Pacquiao Vs Marquez 2008

There are times when the stars align perfectly, when the levels of expectation outside the ring are matched and even exceeded by the performance inside it.

When that happens, boxing shows why, on its best nights, there is no sport that can truly touch it for drama or excitement.

Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, when Manny Pacquiao defeated Juan Manuel Marquez by the most razor-thin of margins to add the WBC super featherweight championship to his already padded resume, was one of those times.

In the hours before the opening bell, the casino was packed with throngs of Filipino and Mexican fans, each side ready to enter the arena and throw its vociferous vocal support behind its standard bearer. Every one of the more than 11,000 fans eagerly anticipated a contest on the level of the one that had taken place between these two fighters four years previously.