HBO '24/7' Episode 3 recap: Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez 4

This episode dealt a lot with trainers Freddie Roach and Nacho Beristan. There are times when trainers get a bad wrap and there are times when they don't get enough credit. It's easy to say that Muhammad Ali made Angelo Dundee and not the other way around. But if you ask Sugar Ray Leonard, there was no one better equipped than Dundee to get him through that first Tommy Hearns fight.

The reputations of Roach and Beristan are solidified. One is the best trainer in the U.S., the other the best in Mexico. It was nice to see more about them in the build up to the fight.

Best spoken line, Manny Pacquiao: "What we are doing every day is more intense than the last few fights." That seems like an affirmation of what everyone has been saying - "and 24/7" documenting - that his training camps have been a bit off.

Best spoken line, Manny Pacquiao, part 2: "I can't accept that, it's my job." Very true. After Freddie Roach tried to give him $1,000 for dropping a sparring partner. Besides, he doesn't need the money.

Best spoken line, Juan Manuel Marquez: "Training is always hard. It's something that consumes me. It's almost like I am almost fighting Pacquiao. I visualize Pacquiao in the ring with me."

Freddie Sez: "Pretty much training Manny Pacquiao is a little bit different now. I don't get to tell him what to do any more, he tells me what to do."

It's always that way in boxing. And perhaps other sports too, but more subtle. That entire sequence was interesting in the sense that Roach has a point. If Pacquiao doesn't think a strategy will work, the trainer won't try and change his mind. Essentially, trying to change a superstar's mind can only make things worse. At the end of the scene, Roach said, "I miss the days when I was boxing."

Later in the episode, Roach says, "I gotta get back to telling him what to do. I like being the boss."

Nacho Time: "I think I've earned the right to relax," and then ... "I don't take naps because I don't have the time."

Best supporting cast: Dr. Luis Martinez. Cupping therapy? Visually cool looking. But really?

Best written line: There could be a few for this episode. We liked this part about Beristan in the corner, "It's there he sees what others can't, it's there he watches over the boy he turned into a champion."

But ultimately, we go with: "Inevitably, they seek the unquenchable. What they have is significant, but what they don't is what truly matters. That's why a fourth fight makes sense to them. That's why another chance drives them forward."

The scenic view: Time lapse of Mexico City.

Training days: Again, Marquez at 4:30 a.m. at the Olympic training center. Was particularly impressed by the standing vertical jumps onto the boards.

Additional thoughts

-- Love when Marquez breaks the speed bag they spent an hour fixing.

-- Pac Man is always funny on Jimmy Kimmel. By the way, not a horrible acting job by Pac Man by the way in the mock 24/7.

-- Guess when you are a congressman you play chess rather than attend cock fights.

-- As usual, 24/7 didn't skirt a controversy. They deal with Angel Heredia's performance enhancing drug issue and covered it well. Heredia's explanation, "I was young and I was stupid and I was impulsive."