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Monday March 24, 9:51 AMPacquiao gets hero's welcome, eyes WBC boxing champion Diaz
Philippine cabinet officials joined Pacquiao's wife and three young children in welcoming the 29-year-old slugger, a week after a bruising 12 rounder with Marquez whom he beat by split decision to grab the title in Las Vegas. The March 16 fight was a rematch of a 2004 draw in which Pacquiao knocked Marquez to the canvas three times in the first round. Now, Marquez's camp claims errors in judging and says a second rematch in the 130 pound division would settle the matter once and for all. Pacquiao, who took home a purse of at least five million dollars from the fight, said Monday he was looking at going up to the lightweight division at 135 pounds to face WBC champ David Diaz. But he says that can wait and he would oblige Marquez "anytime, if the price is right." "I'm just a boxer. My job is to look for fights," Pacquiao said. "I must admit, that was one of the hardest fights of my life." He said Marquez as expected would press for a second rematch, but stressed he won the fight "convincingly" with a third-round left hook that decked Marquez. Pacquiao, a celebrity in the Philippines, is considered the best pound for pound fighter at present in professional boxing and the first Asian to win three world titles in three different world divisions. He is often compared to Gabriel "Flash" Elorde, a Filipino cultural icon who was the longest reigning lightweight champion who held the WBC and WBA belts for seven years in the 1960s. jvg/mtp Box-PHI-MEX-superfeather-Pacquiao |
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