LAS VEGAS — At the merciful final bell, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez both raised their arms in victory, just as they did after their first fight nearly four years ago.

Their cornermen boosted them into the air again, arms around their fighters' blood-spattered trunks. Mexican and Filipino fans joined in another unified cheer for two of the world's best boxers, whose rematch was worth every minute of the wait.

And by one point on one judge's scorecard, Pacquiao was a champion again.

Pacquiao won a split decision to claim Marquez's WBC 130-pound title tonight in a sensational fight that left both men bleeding, battered and triumphant.

With outstanding action and clever tactics in nearly every round at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, the fight showed why both boxers are at the peak of their profession. Pacquiao (46-3-2) nearly had the fight won when he floored Marquez with a brutal left hook in the third round, but Marquez wouldn't stay down under withering punishment in what's sure to be one of the year's best rounds.

"I thought at that point I was in control of the fight," Pacquiao said. "But when he cut my eye in the fourth round, he made it more difficult for me, and I couldn't take control of the fight. ... I wasn't sure (heading into the 12th round), but I always treat the final round as the most important. I don't take any chances."

While Marquez (48-4-1) landed more punches at a higher percentage, Pacquiao persevered through a nasty cut. Marquez also was cut near his right eye, but neither fighter backed down from one scintillating exchange after another.

Judge Duane Ford favored Pacquiao 115-112 and Jerry Roth called it 115-112 for Marquez, while Tom Miller gave a 114-113 edge to Pacquiao despite giving the last two rounds to Marquez. The Associated Press narrowly favored Marquez, 114-113, on the strength of his 12th-round performance.

"I don't like the decision," Marquez said. "I still feel I am the champion. It was a bad decision. That first knockdown, he got me cold, but then I adjusted my game plan and I thought from then on, I dictated the whole fight. ... The people are the best judge, and the people are booing him. I won."

Their first matchup ended in a draw in May 2004. Marquez was knocked down three times in the opening round of that acclaimed bout, but the Mexican champion improbably rallied to win most of the later rounds.

An immediate rematch was scuttled by financial arguments, and Pacquiao went on to cement his spots atop the sport and in every Filipino's heart, while Marquez made a long climb back to a match he eagerly accepted this time.

Marquez could have had this fight shortly after their first bout across the Las Vegas Strip at the MGM Grand Garden, but his management complained about the financial terms. Marquez ended up fighting for $30,000 in Indonesia, where he lost his WBA title to Chris John two years ago, but Marquez claimed the WBC title last year by beating Barrera.

Pacquiao won a major world title in his fourth weight division, and he intends to take on a fifth when he moves up to 135 pounds for his next fight against David Diaz, the WBC lightweight champion who won on Saturday's undercard.

"I don't think so," Pacquiao said of a third fight with Marquez. "This business is over."

Pacquiao is known in Mexico as the "Mexican Assassin" for his impressive dominance over the boxing-mad nation's best fighters. Most notably, he has won his matchups with Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, who along with Marquez are considered Mexico's top three fighters since the decline of Julio Cesar Chavez.

Marquez, whose brother, Rafael, just finished a three-fight epic with Israel Vazquez, landed 172 punches, or 34 percent of his total compared to Pacquiao's 25 percent. Pacquiao threw more jabs, and Marquez landed more power shots.

Pacquiao entered the ring to thousands of cheering fans and a Filipino rapper who incited the crowd with a live performance. Marquez had a white-suited mariachi band waiting for him in the ring, and his fans drowned out the sizable Filipino contingent.

After a cautious start, both fighters showed glimpses of their fearsome potential in the second round. Pacquiao won several tough exchanges, but Marquez wobbled Pacquiao with a three-punch combination in the final seconds.

The third round was nonstop action, with both fighters trading quality punches before Pacquiao put Marquez on the canvas. Marquez was holding onto the ropes by the bell, but wouldn't go down.

Marquez cut Pacquiao with a punch in the fourth round, but Pacquiao staggered him again in the seventh, and a collision of heads opened a nasty cut near Marquez's right eye. They traded quality punches until the final minute, when Marquez landed a handful of combinations to do what could have been the decisive damage.

"It was a close fight, but we came back at the end," said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach. "It could have gone either way, in my mind. Manny followed him around the ring too much. He didn't cut off the ring like he should have. Marquez may have had a lot to do with that as well. Manny was more disciplined in training than he was in the fight tonight."