Quote:
Originally Posted by
CFH
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Majesty
When I first saw both fights I thought Pacquiao won the first and Marquez won the second.
Rewatching them both I think Marquez won both fights.
However there's no doubt in my mind that Marquez is going to lose Saturday. He may get dropped and come back and win but it's against less opposition like Katsidis.
Put that on top of the fact that Marquez has to fight at Welterweight against a natural welterweight Pacquiao. If Pacquiao loses this fight then he is more overhyped than imaginable. This fight is giftwrapped for him to win. He has a slipping Marquez two weight classes above his average, it's the easiest version of Marquez he'll ever face, if he loses then it's going to be very bad. I go as far as to say if it's a close fight it ruins any mystique on a Mayweather fight. If Pacquiao doesn't start to dominate after 2 or 3 rounds, there's a problem. These are the fights he's supposed to win.
Marquez is an all time great and a hall of famer, but he's slipped, he's on the downward spiral, he's winning but he isn't the Marquez that gave Pacquiao hell for two fights this is the Marquez who has looked okay in his last few fights, but he's being setup to lose this fight.
I'll be shocked if this fight goes the distance, and even more shocked if Pacquiao loses.
I disagree with that. If Pacquiao loses this fight, and I agree that he won't, it will in no way diminish his previous accomplishments. Regardless of what happens from this point forward, he will go down as an ATG and the best fighter of his era.
I'm sorry, but how can you say he would be the best fighter of his era after whooping a few husks Mayweather already dominated (DLH, Hatton, Mosley), one clumsy turtle (Clottey), one broken warrior (Cotto) and one (comparatively) lively fighter coming off the most devastating loss of his career (Margacheato), and losing to a guy who is past his prime and two weight classes higher than he should ever have gone? There is no winning in this fight for Pacman, anyone who knows anything about boxing knows this fight has only been made now, at welterweight, because Roach and Pacman knew it was their only chance to avenge the masterclasses Marquez dished out to Pac in their first two fights.
Pacman is possibly the most over-hyped fighter ever, he hasn't done anything special in a long time. His only truly great wins are over Barrera and Morales, since I don't believe for a minute that he beat Marquez in their first two fights. In consideration of this, I totally agree that losing to Marquez this Saturday would retard his current apotheosis dramatically. Then again so many people are on Pacquiao's dick at this point the nutt-hugging media propagandists who are responsible for his global standing might just be able to sell it as a freak 'incident' to the mass of the public. Those looking in on events with any measure of objectivity will not be fooled.
Has it occurred to anyone else watching the latest 24/7 that the reason Pac has been so riled by Marquez's claims of winning the previous two bouts is he knows it's true, and that he is training harder than ever because deep down there is a little nagging doubt that tells him no matter how hard he tried in the past, this guy just kept getting up and outboxing him in front of the world? I'm not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that Pac is scared he will lose to Marquez at this point, but I think he is well aware his legacy could be well and truly tarnished by even a poor performance against JMM. A split decision ain't gonna cut it at this point, and it seems obvious to me that the extra motivation I've seen in Pac's training this time round denotes the insecurities he has regarding his ability - even at this stage, with his marked improvements, and Marquez's marked decline - to tackle a truly great boxer.
None of the guys Pac has fought (we'll exclude the weight drained zombie that was DLH) had the technical ability to time him and exert superior boxing skills upon him, they were mostly come forward fighters who were either psychologically weak (I think a strong case can be made for some of them having lost the fight before they stepped in the ring, but that's a matter for another time...) or simply did not have the ability to deal with his hand speed, exceptional lateral movement and endurance. However, it may all be a moot point, since, despite my love of Marquez (a true warrior and boxing technician) I think he has a snowball's chance in hell at this stage of his career, though I pray he can pull out one last great performance and finally get the win he deserves, and seal his legacy as arguably the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.
On another note, it's a real shame Pacquiao isn't doing anything currently to elevate himself in the annals of the sport. I mean, at this point, after working with Roach for the best part of a decade, he has a pretty great skillset, at least offensively - his lateral movement and use of the right hand as a southpaw are particularly impressive - and traditionally he has had the balls to take on the best, yet the last few years have seen him resting very heavily on his laurels. I hate to bring up the Mayweather fight again, but tbh, and to go back to the reason for my response, it's the only fight that could really make him 'the fighter of his era'. If that fight is made and he beats Mayweather
then we can make that claim, but if he carries on fighting guys who should not really present that many problems for him, he could go down as someone who was seemingly great and yet never did everything in their power to prove it, but was more committed to being a commercial and political success than mastering the craft which gave him the opportunity to pursue his many other earthly pleasures.