Bigger, stronger Floyd Jr. looks to shoot down Marquez

Back in high school there always seemed to be big bullies that picked on smaller kids for various reasons. Chief of these reasons was to filch lunch money off of them. Having no other recourse, majority of the smaller kids would give in, hand over their lunch money, and starve for the rest of the day. However, a handful of smaller kids would instead opt to duke it out with the bigger and stronger boys rather than miss a meal.



You need not be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to figure out who among the combatants the other kids would cheer on whenever such fights broke loose. On my part, I was a small kid back then, so it was virtually a no-brainer. Aside from this, well, I always enjoy rooting for the underdog. Who doesn’t?



Of course, not a lot of those smaller kids (albeit with big balls) won their fights. A lot of them got banged up, bruised, and bloodied by the bigger kids (who had small balls). But at least the smaller boys didn’t back down. At least they stood their ground against the bullies, and this brave act won them a lot of respect among their peers.



On July 18, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez, currently two of the finest boxing tacticians, will meet in the ring at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds. Marquez, a natural featherweight for most of his career (having recently fought at super featherweight three times, and then at lightweight two times) will climb up three weight divisions and test his mettle against the former pound-for-pound king.



I’ll go out on a limb here and say that win or lose against Floyd Jr., Marquez will gain a lot of respect for calling out the bigger, stronger, and younger opponent. Of course, many would say that Marquez took the fight because of the money, and that aside from Pacquiao (who Marquez accuses of ducking him), Floyd Jr. is the best opponent that could guarantee a big payday. Well, if so, what of it? Marquez has paid his dues and at this stage of his career, he is certainly entitled to a big payday.



But to go back. Here is a study in contrast to put things in perspective: While Marquez won his last two fights at lightweight (he bludgeoned Joel Casamayor and stopped the Cuban in 11 rounds and then overcame a slow start and potentially disastrous early rounds before winning by TKO against Juan Diaz in the 9th), Floyd Jr.’s last fight was against Ricky Hatton, a natural light welterweight. Now Floyd Jr. is trying to reclaim his pound-for-pound crown by fighting Marquez, an opponent three weight classes south.



Needless to say, it won’t be easy for Marquez. Far from it. In fact, as of this writing, he is already a 4-1 underdog. But you can bet your last buck that the tough Mexican won’t just give in and hand over his lunch money without a fight.



And, perhaps more importantly, you need not be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to figure out who’s the big bully here.

Source: http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/1610/2009-05-21.html