The most frequently asked question a boxing writer receives, aside from whether Floyd Mayweather Jr. will ever fight Manny Pacquiao, is "Who are those guys?

If you're a boxing fan, you know the faces of Sam Watson, 58, and his sons, Brandon, 31, and Marcus, 28, even if you don't know their names or exactly what it is they do.

Max Kellerman interviews Danny Garcia after a win. (Photo credit: Craig Bennett/112575 Media Inc))

Boxing publicist John Beyrooty, a one-time sports writer at the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald Examiner, calls them each '99'. It might seem an odd name, but as Beyrooty said, "When they're in a fighter's corner, he wins 99 percent of the time."

The Watsons work for high-powered boxing adviser Al Haymon, a long-time friend of Sam Watson's. They are tasked with making life easier for Haymon's fighters, and tend to their every need, during camp and during fight week.

Part of their job, they said, is to show their support for the fighter at all times. And so whenever one of their fighters is being introduced, or whenever he's being interviewed on HBO

LAS VEGAS – Juan Manuel Marquez carried more than eight years of frustration, disappointment and anger with him when he got into the ring with Manny Pacquiao on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.

After losing two and drawing one in three fights he had a right to believe he won, the bigger and stronger version of Marquez left no doubt this time around.

He concluded one of the year's best fights in stunningly brutal fashion, catching Pacquiao on the chin with a perfectly placed counter right hand, knocking the Filipino superstar out cold at 2:59 of the sixth round before an arena packed with his delirious fans.

It was the same right hand that Marquez landed repeatedly in their first three fights, shots that did little damage to Pacquiao. But after a year of building his body with conditioning coach Angel Guillermo "Memo" Heredia, Marquez had the zip he needed on his fastball to get the job done.

Juan Manuel Marquez celebrates his win over Manny Pacquiao. (AP)

"We knew he was going to come out aggressive, so we had a fight plan that was

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao did not appear at the post-fight news conference Saturday after being knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez with one second left in the sixth round before 16,348 people in their welterweight fight at the MGM Grand Garden.

Pacquiao was taken to a local hospital for a CAT scan after the brutal knockout. The Filipino congressman had missed a right hand near the end of the round and was cracked by a perfect counter right that sent him face first to the canvas.

He fell in his own corner, just feet away from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who was seated with his wife, Ann, at ringside.

[Related: Juan Manuel Marquez knocks Manny Pacquiao out cold in sixth round]

Pacquiao lay motionless for several moments on the mat before he was helped to a sitting position. Pacquiao, who was leading 47-46 on all three cards at the time of the knockout, walked from the ring under his own power.

Juan Manuel Marquez connects against Manny Pacquiao on Saturday. (AP)

Trainer Freddie Roach said he wants to see Pacquiao work in

LAS VEGAS – On a night when a star-studded crowd that included Republican presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney, Dodgers owner Magic Johnson and hip hop star 50 Cent were seated at ringside at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden, Juan Manuel Marquez delivered the best performance of his career.

He knocked Manny Pacquiao out as the sixth round ended, putting the Filipino superstar out face first on the canvas. Pacquiao had missed a right and Marquez used his specialty, the counter right hand, to close the show.

He landed the right directly on the chin, putting Pacquiao out cold. Pacquiao's wife, Jinkee, shrieked out and attempted to get to the ring. Promoter Bob Arum put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"I knew Manny could knock me out at any time," Marquez said. "I threw the perfect punch."

[Slideshow: Pacquiao-Marquez IV]

"We always work on that [counter right]. The change in rhythm was important. We knew he was going to come out aggressive, so we had a fight plan

LAS VEGAS – The Manny Pacquiao who knocked Juan Manuel Marquez down three times in the first round of a 2004 featherweight title fight hasn't existed for a long time.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez meet for a fourth time on Saturday. (AP) That version of Pacquiao shot out of his corner like Cat Ballou, the 2,000-pound bull who is starring at the National Finals Rodeo down the street from the MGM Grand Garden where on Saturday, Pacquiao will face Marquez for a fourth and final time in one of the epic rivalries in boxing history.

The 2004 version of Pacquiao fought with an astonishing viciousness, blazing fast hands and a recklessness that quickly endeared him to millions.

Pacquiao was 25 then and not nearly as refined, as a boxer or as a man, as he is today. His physical skills were breathtaking, though, and he relied on hand and foot speed, his sheer athleticism and tenacity to carry him.

He's now a little more than a week from his 34th birthday. He's slower, not as aggressive and not nearly as reckless.

Neither is he beaming ear-to-ear

Benson Henderson: Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing. (MMAWeekly)There is a perception of Benson Henderson bubbling up that is just plain wrong.

The UFC lightweight champ is a great fighter that has beaten a Who's Who of the world's best lightweights and he's carried himself at all times as the kind of guy who should be promoted as one of the faces of his sport.

But as he prepares to defend his title Saturday in yet another very difficult match against Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC on Fox 5 at Key Arena in Seattle, Henderson has had to fend off accusations that he's not a compelling fighter.

Diaz called him a "round-winner," a pointed jab that has no merit. Henderson has been involved in some of the greatest fights in recent memory, including his 2009 match with Donald Cerrone and his 2010 bout against Anthony Pettis.

He earned the UFC's No. 1 contender spot in the deep lightweight division on Nov. 12, 2011, when he bested Clay Guida in a fight that stole the show at UFC on Fox 1.

Henderson then won the title in a frantic,

Stars are the lifeblood of any sport, but particularly individual sports. The athletes who appeal to the casual fan and the non-sports fan are the ones who account for big events and help the sport grow.

On Thursday, the UFC officially added another transcendent star, and the reverberations from the move will have a significant impact on the company's business.

Ronda Rousey is now the women's bantamweight champion and will headline UFC 157 on Feb. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., against Liz Carmouche. 

A great deal of attention will be paid over the next few months to the fact that the UFC has added a women's division, but the more significant news is the addition of Rousey's outsized persona.

UFC president Dana White said he believes she can surpass Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell in star power. Ronda Rousey poses for a picture during a Strikeforce event. (Getty)

"Yeah, no doubt about it," White said. "She's definitely better looking than Chuck Liddell. She speaks well. The media loves her. It's hard not to like her. Some

LAS VEGAS – Juan Manuel Marquez said he's "ready to go to war" with Manny Pacquiao, but the presence of an admitted steroids distributor in his corner Saturday night and a vastly more muscular body has skeptics questioning whether it's conventional warfare or chemical warfare he will use.

Marquez will meet Pacquiao for a fourth, and likely final, time on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden in a 12-round welterweight bout on HBO Pay-Per-View. Though he believes he won each of their first three fights, Marquez is winless, losing the last two after getting a draw in the first.

Juan Manuel Marquez listens to comments during a news conference. (AP)

Three years ago, when Marquez was 36, he moved up from lightweight to welterweight to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. Marquez looked puny next to Mayweather and had no muscle definition. It was hardly a surprise, though, since Marquez had never weighed more than 135 in a fight and weighed less than 130 in 50 of his 55 fights to that point.

Now, Marquez's physique has undergone a transformation every bit as dramatic