Mayweather – Marquez: The Fight We Want?

When the announcement was made on the morning of the Manny Pacquiao – Ricky Hatton fight that Floyd Mayweather would be making a comeback and fight Juan Manuel Marquez in his return bout, a lot of mixed opinions and emotions from fight fans emerged.

Among those emotions was, “why is he picking Marquez as his comeback opponent?”

Certainly boxing fans were, and still are, relishing the possibility of a pound for pound showdown between Mayweather and Pacquiao. That bout would ultimately be preferred by most fans and certainly would be more profitable in terms of ticket sales and PPV purchases.

Many have questioned the entertainment value of this fight. No one will question the pure technical boxing skills of Mayweather and no one will diminish the credentials of Marquez. However, their respective fighting styles on paper don’t add up to a classic brawl ala Ali – Frazier or Leonard – Hearns. Who knows? At this time next week all of those people could be proven wrong.

Many feel this bout is a mismatch claiming that the naturally bigger Mayweather, last seen in the ring as a welterweight, will be too big for Marquez, the reigning lightweight champion of the world. This writer doesn’t subscribe to this theory, but many have expressed their opinions in this regard.

So Mayweather vs. Marquez: Is this a fight we want?

It’s a fight I never thought about or imagined happening until word got out that it was happening. The world certainly wasn’t awaiting this fight happening despite the accomplishments of both fighters.

However since it is happening, I must admit that I’m looking forward to it.

Sure, I’d prefer Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. However, if each win their next fights respectively, it would only make a Money vs. Pacman showdown that much bigger.

Entertainment value? We all hope this isn’t the counterpunching exhibition some of the critics have claimed it could be. Given Marquez’s all time great action fights against Pacquaio and more recently Juan Diaz, I’ll hold out hope this could be an interesting scrap.

And with the size difference between the two fighters, I’ve already written another column about what happened the last time a lightweight moved up to welterweight for a major fight: Manny Pacquaio beatdown Oscar De La Hoya for eight rounds forcing him to retire.

So to summarize all my thoughts on this weekend’s megafight: I’m glad Floyd’s back, I hope the winner of Mayweather – Marquez meets the winner of Miguel Cotto vs. Pacquiao, and I think it’ll be a tad more competitive than most people anticipate.

Is it the fight I wanted? Not really.

Is it a fight I accept? Absolutely…and I’m looking forward to it.

More Assorted Ponderings:

• So Floyd Mayweather enjoys the limelight and often brags that he’s the best fighter of all time. But he’s got to be considered modest by Kanye West standards after he stormed the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards to protest country pop singer Taylor Swift beating out Beyonce for an award. It was one of the most pathetic public displays of someone seeking attention I’ve ever witnessed.

• Juan Manuel Marquez drinking urine was interesting to say the least. However, my favorite 24/7 moment in the history of the series is still Floyd Mayweather Sr. going through the drive thru at Taco Bell.

• Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. John Duddy? Bring it on! I love that match-up.

• I don’t think Vitali Klitschko vs. Cristobal Arreola lasts more than 3 rounds. But it sure will be fun while it lasts!

• I’ve used the word however and exclamation points way too much in this column. Aw well, deal with it.