Pacquiao vs Marquez: Bob Arum Says Style Trumps Weight to Make a Good Fight

During today's press conference in Los Angeles, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum got a bit heated when addressing the very idea that Juan Manuel Marquez's extremely poor showing in his first fight north of 135 pounds against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2009 would mean that his November 12 matchup with Manny Pacquiao would make for a bad fight.

"Let me tell you something. Let’s get real here. They have to make the weight at 144. When they go into the ring the night of the fight, they’ll be within one pound of each other," said Arum. "Juan Manuel will probably be 147, 148, Manny will be the same thing. That’s the definitive weight that matters. It’s not like Manny is a middleweight who will weigh 144 at the weigh-in and then go into the ring at 160."

"Today, sitting here, Manny is probably 148-149," he continued. "So Alex Ariza’s job will be during the training to feed him enough food to maintain his weight. So the weight is not an issue. What’s an issue here is the increased skills of both fighters since they last fought, and who will have the advantage."

Arum was insistent during the press conference that both have become better fighters since their last meeting in 2008.

"As Manny has developed his right hand and skills since they last met, so Juan Manuel has changed his style," said Arum, continuing on to say that Marquez now sits down on his punches more than he did in the past.

"His full knockout power is now shown, that’s why he has won so many fights over the last few years with his counter-punching, because it is now a much more powerful punch."

Both fighters said very little, and so did their trainers. Arum did most of the talking, along with, for some reason or another, WWE star The Miz, whose wide-eyed yelling was, as it always is for pro wrestlers, totally out of place and sounded ridiculous outside of the bubble of pro wrestling.