Marquez, Pacquiao – The Little Big Men

By Bal Kang: Boxing has provided us the fight fans with some remarkable stories, some of which have been bought back to life recently.

No doubt most of you have come across the comparisons made to the great Henry Armstrong, the fact that Armstrong won and held at the same time, three world titles in the featherweight, lightweight and Welterweight divisions, something that will never ever be repeated again due to the revised modern rules.

Another remarkable feat that is looked back upon in recent times is the great Roberto Duran’s four world titles in four different weight classes, the first person ever to win four world titles; this was at lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and amazingly middleweight.

There are of course other examples that we can refer back to, but let’s fast forward to now. What we have now is ‘The Little Big Men’ of our time that have already created history but are both now on the verge of possibly cementing their legacies forever, if they haven’t done so already that is.

The top two fighters in the world at present started their respective careers at much lower weights. Juan Manuel Marquez began his pro career at 120lbs and has fought up to a maximum weight of 135lbs; this path has led him to three world titles in three different weight divisions. Manny Pacquiao began his pro career at 106lbs and has fought up at a maximum weight of 140lbs with world titles in six different weight classes that bear witness.

Despite there being double the amount of weight divisions than there were in the past, these accomplishments would rank very highly in anybody’s list and the manner in which these feats were achieved may even cement their legacies already, regardless of what the future may hold.

It’s not that long ago that many a people would have laughed at the possibility of Marquez and Pacquiao facing off against these bigger men, but now the landscape has completely changed.

These two amazing ‘small guys’ are putting themselves in the frame and have given people reason to believe that the frame they now appear in, they can truly smash by beating Mayweather Jr and Miguel Cotto respectively, this is partly down to some of the extraordinary feats they have achieved thus far.

Although I don’t have any crystal ball that I can see into the future with, I can say for sure, without any shadow of a doubt that the future for both Marquez and Pacquiao will present them with their most difficult challenges to date!

September 19th will see Juan Manual Marquez go up against Floyd Mayweather Jr, the official weight of the fight has not been disclosed and will most likely be disclosed at the actual official weigh in, which will make for one of the most intriguing weigh ins of recent, possibly all times.

November 14th will see Pacquiao go up against Miguel Cotto at a Catchweight of 145lbs.

The beat on the street is that Marquez has a far tougher assignment than Pacquiao, having said that I think it’s beginning to dawn on people that Pacquiao’s assignment could be one where he may have bitten off more than he can chew.

One of the many reasons why both these contests are so intriguing is because there are many unknown factors. In the case of Cotto we don’t really know if he has any mental scars from his fight with Margarito. I don’t think we can make a true assessment based on his fight with Clottey because he was fighting most of the fight with a pretty bad cut, some even suggest that Cotto is on the decline.

Pacquiao will be facing the biggest fighter he has ever faced as well as the hardest puncher he has faced, so how will the naturally smaller man stack up? I will make just one comment and this is not to make any sort of prediction but simply to state that I believe we will see a further improved Pacquiao in the ring against Cotto, I still think he’s not the finished article just yet.

Mayweather Jr we are told suffered a ‘freak’ rib injury, he also has had a lay off of nearly two years come fight night. Marquez is potentially climbing a full two weight divisions if the fight is fought at Welterweight, as his last fight against Diaz was at Lightweight. How will Marquez handle the extra weight, will it slow him down, if so how much? Will the extra muscle cause fatigue later on in the fight? What I do know is that despite being the much smaller man, Marquez will be the toughest and most intelligent fighter that Mayweather Jr will have ever faced and that is testament to Marquez’s greatness!

Regardless of the outcome, I believe any real fight fan must consider both Pacquiao and Marquez winners, even if they lose their next bouts. I keep thinking of when Roberto Duran went up against Marvin Hagler for the Middleweight title. That was a mammoth task, although Duran was winning the fight after 12 rounds he just missed out on the decision but is the only man ever to take Hagler the full 15 rounds, so my point being, even in defeat Duran walked way the winner.

I fully believe the same should apply in this case. Marquez and Pacquiao have no business being in the same ring as either Cotto or Mayweather Jr, but in the same ring they will be and who knows we may even see a Marquez vs. Pacquaio trilogy, now what a sign off that would be especially if they go into that potential fight on the back of victories against Cotto and Mayweather Jr

Come what may; let’s toast these two great warriors Juan Manual Marquez and Manny Pacquiao, ‘The Little Big Men’.

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