I do not believe that Juan “Dinamita” Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) is going to defeat Floyd “Money” Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) in two weeks. But I have seen much stranger things happen in my 25+ years watching boxing. Shoot, I wouldn’t exactly call it strange if arguably the second or third best active fighter in the world (Marquez) defeated the former pound-for-pound king (Mayweather).
Here’s why I could see Marquez springing the mild upset:
- Ring Activity. While Mayweather has been off for nearly two years dabbling in professional wrestling, celebrity dancing and cheesy Internet commercials, “Dinamita” has spent his time taking Manny Pacquiao to the brink, and handing Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz their first defeats via knockout. It’s not just that he’s been active. It’s who he’s been active against.
- Fight Location. Yes, I know that “Money” currently makes Las Vegas, Nevada his home. And that Marquez has not always been the biggest draw. However, since this fight takes place so close to Mexican Independence Day (September 16) and “Sin City” has a heavy Mexican fan base, we all know what could happen in a close, distance fight.
- “Un Hombre Malo.” For the linguistically-challenged, that means “a bad man” in Spanish. And that’s what Marquez is. He’s one helluva fighter. In my opinion, he’s the most technically-skilled fighter that Mayweather will have ever faced. It’ll be interesting to see how Mayweather reacts to a man who may be the closest thing to his equal in terms of ring smarts.
In short, do not sleep on Juan Manuel Marquez. As much as people praise Manny Pacquiao (and I am one of those people), they should not forget that “Dinamita” easily could have gotten the decision in each of his fights against the Pac Man. Although my money will be on Mayweather, there’s no dog in this underdog.
i dont believe that floyd’s inactivity for 2 years will really him.this isnt ricky hatton who baloons up to 180 pounds when not fighting…floyd may have been busy pursuing his other intersts but it doesnt change the fact that he is a very disciplined athlete and a naturally skilled boxer…also weve seen this guy perform in hostile territory before (de la hoya-mayweather) and it really doesnt affect him…i think juan ma has no shot against beating mayweather…it shows on 24/7 how he lost his speed going up in weight..now he will really be in big trouble
gr8 observations but rembr, mrqz gts knckd dwn early on fairly frqntly n by mch mor natrly smlr guys gettn up frm a erly mawthr knck dwn wnt b an esy task. Look 4 an early ko.
mayweather is gonna demolished him
Who cares about this fight? I’ll be watching UFC instead for a more entertaining night.
I have faith that Mayweather will win, but I’m cautious about it. He’s at the top, he has millions, he’s a celebrity, and is running around with his entourage getting in gun fights, I don’t see Mayweather with the same hunger for the sport anymore…
Who cares about you coming to a boxing post to tell us you’ll be watching boring Belfort vs Franklin? Nobody! It will suck just like 100 and 101. Anyway, PBF will win even though I agree….don’t sleep on JMM. He really did beat Pac-Man and if anybody can pull off this upset it’s JMM. I kinda hope PBF knocks him out because that’s the only way he will feel confident enough to fight Manny. If he looses he will never fight Manny.
yea franklin vs belmont? who are they. i’ll watch 2 hall of famers instead & by the way jake you can watch the 1st hour on the undercard free on spike so you don’t have to buy that trash evnt being held in my hometown of Dallas. anytime Mayweather or Pacquio steps in the ring they are getting my money. if they win and decide to fight they will not only break all ppv numbers but beat 5 ufc ppv cards added together. the world does await that fight. they are 2 of the top 25 p4p fighters ever & i’ve been watching boxing for 30 years & own over 5,ooo fights on dvd. even ufc’s dream fight of lessner vs fedor would be on pac-may’s undercard. why does anderson silva want to box 40 year old roy jones? because he will get his biggest payday ever.
I agree. People are sleeping on JMM AND Cotto in their respective fights and they shouldn’t!! Floyd SHOULD win quite handedly over an undersized JMM but there are some intangibles like ring rust, legal troubles, an actual legit threat in JMM, (opposed to the aged fighters and an assortment of tomato cans) etc.
My money would be on Floyd too but this is Floyd’s biggest test since Castillo, another guy that loved to bang the body. And if JMM finds it, this could be pretty interesting.
rbk, methinks JMM gets stopped in the mid-to-late rounds. he’s a great fighter but showed some chinks in the armor against juan diaz.
william u and drew, i’ll put it this way, mma probably gives better quality per dollar, but it’s biggest matches still have not proven to be able to touch boxing’s superfights.
Gil this may be true, re: his true zeal for the sport BUT he’s also still playing the great matchmaker. He should look good against Marquez, no doubt. But the rust is the biggest concern perhaps.
You won’t be saying that in November Jake – when Cotto battles Pacquiao!
euclid is probably right…you’ll get my official prediction this weekend…
jabbo, damn, how early?
herman, how do you see the destruction unfolding?
Will the revelation that Marquez enjoys a drink of his own urine help or hinder him when he goes toe-to-toe with the Pretty Boy?
http://www.heavensports.com/boxing/juan-manuel-marquez-piss/
Pee don’t win championships Shayman. lol
i’m thinking that if marquez allows himself to be knocked down in the first or second round, mayweather will be all over em. With his apparent increase in size and power, factor in the increase in speed and focus and this mayweather will be hard to stop. I’m thnkg 4rounds.
oh yeah, and i think the pee thing was intended to rattle the rattler(mayweather) don’t think it worked though cuz in the hood real dogs eat the other excrement. Jaja!
Jabbo…that’s a BOLD prediction??? 4 rounds. Give Marquez more credit than that, especially since when has Mayweather destroyed a top fighter that early? Maybe his fight against Manfredy awhile back?
Ja, he almost got him in one. I think a complete shut-out is actually worse though, i mean you can always claim that you just got caught with an early ko, but when a candidate for pound for po gets completely shut down it’s not pretty.
Yes, a very dominant (yet expected) win for Money Mayweather.
pretty good fight after the main event though, in fact a mayweather/ mosley match up would be quite entertaining.
@jabbo, i agree with you but would you pay to see mayweather-mosley or mayweather-pacquiao?
Well Ja, I’D pay for them both. you see Ja, despite the fact that pac man/mayweather will certainly be huge, i believe mosley/mayweather (though with significantly less viewers) will be a much more competetive match up.
I agree with you – I think Mayweather defeats Pacquiao by comprehensive decision, and via KO if he commits to the body. As a matter of fact, Cotto could conceivably really distress PacMan if he commits to body-punching.
i agree Ja, the straight up the middle style of pac should certainly make fo a difficult night for cotto, mainly as result of the spirit breaking loss to margarito and the loss to clotty (i know he got the win) and i think pac man will have his way with him setting up a fantastic mega “money” fight with the pretty boy. I expect 12 round of boxing with a win favoring the money man.
Jabbo, No arguments here. You nailed it. However, I am sure there will be a lot of late money on Cotto, because many feel he’ll be desperate and maybe, just maybe could overwhelm the naturally smaller man. It should be a great fight, while it lasts. No way I see a distance fight.
ja, what do you call a 250lb punching bag that eats stacks of gorditas and crys like a baby, what, did you say chris arreola? Man i wish these guys tould stop acting like they’re fighting for the entire mexican race act like professionals and fight just because they love the sport of boxing. It’s great to be proud of your heritage but the only person who knows what those punches feel like is the guy taking them.
I totally agree, but hey, everyone has different motivations…but it does get tired. It’s tough enough to take punches to the head, even tougher to mentally carry an entire nation or race on one’s shoulders.
http://www.fightinsight.com/2009/09/28/boxing-versus-mixed-martial-arts-part-ii/