against McCloskey, maybe he was hard done to with the decision but it’s hard to go over to someone’s back yard and get a result. You have to give him credit he’s prepared to go anywhere in the world to fight and I’m looking forward to seeing him in action again. I hope he does go on to get that big shot as I think he deserves it.”
“This is another absolutely stacked card on Primetime. There are 4 fights on this card you just have to see, if I wasn’t in the studio I would be at home watching. They’re just such deep cards, sometimes you sit around all night just waiting on a main event but with this you just have to see every fight. I can’t wait, we’ll do a great job of putting it all together for you so you can sit back and enjoy another must see night on Primetime.”
Pacquiao vs Marquez III sees the World’s best pound for pound fighters return to Primetime this November. Ranked number 1in the pound for pound lists, Manny Pacquiao will be looking to end the controversy by convincingly dispatching long time rival Juan Manuel Marquez. After a controversial points decision and a draw both fighters have a point to prove. The previous battles have delivered knockdowns galore and this fight promises to be no different.
Timothy Bradley steps back into the ring after ten months out and having been stripped of his WBC title as issues with his manager meant a fight with Amir Khan didn’t happen. Bradley will want to return to winning ways and prove he is still the number 1 in the Light Welterweight division. To do that he’ll need to defend his WBO title against former two division champion Joel Casamayor.
Breidis Prescott also makes a quick return to British TV screens. Following his points loss to Paul McCloskey the only man to knock Amir Khan out aims to get back to winning ways as he challenges for the IBF Latino Light Welterweight crown. An undefeated Mike Alvarado stands in his way, with 41 KO’s from 58 fights between them this has all the makings of a fight of the night candidate.
The card is completed by Luis Cruz vs Juan Burgos for the NABO Super Featherweight championship.
So it’s titles fights all the way on November 12th, another must see night exclusive to Primetime!
Source: WorldBoxingNews
Source: WorldBoxingNews
