THE IMPOSSIBLE IS POSSIBLE FOR MARQUEZ

On September 19 two of boxing greats, Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather and Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez will face off in a battle that will help establish who is boxing's pound for pound king.

The question boxing fans are now asking themselves is: what chance does Juan Manuel Marquez have against a fighter as talented as Mayweather, who will hold advantages over the Mexican warrior in terms of speed, strength and power. Not to mention that Floyd is looked as an equal to Marquez in terms of technique and professional experience.

But before we completely rule out a Marquez victory, let’s consider some facts that favor the Mexican fighter.

Mayweather has been retired for the last two years while Marquez has remained active and fighting top competition. In the time Mayweather was away, dancing with the Stars and chilling with his homies, Marquez was having tough fights against the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Joel Casamayor, and Juan Diaz. Top notch opponents for any fighter.

We also need to take into consideration the fact that Marquez’s trainer is Nacho Beristain. Nacho has trained many of Mexico’s great fighters, including Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzales, Daniel Zarazoga and Ricardo “Finito” Lopez. Nacho is considered by many to be one of the best trainers, not only in Mexico, but all-of-the world.

Also, Marquez may be the smaller fighter, but that may play a smaller role in this fight then people imagine. It is my opinion that this fight will be determined more by skill then it will be by strength and power. Mayweather will be the bigger guy, but he’s not a fighter who’s ever beat his opponent based on bullying them inside the ring. Mayweather will look to counter Marquez (who is also an excellent counter puncher) and land his lead right which is his favorite punch. Mayweather will look to utilize his speed and technical abilities as he has against all his other opponents. The question that we really need to be asking ourselves is will Marquez be able to counter the counter puncher or will he find a way to lead in this fight and be effective.

Lastly, Marquez will be fighting not only for himself, but for the pride and glory of his country. At 35, Marquez is a veteran of the sport, but with so much of his career spent in the shadows of popular Mexican greats Marco Antonio Barrera and Erick Morales, Marquez is still hungry to prove his place as one of Mexico’s all-time greats.

There is no doubt that Marquez is the underdog and rightfully so. No amount of writing can change the fact that Mayweather should be able to win this fight as he has the advantage in almost a very category, but in a year in which so many of the Mexican champions, and top prospects have lost some tough bouts, Mexican boxing fans are hoping Marquez can pull of the upset and put a bright spot on their 2009 boxing year.

Source: http://boxeomundial.net/boxeo.php?category=english&id=12929