Juan Manuel Márquez beats Manny Pacquiao

  

And so here we go again, Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez - 4!

Pacquiao leads the series 2-0, with one draw, and yet bizarrely the feeling is that Pacman needs to win this fight comfortably - preferably via a knockdown - to prove himself the better of the two fighters.

Marquez has said over and over that he believes he won all three previous meetings. And there are plenty of others who support his view, particularly at the MGM Grand tonight - Mexican boxing fans in Las Vegas heavily outnumbering the support for the Filipino.

But perhaps it is Marquez who needs to make the statement: he is, after all, trailing 0-2 in the series and has been sent to the canvas several times.

Indeed, eight years ago when this pair first met, after just three minutes nobody would have expected the rivalry to go as far as a Quadrilogy. Marquez was knocked down three times in 90 seconds and clinging on. He recovered, turned that fight into a battle that the judges just couldn't split and led to a matchup that reappeared in 2008, 2011 and now 2012.

The pair aren't even fighting for a title belt - Pacquiao "lost" his to Timothy Bradley in June. So, it's pride at stake tonight. The promoters have to call it something so it's the The Fight of the Decade. Cynics are calling it the Fight of the Decayed, but that's just rude.

Juan Manuel Marquez knocked out Manny Pacquiao towards the end of the sixth round, connecting on a right straight Sunday (Manila time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

With bloodied nose and all, Marquez dropped Pacquiao, who was knocked out cold just before the bell.

This was the ending Marquez had been looking for, after settling for a draw and loss via split and majority decisions in the previous three fights.

Pacquiao, who was knocked down by Marquez in the third round, took a hard punch to the chin and couldn’t get up after that.

It was the first time in four fights that Pacquiao was knocked out by Marquez.

Marquez improved to 55-6-1, 40 KOs, while Pacquiao slid to 54-5-2, 38 KOs.