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Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will meet again for the fourth time on December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, live on HBO pay-per-view. The photo above is from today's press conference to officially announce the fight in Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, the fighters will be in New York, and we'll have live coverage from that presser, as Top Rank will stream the event.
I do have to make note of one really funny thing (really funny to me at least). This is from a Top Rank press release last September (2011), when Pacquiao and Marquez were promoting their third fight:
"Our previous fights against each other brought out the best in us," said Pacquiao. "Of all the opponents I have fought, Juan Manuel Marquez is the only one who was able to anticipate many of my moves and effectively counter most of them not unlike a chess match; but instead of exchanging pieces we exchange punches. Freddie Roach and I will need to make the most of every training day to prepare for Juan Manuel. When I walk into the ring on November 12, it will be more than a world title defense for me. It will be another opportunity to bring honor and glory to my country and to my fellow Filipinos in the Philippines and around the world."
This is from today's press release, promoting Pacquiao-Marquez IV:
"Our previous fights against each other brought out the best in us," said Pacquiao. "Of all the opponents I have fought, Juan Manuel Márquez is the only one who was able to anticipate many of my moves and effectively counter a lot of them. I underestimated him in our last fight but I will not make that mistake this time. Freddie Roach and I will make the most of every training day to prepare for Juan Manuel which is why my all my training will take place at Wild Card in Hollywood. No days will be wasted traveling between training camps in the Philippines and California. When I walk into the ring on December 8, it will be another opportunity to bring honor and glory to my country and to my fellow Filipinos in the Philippines and around the world."
How about Marquez? Last year:
"I have been waiting for this fight for a long time and I am very excited that is finally going to happen," countered Marquez. "I beat him the first two fights but did not get the decision; this time I will beat him again and I will also get the victory."
This year:
"I am very excited to be fighting Manny again," countered Márquez. "I beat him the first three fights but did not get the decision; this time I will beat him again and I also will get the victory officially. It's an election year and I am going to win by a landslide."
Bob Arum, the HBO rep (last year Mark Taffet, this year Michael Lombardo), and Richard Sturm from the MGM all had pretty much new things attributed to them.
Press releases. "LOL."