By Conor Ward - Many have tried – all of them have failed. A few lucky lesser lights met their end early on in proceedings, caught out and flattened by the blinding speed of a sharp right hand or a stinging left hook. Others fared a little better, forced to hit the showers midway through the schedule after a brutal and unrelenting accumulation of punishment. Some managed to reach the sanctity of the final bell, though they too arrived at that same inevitable fate and had that big eye-soaring ‘L’ chalked up next to their name. And so after a pro career which spanned eleven years the first time around, that ‘L’ remains nowhere to be seen on the ledger of one Floyd Mayweather Junior / “Pretty Boy Floyd” / “Money Mayweather.” Call him whatever you like, but just call him the best while you’re at it.
And so on July 18th at the MGM Grand, it falls to Mexico’s best current fighter and pound-for-pound number two Juan Manuel Marquez to take a stab at a task which is - if not quite in the impossible category – at the top end of the difficulty scale in matters sport.. However, there has been a notion touted around that Floyd has taken a bit of a soft option in facing Marquez on his ring return.
Everyone who is involved or takes more than a passing interest in the fight game knows well that the 35-year-old from Mexico City is nobody’s fool. Yes, he is moving up from lightweight to welterweight to face Mayweather, a considerable step up, and that places him at a disadvantage. But this is no easy “warm-up” for Floyd to take on his return. “Dinamita’s” two stellar performances against current pound-for-pound top dog Manny Pacquiao - whether you take the view that he was the rightful winner of those fights or not – are proof enough of that.
But as for Marquez actually winning the fight, well, that’s another matter. He’s a fine technician, but he’s not a massively explosive hitter. Could he really deliver a knockout punch, or even a very damaging shot, against a defence as watertight as Floyd’s? That would seem a big ask. The size difference is obviously against him, so he certainly won’t be bossing Floyd around the ring. Then again Marquez is fast-handed, but as fast as Floyd? Highly doubtful. He’s skillful too, but more skilled than Floyd? I think not.
Marquez does have the strategy, skill and will to ask any opponent lots of questions, but we’ve seen this before, haven’t we. If Floyd doesn’t know the answers to those questions before the fight, he invariably figures them out along the way with the aid of good old Uncle Roger. Whilst he has not always dominated his opponents right from the off, his remarkable natural stamina, along with his ability to stay relaxed and pace himself throughout a 12-round contest, gives him a quite distinct advantage in the championship rounds. To use Floyd’s own words from previous verbal wars, he might just “take him to deep waters and then drown him.”
And if Marquez can’t do it, then who can? The obvious answer screaming back now is that Pacquiao can. That is undoubtedly the fight we are all craving to see, but I still can’t avoid the feeling that the euphoria being generated by his meteoric and undeniably impressive rise to superstardom will ultimately be quietly crushed by the cool crafty skills and calculating mind of Mayweather.
He’s already widely - though not universally - regarded as the best fighter of his generation, though his critics always choose to talk up the credentials of the fighter he hasn’t faced in order to detract from his record. But Money talks too – never shy about referring to himself in the most reverend of tones, though his best talking is always done inside the ropes.
As a big admirer of what he’s all about as a fighter, I’m personally just hoping to see Floyd in as many fights as possible against the very best opponents. After Marquez, give him Pacquiao, give him Mosley, give him Cotto, even give him Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik. My bet is that he can beat any and all of them, simply because he’s the best in so many ways – quicker, smarter, more skilled, superior (That old Carly Simon number “Nobody does it better” comes to mind!)
Oft-maligned but still untarnished, Mayweather’s second coming may prove even more impressive than his first. Let all the detractors come out again with sharpened critical blades, pens and keyboards. Let all the other top pugilists lace on the gloves and give it their best shot.
And what’s to say that the 0 still won’t go?
Source: eastsideboxing.com
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