When Manny Pacquiao upset Marco Antonio Barrera last year, "Pac-Man" was so destructively dominant that it begged the question: is Barrera past his prime or is Pacquiao THAT good? Although Barrera clearly had an off night, the Filipino showed a marked improvement in his defence, and combined with speed, pure aggression and raw power, it was all too much for the Mexican warrior, whose corner threw in the towel in the 11th round.

Now, fresh off that defeat, Pacquiao is wasting no time with a tune-up and goes straight for the jugular in tonight's featherweight unification bout against another warrior from Mexico City, Juan Manuel Marquez. The fight is being hyped as an all-out war that won't last long.

Marquez is a highly skilled, accurate counter-puncher who has a better knockout ratio than Pacquiao (79% to Pacquiao's 76%), and against better opposition. But the Filipino firefly, riding a wave of unbridled confidence, recently stated that he plans on burning through Mexico and beating all of the Mexican fighters, leaving their fans no choice but to embrace the "Pac-Man".

I doubt it.

Although his defence was impressive against Barrera, Pacquiao left himself open and was very hittable, and an accurate puncher like Marquez will exploit this. Also, Marquez has been fighting at featherweight for a very long time, and his boxing skills are technically superior to Pacquiao's.

Marquez has never fought a Barrera or a Morales, but his record is more impressive than Pacquiao's (Manuel Medina KO 7, Agapito Sanchez W 12). Barrera aside, Pacquiao has fought a list of virtual unknowns.

Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, has done some nice things to improve the boxing aspects of his fighter's game. But it's highly doubtful that Pacquiao will outbox Marquez, or even try to. Pacquiao's best chance at beating Marquez is to take the fight to him. having said that, his over-agressive style will play right into Marquez's hands (or fists). There is much talk about the power that Pacquiao posseses, but Juan Manuel can slug, too, and perhaps even more importantly, he has the better chin.

Marquez's trainer, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, also trains his brother, bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez. Juan Manuel may very well be the best featherweight on the planet right now- just nobody knew it.

Until tonight.

Prediction: Marquez TKO 11