Neither Pacquiao nor Roach got the fight they expected - Next

"He's always backing off and he's waiting for my reactions and then he's free to counter. You know, it's not easy to create action against a guy who is looking for a good shot," said Pacaquiao.

"So I'm very careful with him, because he's a good counterpuncher and I have to accpet that it's just not that easy to fight Marquez. He's a great counterpuncher."

Unlike the previous clashes, during which Pacquiao scored three knockdowns in the first meeting, and, one in the second, Marquez appeared to control much of the tempo.

"Manny hit him with some good shots, but nothing great. He shook him a couple of times, but Marquez took Manny's punches, it seems, a lot better this time," said Roach.

"Maybe at the higher weight, he's a little more resilient, but he was certainly able to handle Manny's punching power with no problems, and he came back every time. He's given us problems three times now and he's very good at what he does. But I do think that he deserves a rematch."

Roach tried to help Pacquiao, but Marquez was too often able to lure the titleholder in and rock him with crisp right hands.

"Manny was moving too much to his left and into Marquez's right hand. When he moved to the right, he had much more success. But he just fell into that old trap that he did the first two fights," said Roach.

"That was something that I was worried about and he just kept mentally falling back into that realm. We made an adjustment after the fourth or fifth round, but it wasn't constant enough and Marquez did have success with the right hand."
 
Pacquiao and Roach cited cramps in the arches of the fighter's feet as contributing to his troubles with Marquez, adding that they will seek medical counsel concering an issue that began to hinder the fighter in the fourth round against Marquez.

Roach said that the cramps bothered Pacquiao for the third straight fight.

"Manny did start having cramps again in his arches in the fourth round, and after he lands a combination, usually he can get in and out before the guy retaliates. But he couldn't get in and out and he was getting hit with the return shots to much," said Roach.

"But that's something that we have to figure out what the problem is. We need to get some experts on that. But I'm not making any excuses because Marquez fought a good fight. He really surprised me, but again, I thought Manny pulled it out in the last two rounds."

Photo by Chris Farina, Top Rank Inc.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com