LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez wore the consequences of their brutal fight last Sunday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. They showed up late for the post-fight news conference after getting stitches, with Pacquiao hiding behind dark sunglasses and stooped with pain from Marquez's body shots, while Marquez's face was puffy and gashed.

Pacquiao was his usual conciliatory self after earning his $3 million payday, but Marquez still was in the mood to fight.

"The judges don't know what they're looking at," said Marquez, who made more than $1 million. "I was doing everything possible to win the fight. They took a victory that I won clearly."

This was echoed by Marquez's trainer, Nacho Beristain, who suffered his second frustrating loss in 15 days. He was also in Rafael Marquez's corner during his loss to Israel Vazquez in a similarly thrilling bout.

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Marquez's camp blamed what they said was corrupt judging for their close defeat by the narrowest margin: a single point on the card of one of the judges.

This didn't sit well with most observers.

"It is embarrassing now with what is happening with boxing," Beristain said, using the Spanish word for "disgrace."

While Beristain and Marquez could cry foul as long as they want, fight fans who saw the fight without Bias will beg to disagree. They will insist the 12-round fight for Marquez's 130-pound World Boxing Council super featherweight crown will be remembered as one of the year's bests, highlighted by Pacquiao's third-round knockdown of the Mexican.

The fight showcased two fighters at their best and the result was so close it could have gone either way.

"The fight was very close, but I thought the knockdown was the difference," Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, insisted. "If it would have gone the other way, I would have accepted it, because with a fight like that, the difference is almost nothing. In that sense, it doesn't really matter who got the decision. Both guys fought a great fight, and they should both come out like winners."

Pacquiao's third-round knockdown obviously made the difference in judge Tim Miller's scoring. Most fight fans are convinced that had Marquez not hit the deck after being hit by Pacquiao's left hook, he may have retained the crown.

"One judge had it for Marquez, one had it the other way for Pacquiao, and another judge had it close for Pacquiao, one point," said Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum. "The media was all over the place, some for one guy and some for the other. Grow up and be a man and accept the judges' decision. . There's one thing everyone can agree on, and that's that it was a damn close fight. There was no skullduggery, nothing like that."

While Pacquiao and Arum initially ruled out a third fight with Marquez, they've got a little thinking to do after Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer offered a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for the fight.

Arum admitted the fight may probably happen but only after there's time to "put a little air under it."