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Mayweather Dominates Marquez

Ring rust wasn’t a factor on Saturday (September 19) as Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) easily decisioned an outgunned Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs).

With it being Mexican Independence Day Weekend, Marquez was a huge crowd favorite. The roars were deafening and the future Mexican Hall of Famer had the look of a determined fighter. Mayweather came out solemnly to no music, perhaps alluding to a new, all business attitude.

After an opening jab contest, Mayweather began connecting with his trademark lead left hook. Marquez’s attempts to initiate offense were picked off by nice counter rights, and early on Floyd looked sharp.

Marquez sought to apply pressure in the 2^nd. He clipped Mayweather with a nice overhand right, but later got caught with a lead left that dropped him. Now, the Mayweather fans let themselves be heard by chanting “U-S-A!” Mayweather went for the KO; unloading hard lead left and right hooks. But Marquez had been in this position before, and fired back flurries to close out the round.

By round 5, Marquez instinctively knew he was far behind and tried again to pick up the pace. But Floyd remained composed, easily slipping Marquez’s combinations and working jarring check left hooks and short right counters to the head. The consistent blows opened a cut over Marquez’s right eye, and bloodied his nose.

Throughout the middle rounds, Mayweather’s jab routinely snapped Marquez’s head back, and assisted in shutting down his offense, as Mayweather, Sr. had predicted. Juan couldn’t anticipate the jab or lead hooks, and by the time he went to counter Floyd was already out of position.

After buckling Marquez with counter hooks in the 9^th, Mayweather switched to a high guard. The aim was clear; to knock Marquez out. Juan grimaced as another lead left hand landed, followed later by a slashing right hook to the body. The Mexican crowd still didn’t give up cheering their man, and Marquez used their energy to remain upright under the assault. When another knockdown seemed close, Marquez flurried to create space, causing the defense-first Mayweather to reset. Still, the Michigan native cracked Marquez with another right hook, and taunted him after the bell.

Mayweather went for the KO again in the 11^th. He stayed close to Juan, and delivered short, stinging potshots and counters. Marquez was languishing, and any attempts to buy time against the ropes were answered with hard hooks.

In the 12^th, Floyd eased up and recommenced jabbing Marquez to death. When he sensed Juan was looking for it, Mayweather would then open up lead hooks. A beautiful left-right combination snapped Juan’s head in each direction, and Floyd received loud cheers at the bell.

Although Marquez was game, his offense was completely shut down and reflected in the lopsided scores of 118-109, 120-107, and 119-108.

While Floyd wanted to discuss his dominant win, HBO had other ideas. When commentator Max Kellerman questioned him on the missing weight by 2 pounds (146 instead of 144) and paying $600,000 in fines, Mayweather became visibly agitated and asked why money was being discussed. Kellerman then switched gears to Shane Mosley, who’s still without an opponent following his January beatdown of Antonio Margarito.

Mayweather was calm at first, shaking Mosley’s hand and telling him if the business was right the fight could be made since he fears no one. But Mosley was looking for a guarantee, and told him that the fans wanted to see it and it needs to happen now. This led to a heated back and forth, with Mayweather barking at Mosley about being “disrespected.” Sugar Shane stood his ground, trying to calm Mayweather down.

Kellerman jumped in a few times too many for Floyd, who reprimanded Max for “talking too much” before snatching the mic.

In the post-fight press room, De La Hoya was raving to us about Mayweather’s performance, but remained dismissive when asked about a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown.

“Personally, I think a fight with Sugar Shane Mosley is the obvious fight to be made,” De La Hoya argued. “We saw what Marquez did to Pacquiao two times. Most say he won both, and you just saw what Mayweather did to Marquez. Yes, styles makes fights, but what do you think Mayweather will do to Pacquiao?”

And there’s the irony of these proposed superfights. Assuming Pac wins in November, Pacquiao-Mayweather is the biggest fight in boxing in decades. But competition-wise, Mosley represents a tougher challenge with his iron chin, more power, near equal speed, and great body punching.

Money came back with a guarantee. Floyd Mayweather Jr. told the world he was still its best boxer despite taking 21 months off, and he backed up every boast with every jab in an impressive victory.

Although next time out, hopefully he’ll pick on somebody his own size.

Mayweather overpowered the smaller, lighter Juan Manuel Marquez for an unanimous decision Saturday night, maintaining his perfect record in his comeback from retirement.

Mayweather knocked down Marquez in the second round and then peppered him with countless damaging shots to remain unbeaten (40-0, 25 KOs). Still, his impressive effort couldn’t be viewed without weighing the obvious disadvantages in height and strength faced by the talented Marquez, a 130-pounder just 18 months ago who moved up two weight classes for this once-in-a-career payday at the MGM Grand Garden.

AP Photo/Laura RauchFloyd Mayweather Jr. looks down at Juan Manuel Marquez after knocking him down in the second round of their welterweight match.

“Marquez is tough as nails,” Mayweather said. “He’s a great little man. He was really hard to fight, and he kept taking some unbelievable shots.”

At Friday’s weigh-in, Marquez (50-5-1) was four pounds lighter than Mayweather, who paid a $600,000 penalty for missing the bout weight of 144 pounds. Simple physics took over from there. Though Marquez stayed on his feet for 12 one-sided rounds, Money Mayweather’s win was never in doubt.

“He’s a great small man,” Mayweather said. “Don’t forget, I came from a small weight class too, so I know when you’re in front of a great fighter. I think he brought his best tonight.”

