By Rob Blakeman: When Manuel Marquez fought Floyd Mayweather back in September 2009 his physique was soft and in all probability he had not had to stick to a rigid diet regime as he would have previously in all of his years as a fighter because for this fight he was able to relax and be at his heaviest ever for a fight.
In all of his previous encounters he would trim and lose weight during training camp to be on the money for the title shot fights and defences that he took-but not this time, and that probably took something of the edge out of him. He had not at that time chose to use progressive weight training to add poundage of lean muscle mass as was the secret of so many other greats such as Holyfield and Roy Jones for example who always looked cut and hard even when putting on weight for fights.
When Marquez challenged Pacquiao for the fourth time at a similar weight at which he had fought Floyd he had hit the gym hard and he was as tough and grizzled as granite and the extra power he had gained showed in his confident performance.
We all should have no doubt Floyd will only be beaten if and when his confidence brings him forwards with his defence down towards an injured foe that appears to be there for the taking as was the case with Manny and Marquez in their last fight.
Marquez did his trademark left jab even as he was desperately hurt, then the left side body-dip except this time he didn’t throw the left hook to the body as is so often the case when he performs this manoeuvre but instead, with incredible instinctive reactions seeing even with his head dipped, through his peripheral vision that Manny’s head was in the ideal position he instead threw that peach of an overhand right-similar to the one that had put Manny down previously but from a lower position and worse still, for Manny, to an opponent with his guard down and moving in for the kill of a seemingly vanquished foe.
Caution was thrown to the wind and Manny, desperate to rid himself of this thorn in his side once and for all in a truly emphatic victory come unstuck against a fighter that he should have known would never give up trying to win and more importantly would be as dangerous as a wounded lion until his last breath. The tumblers all clicked together for a moment and the fight was unlocked, Marquez saw his chance as Manny moved forward into the biggest punch he had taken in his life. These guys could fight again a dozen times and possibly never see the same outcome again.
Now Floyd has been caught with some huge punches in fights like that with DeMarcus Corley through to Shane Mosley to name just two but his chin is solid and he rarely makes the same mistake twice. He has never been caught flush while moving forward simply because he is just too skilled and has the best reactions in the sport. This was shown in the way he handled First-class-World-class counter puncher Marquez with breathtaking ease in their fight and so the only question that arises in regard to his next fight on May 4th is how long will the referee let Floyd beat up on poor old Robert Guerrero?
Robert is a strong and durable fighter but brings nothing to the ring that Floyd hasn’t seen before and possibly less skills than Floyd is used to dealing with-Guerrero’s only chance is over confidence on Floyd’s part bringing him forward to walk onto one and the chances of that are between slim and none. We should all just face it; no one has the skills to truly whip Mayweather, he can only beat himself through carelessness of the kind seen in Manny’s last fight. Marquez is such an exceptional professional in that he is able to keep his composure during extreme pressure and pain and to still have the ability to unleash a perfect punch from the very edge of defeat. This is a very rare fighter and Floyd is unlikely to run into his kind again.
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