Quote Originally Posted by Taeth View Post
Quote Originally Posted by TitoFan View Post
If Bradley were to beat JMM at 140, and that's a huge IF... it would be based on two things: size and age.

JMM proved he is no Pacquiao when it comes to going up in weight. (Hell... no one else has done what Pacquiao has done, dirty or not). But JMM left no doubt of that when he took on Mayweather and was totally outclassed and dominated. And we all know 140 is not JMM's natural weight. So Bradley being the naturally bigger man DEFINITELY gives him an advantage. I also mention the "age" factor, because Father Time waits for no one. JMM is getting old for a boxer, just like everybody else... and that would also be a factor on Bradley's side.

BUT...... having said that.... PLEASE do not argue that Bradley would beat JMM because he's a better fighter. JMM is and has always been TWICE the fighter and boxer that Bradley can ever hope to be. Not dissing Bradley here... just putting things in perspective. I don't normally agree too much with VD, but I agree 100% here: Bradley is a good fighter. JMM is a GREAT fighter.

So yeah... at this point in time, and with the fight being at 140, I give Bradley a pretty good chance of beating JMM. Not a sure thing, mind you... but a pretty good chance.
People's perception of good and great are purely based on quality of opposition, but alos how many times have great fighters lost to good fighters? Mosley to Vernon Forrest, Kostya Tszyu to Phillips, Leonard to Terry Norris and Camacho, Holyfield against Michael Moorer. THese are just modern examples, but the list goes on and on.

What does size have to do with it? I don't think it's fair to say JMM hasn't moved up effectively, he just had to fight Mayweather while Pacquiao fought everyone else. None of them are Mayweather. Sure moving up has slowed Marquez down, but not any more so in comparison to the division he was fighting in. THe higher you go the slower the guys will be, and Marquez has done a tremendous job of maintaining his speed while moving up, its just once again, when he fought Mayweather who was naturally faster with that longer style and great defense he had no chance.

I'm not saying Bradley will have a better legacy than JMM, that would be crazy to say this early in his career and with the fact he has little knockout power, but at this moment he's a better fighter than JMM, he's more versatile and he's faster. He's actually shorter than JMM, and he doesn't really fight on the inside ala Hatton or DUran so I am not sure how much his size would play a factor.
Marquez is in his late 30's. He's declined some due to age. But even in his prime Marquez was never the strongest puncher. He was never the fastest fighter. Nor was he ever the best defensive fighter. Overall his skill package isn't on the level of Mayweathers or Pacquiao's. Even Con and Judah have better ones. But that doesn't matter. Cuz while the difference in skills puts Marquez at a disadvantage going into a fight, he levels the playing field with an extremely high boxing IQ. If Marquez isn't the smartest fighter in Boxing, he's clearly top 3. Marquez off sets the difference in skills with his intelligence. It's the reason Marquez can handle Pacquiao better than Cotto and Hatton could. He's smarter than all 3. When Marquez fought Mayweather he was in against a fighter who possesses as high a boxing IQ as he did. There intelligence off set each other. Which made it a skills fight. In which Marquez was just over matched. Look at the Casamayor fight. Another boxing genius who managed to off set Marquez's intelligence with his own. Good thing for Marquez, Casamayor's skills had eroded more than his. So he caught him late. But the scorecards show it was pretty much a draw up to that point. Fighters with more skill than Marquez he can handle. Fighters with more skill and a good boxing brain will always trouble him.

Which brings us to Timothy Bradley. Bradley is a good fighter like I said. And he has skills. But there not on the level of Mayweather or Pacquiao's skills. He's not super fast. And he doesn't have one punch knock out power. So Marquez will not be at that big a disadvantage against Bradley in the skill factor. If even at all. Factor in Marquez's intelligence and he goes into the fight with a significant advantage. I'm not saying Bradley is a dumb fighter. He just can't match Marquez's intelligence. And while the fight might start in Bradley's favor and give out the impression Bradley is gonna dominate Marquez. He won't. Marquez will weather the early storm like he's done so many times before. He'll make his adjustment. He'll than look for a specific target and focus on it. He'll get in a groove and expand his target area. At which point he'll take control of the fight. He'll break Bradley's will and start punishing him. Which will lead to the ref stopping the fight.