Quote Originally Posted by El Gamo
a. Who has benefitted more, Marquez or Pacquiao, from the 4 years off between their first fight and their rematch?

Definitely Manny. JMM has aged alittle since then and has shown he is far more hittable than was the case four years ago.Manny has improved since then too. If there had been an immediate rematch,JMM schools Manny and wins comfortably imo. However,4 years later and takinginto account Manny's improved right hand and defence and JMM's very very fragile skin,Manny DEFINITELY benefits from this which is why,IF JMM wins,he goes to P4P number 1 for me.It would be a remarkable achievement as I think Manny is going to win and is going to be favourite too.

b. Who will benefit more, Mayweather or Cotto, from the delay of their potential upcoming showdown? (For the sake of this thread, let's assume they finally meetup in the Summer of 2009, or about 18 months from now.)

Depends.The general consensus would be Cotto but I take into account the fact that Cotto could very well fight Margarito/Williams/Clottey in that timespan,or certainly 2 of those 3.And I pick Margarito over him.So,hypothetically,if Tony were to beat him,I think it would or certainly could have a psychological effect on Miguel. Even if he were to win,these fights are not easy fights at all.

On the other hand,and the more popular thinking is,it would benefit Cotto.Cotto would be staying active,improving his skills whereas Floyd could very well be rusty by that point.
I agree with most of that, good points.. But I don't see how you can say that if JMM wins, you'll put him at p4p no.1.. Being a p4p guy isn't like winning a belt, it all depends on how the guy looks. If Marquez shows up looking fresher than ever and just puts on a clinic he may have a case for being no 1.. But what if Manny looks uninterested(like I though he did against MAB) and it's a dull fight, where JMM just squeeks out a SD or something. Regardless of what happens, Marquez will not be a better p4p fighter than Mayweather after he fights Pac. Both these guys deserve top 5 spots imo, and they are already recognized for being great p4p guys. But that doesn't change the fact that Floyd is that little bit better.