Mayweather had an astonishing edge in punch stats, landing 290 of his 493 blows (59 percent) while allowing just 12 percent of Marquez’s 583 punches to land. Mayweather landed more jabs in each round than Marquez landed total punches, and just 16 percent of Marquez’s power shots even got to Mayweather.

Mayweather often appeared to be toying with Marquez, who’s generally considered among the world’s top handful of fighters. Just 18 months ago, Marquez lost a narrow decision to unofficial pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao — another mighty mite who’s likely Mayweather’s top choice for his next bout.

Pacquiao accepted a similarly mismatched challenge last year when he demolished Oscar De La Hoya, but the Golden Boy acknowledges his skills have diminished. Mayweather clearly is still at the top of his game.

“I’ve been off for two years, so I felt like it took me a couple of rounds to really know I was back in the ring again,” Mayweather said. “I know I’ll get better.”

Mayweather dominated his undersized Mexican opponent in his first fight since stopping Ricky Hatton in December 2007. He then took a lengthy break from the sport that’s dominated his life since he was a toddler, but returned for another eight-figure payday that should assuage the IRS while setting up another megafight.

Mayweather refused to re-weigh himself Saturday night, so the true size of his advantage might never be known. Fighters often gain several pounds between the weigh-in and their bouts.

But his size advantage was obvious from the opening bell, when it became clear Marquez would struggle just to get close enough to throw good combinations.

“He surprised me with the first knockdown,” Marquez said. “He hurt me in that round, but not any other time. I don’t want to make any excuses, but the weight was the problem. He’s too fast.”

Judge Burt Clements gave every round to Mayweather, 120-107. Dave Moretti threw the eighth round to Marquez for a 119-108 total, while William Lerch gave two rounds to Marquez, 118-109. The Associated Press had a whitewash, 120-107.

Mayweather abruptly knocked down Marquez midway through the second round when Marquez walked into a left hook, but Mayweather largely stuck to his jab, leaned back in his familiar defensive posture and picked apart another opponent.

Marquez had a bloody nose by the bout’s midway point, and Mayweather landed several hard shots late in the sixth. Whenever Marquez appeared to land a combination, Mayweather invariably backed away with a grin.

“When I hit him, he laughed, but I knew he felt my punches,” Marquez said. “We tried to work the speed, but the difference was the weight.”

Marquez added a brave defeat to a career noted for its disappointments as much as its triumphs. Marquez still seethes over his 0-1-1 record in two fights against Pacquiao, and he followed Pacquiao’s path up in weight in search of bigger bouts, which he got in recent wins over Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz.

Mayweather chose Marquez for his return bout after flirting with Pacquiao, who will fight Miguel Cotto in the same arena less than two months from now.

A Mayweather-Pacquiao fight would be the biggest in the sport, but a more natural opponent also wants a little Money. Sugar Shane Mosley called out Mayweather in the ring immediately after the fight, with Golden Boy representatives forced to separate the two.

The lukewarm public response to the bout underlined industry concerns Mayweather can’t sell a pay-per-view on his own. The Grand Garden wasn’t sold out just a few days before the fight, and large swaths of empty seats greeted the undercard fighters, though they were mostly filled before Mayweather entered the ring.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

After an injury delay and much hyping courtesy of HBO 24/7, Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez will finally square off this Saturday (September 19, HBO PPV). As expected, a fight that was initially met with widespread chagrin from critics now has an air of excitement amongst fans and experts alike.

The main intrigue centers around Mayweather, who will have been out the ring nearly two years since introducing Ricky Hatton to a turnbuckle back in December 2007. Of course, there will be some degree of ring rust, but how much? Will Mayweather’s great accuracy be anywhere near what it was? Also, how will stamina play a role, especially if the fight goes into the later rounds?

For Marquez, most are skeptical of how his body will carry the move to welterweight. In his last bout at 140 pounds, Marquez had to dig deep to score a nice KO over volume puncher Juan Diaz. Still, what many point to is not Marquez’s adjustments to win, but how Diaz was able to tag and hurt him over the bout’s first half. Marquez looked ponderous early on at lightweight (135 pounds) in spite of the gutsy performance. How will his body respond now that he’s jumping a weight class to compete against a bigger, established elite fighter at welterweight?

The best asset of both fighters is their adaptability. Mayweather and Marquez can adjust strategies several times over the course of a fight. Their versatility allows them to fight off the backfoot as precise counterpunchers (Marquez-Medina, Mayweather-Castillo II), or carve up aggressive fighters on the inside (Mayweather-Chavez, Marquez-Diaz). Make no mistake; boxing IQs don’t come much better than these two men.

Early on, expect an intense chess match as both fighters seek to dissect each other’s styles and tendencies. Here Mayweather’s ring rust will show, and he’ll likely be consistently off the mark with his lead right, allowing Marquez opportunities to clip him with his own great counter right.

However, by the middle rounds expect Floyd to find the range and begin breaking down the slower and smaller Marquez to the head and body. Mayweather normally reserves stick and move strategies against fighters that are considerably bigger (Castillo II, De La Hoya, Baldomir), so an aggressive Floyd is very likely to emerge and walk his Mexican foe down.

Unless Floyd Mayweather has completely lost most of his Hall of Fame skills, he should easily shake off any rust after a few rounds and brutally stop Marquez sometime by the eighth round.

Still, anything is possible in a fight. Who’s your money on?