No surprises yet as Marquez tries to spring one on Pacquiao

LAS VEGAS – Nothing other than perhaps the crowd was bigger than expected.

Middle-aged men wrapped in the Mexican tri-color, moms with babies napping in strollers and kids of every age stood in line for more than six hours to watch Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez step on and off a scale Friday in the formal weigh-in for the third chapter to their trilogy Saturday at the MGM Grand.

There were no surprises. Both Pacquiao and Marquez were lighter than the 144-pound limit. At 142, Marquez looked bigger than what the scale showed, yet was still two pounds lighter than the contracted weight and one pound lighter than Pacquiao, who at 141 looked like the same fighter who has conquered everyone and everything in front of him for the last few years.

If a surprise is forthcoming, it will have to be sprung by Marquez, whose reconstructed upper-body had yet to convince gamblers that he has a chance. Odds about an hour after the weigh-in Friday favored Pacquiao by an astonishing number, 10-to-1. The third Pacquiao-Marquez fight, an HBO pay-per-view bout, was scheduled because there were lingering questions about the first two, a draw and Pacquiao victory by split decision.

But the betting public doesn’t have any questions. Follow the money. It says that the first two fights don’t matter anymore. Perhaps, that’s because Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) looked so ponderous in his only other fight at a weight heavier than 140 in his one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Or, perhaps, it’s because Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) has looked so dominant over his last few fights. Or, perhaps, it’s the difference in age. At 38, Marquez could be a few birthdays beyond his prime. At 32, Pacquiao is still there.

“The betting line doesn’t bother me,’’ Marquez said. “I respect the audience. I respect the people who make the betting lines. It’s good for me. It’s going to be a surprise.’’

It would be a shock to Pacquiao’s fellow Filipinos, who dominated the crowd of about 5,500 at the weigh-in. They cheered their Congressman’s every move. For a while, it sounded as if the weigh-in site at one end of the MGM Grand Garden Arena could have been another Filipino province. They waved Filipino flags and mocked Floyd Mayweather Jr. with T-shirts that referred to the long-running soap opera of failed negotiations by saying: Run Floyd.

In the halls outside of the Grand Garden Arena, it was Manny mania, Manny all the time. There was Pacquiao perfume for sale. You can smell like a Congressman, too. There was Pacquiao Produce. Eat broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and you can make weight, too.

Before stepping onto the scale, a large image of the Manilla Bulletin newspaper’s front page was displayed above the stage. In one huge headline, it asked: Pacquiao For President?

Apparently, a victory over Marquez is a foregone conclusion. Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach often talks almost as if it is. He believes that Marquez’ heavily-muscled upper-body will eventually work against the resilient Mexican, who worked with a controversial strength coach named Angel Heredia when he admitted to a grand jury during the BALCO case that he had supplied performance enhancers to Olympic medallists Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery.

Roach’s argument is that Marquez has sacrificed speed and his ability to counter, his most effective weapon. He also has said that Pacquiao’s acquisition of a powerful right provides a punch and balance that Marquez never saw in the first two bouts, when the Filipino was essentially a one-handed – left-handed – fighter.

Pacquiao, Roach said, also has his own point to prove. He was insulted by Marquez T-shirts at a Filipino press tour that proclaimed that he, not Pacquiao, had really won those first two fights.

“Respect is the most important thing for me, the most important thing for both of us,’’ Pacquiao said.

For each, there is a version of respect at stake in Chapter III.