While counter-punching expert Juan Manuel Marquez doesn’t give Manny Pacquiao the creeps, the Filipino hotshot insists he is not taking his Mexican rival lightly.

"I am not underestimating Marquez," Pacquiao said in a radio interview from Los Angeles yesterday.

"I know for a fact that Marquez is also training very hard for this very important fight."

On March 15, before an expected overflow crowd at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Pacquiao and Marquez square off not only for the World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight crown but for the universal recognition of being declared the finest 130-pounder and a pound-for-pound star as well.

The two had battled to a 12-round split draw almost four years ago and Pacquiao and Marquez are aching to prove who is far superior between them.

Pacquiao, 29, revealed that while he has undoubtedly trained like never before, he expects Marquez, 34, to be in top condition as well when they answer the bell for the showdown dubbed "Unfinished Business."

Before heading to Las Vegas, Pacquiao and Marquez will grace a press conference for the southern California press in a hotel to be determined soon.

"The Beverly Hills won’t be available on that particular time (lunchtime) so they’re trying to look for another venue," Top Rank big boss Bob Arum said yesterday.

Arum likewise said Pacquiao will get on a private plane from Los Angeles, the first time Pacquiao is taking such a route since he had opted to be driven there by his chauffeur whenever a fight takes place in Las Vegas.

"Manny will be joined by Freddie and a few others on the private plane," Arum, who will be on the same flight, said.

Meanwhile, Arum bared that "for the first time in Pacquiao’s career," there’ll be closed circuit TV in at least two Vegas hotels.

"We won’t be selling tickets for the closed circuit until three days before the fight. There are less than a thousand (venue) tickets left and we expect a sellout," said the 76-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer.

As in other moneymaking ventures entered by Top Rank, Pacquiao’s MP Promotions will also receive a cut in the revenue based on Pacquiao’s contractual agreement with Top Rank.