Mayweather-Marquez Has Arrived... Mega-fight or Mega Mismatch?

All boxing fans can breathe a sigh of relief for two reasons.

One... Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler disposed of their overmatched opponents this past Saturday officially setting up the Super-Six Super middleweight tournament in the Fall.

Two... boxing fans finally have some premium content to watch this coming Saturday night when HBO Pay-Per-View pieces together an interesting fight card that should answer various questions.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. squares off against Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight which few if any give "Dinamita" a chance at the upset victory. The "Pretty Boy" currently sits as a 5-1 favorite over the former featherweight champion and rightfully so (Listen to the fight fans pics on the battle.). There is nothing on paper, off paper, or even inside the microthreads of paper that point to Juan Manuel possessing anything within his arsenal to derail Mayweather's comeback trail.

Having only recently moved up to the lightweight division, Marquez makes yet another move up to "virtually" the welterweight division. While arch rival, Manny Pacquiao has seemingly been able to make the quick transition up to the heavier weight classes without any noticeable detriment to his fighting ability, based on their body types there's no doubt that the "Pacman" carries the added weight in a much more effective manner. While the Filipino superstar carries much of his strength in his lower torso and legs, Marquez has appeared to have added much of his weight up top leading me to believe that an "artificial bulk" has taken place.

The first tip-off that Manny would be able to effectively compete at the higher weight classes was when he weighed in on HBO's unofficial scale at 144 pounds in his trilogy bout with Erik Morales back in 2005. It was a statement that said... "I'm no longer that 108, 112 pounder you guys remember me as. Don't be fooled into thinking you're truly bigger than me."

While Marquez was considered a full-sized featherweight fighter in years past, his body-type could have allowed for him to continue comfortably competing in or around the 130 pound division until he decided to retire. Unfortunately on Saturday night, he'll be in much deeper waters with the best pound-for-pound pure boxer alive.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not only one of the most physically gifted fighters the sport has witnessed in recent times, he's also perhaps the most technically proficient boxer of the modern era. The way in which he can deliver short, accurate punches all the while being as cognizant of any return fire is indeed a strange rarity to witness. The Las Vegas based boxer can literally throw every punch in the book... jabs, double-jabs, triple-jabs to the body and to the head, left uppercuts, lead right hands, leaping left hooks... the list goes on and on. Many fighters are adept at preparing and looking for the basics of boxing but unfortunately for them Floyd Mayweather Jr. is truly an upper echelon practioner of the sweet science.

If a prime, monstrous lightweight like Jose Luis Castillo couldn't find a way to beat a smaller Mayweather... there's no I way I can envision a much smaller, less rugged Marquez getting the job done. He'll fight his ass off without a doubt but that's about all we can expect from the smaller warrior.

While Zab "Super" Judah is no longer participating on this Saturday's fight card, the Vicente Escobedo-Michael Katsidis/Rocky Juarez-Chris John rematch provide plenty of intrigue leading up to the main course.

Escobedo-Katsidis marks another extremely stern test for the Woodland native being that the Australian whirlwind regularly tests the inner strength and fortitude of his opponents. Either Escobedo is going to sink to the bottom of the ocean or find a way to swim with the dolphins in just a few short days. The odds aren't out on the fight yet according to 5dimes.com but I'd be willing to venture that the opening money line would start off relatively even.

The Rocky Juarez-Chris John rematch is not exactly the most anticipated rematch of all-time but it could easily be considered a very solid opening bout card for this Saturday. The first battle between the 126 pound gladiators provided a great stylistic match-up with Juarez consistently pressing the action forward as John would pick and choose his spots to box or punch. Many spectators felt as though John had done enough within the earlier rounds to solidify a decision victory but as is usual in Texas... controversy surrounded the majority draw decision. I expect another solid performance by both men but ultimately see John as being the sharper of the two leading to a decision victory for the Indonesian fighter.

Boxing is finally here my fellow fight fiends.

Sure the main event might not exactly be a fight that we've been clamoring for in any way, shape, or form. At this point it doesn't matter since "bammer" is ultimately better than nothing in hand.

I expect this fight card to deliver as much as it can... a strong B- rating.

Source: http://theboxingtruth.com/article.php?id=1017