By Simon Briggs: The return of the pretty boy has sparked a debate regarding the pound for pound title. After his victory in 2007 against Ricky Hatton, Mayweather Jr. retired as the widely regarded pound for pound champion. However, in his absence, the Filipino sensation that is Manny Pacquiao has climbed to the top of the tree.
Also in the absence of Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez has slowly crept up the pound for pound rankings, and is widely regarded as the number 2 behind the aforementioned Pacquiao. It is for this reason that a fight between Mayweather and Marquez makes sense for Floyd. He has been out of the ring for 18 months, and does not want to dive straight into a mega fight with Manny. Instead opting to go after the number 2 fighter. This is in order to regain the pound for pound status that he obviously craves by knocking Marquez down the list.
Although the fight makes sense, in terms of progression back into the fight game for Mayweather, there are several reasons that the age old argument about Mayweather “cherry picking” has resurfaced.
Firstly, Mayweather, although a multi-weight world champion, has established himself as a welterweight (147lb). On the other hand, Juan Manuel Marquez’s career has been based between 125lb and 130lb’s. His last fight, at 135lb’s was only the second time that Marquez has fought above 130lb’s. So here lies the first issue. The fight on July 18th is to take place at the 147lb welterweight limit. To make the weight, Juan Manuel Marquez must step up another 2 weight divisions to meet Mayweather. This obviously gives Mayweather the size advantage of being the naturally bigger man, and the experience of making the weight for the weigh in, and then replenishing his body in order to regain weight for fight night. This is something that Marquez will be doing for the first time in his career.
Mayweather will also have a major reach advantage over Marquez, something that Marquez will find difficult to overcome, due to Mayweather’s defensive style of fighting. As well as size and reach advantages, Mayweather should be significantly faster than his opponent. This is only an assumption, based upon previous performances, as Mayweather may have lost some speed in his absence from the ring.
The Marquez bout is so reminiscent of the Ricky Hatton fight of 2007. Marquez will have similar issues with Mayweather that Hatton did. Although Marquez is a superior fighter to Hatton, he is still far too easy to hit. Marquez is coming to the end of his career and has had to jump through the weight divisions in order to secure this fight. In many ways Juan Manuel Marquez has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, boxing needs more people like Hatton and Marquez who are not scared of losing but are willing to fight the best in the world, even if the odds are against them.
Everything does seem stacked against Juan Manuel, superior size, speed and reach all favour Mayweather. However, nobody can question the skill, heart and strength of Marquez. Will that be enough to upset the odds? Unfortunately, I cannot see it. The best chance Marquez has is to go after Floyd in the early rounds, and hope that he can tag him while he is still acclimatising to life back in the ring. However, this will play into Mayweather’s hands, as the master counter puncher loves come forward fighters.
The other option for Marquez is to force Mayweather to make the first move, and try and draw him out of his comfort zone. Marquez hits hard, and is also an excellent counter puncher, so this may be his best outlet for victory.
I can’t see any result other than a Mayweather win here. Marquez is a true Mexican warrior. He can take a punch, and he is without a doubt a very talented boxer. He is however, coming to the end of a career that has never garnered the accolades that his talent deserves. This is maybe the last chance for the 36 year old to cement his legacy, and with a win, Juan Manuel may will get what he really wants, and some would say deserves. A rematch with the Pac Man, Manny Pacquiao. For Floyd, this is the perfect opportunity to dive straight back into the big time. A win here, would surely attract all of the big name welters that fans have been begging Floyd to fight for several years now. On one hand, I would love Marquez to win, almost forcing Pacquiao into a rematch with him! However, a Mayweather win opens many more doors for mega fights in the future. I just hope that the returning Floyd Mayweather is willing to go through them!
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