MANNY PACQUIAO HAS conceded he was complacent during his last bout against Juan Manuel Marquez but does intend to repeat his mistake.
The Philippines’ Pacquiao and Marquez are set to fight again on December 8 in what will be the fourth bout between the two.
While Pacquiao has never lost to the Mexican, including a draw in their first clash, the 33-year-old Filipino believes he still has something to prove.
I want this fight to be different from the last one,” Pacquiao said. “I want a win that isn’t close like the last three. It has to be a decisive victory.”
Pacquiao has admitted he underestimated the lighter Marquez during their fight last year, which he believes kept the 39-year-old Mexican in the bout.
“In the last fight I took Marquez too lightly because I was the bigger man physically,” Pacquiao said.
Marquez is renowned for his counter-punching ability, which brought him a lot of joy against Pacquiao in November.
Pacquiao believes he must adapt to Marquez if he is to win again.
The eight-division world champion believes he needs to surprise Marquez.
“I have to study and train using new techniques and strategy and apply techniques never used in my previous fights,” Pacquiao said.
“I will fight and train like the old Manny; the 25-year-old Manny.”
Marquez believes a change to his preparation to will help him get the edge on Pacquiao this time around.
“I need to change something in the ring. I need to change something in my training, in my camp – I need to change something to be diffierent in the ring,” he said.
“A lot of people said: ‘what do you need to do to prove yourself in this fight?’ And I said: ‘I don’t need to prove anything because I won the last two fights and now I want to win this fight’.
“I’m training really hard because I have a new challenge and I feel very happy.”
