MAYWEATHER'S MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR AN UNTARNISHED STARDOM
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 21 Sep 2009
Las Vegas, NV:- Floyd Mayweather Jr was back at his usual elements after a scintillating victory over the mismatched Juan Manual Marquez at the MGM this last night.
During the fight, Mayweather was a delight to see as he danced away from trouble and delivered his wide array of arsenals against the Mexican idol. His speed was marvelous and his defense impenetrable.
The left hook that he threw at Marquez that caused the lone knockdown in the fight seemed to have come from nowhere. It was lightning fast. The veteran Marquez did not even see it coming.
PhilBoxing’s Dong Secuya described the whole fight aptly. Mayweather he said, schooled the veteran Marquez.
Mayweather’s victory and the way he achieved it on top of the ring was a picture of defensive excellence. He displayed how to totally dominate a rival and come out of the fight almost untouched.
To many, particularly the Mayweather nuthuggers it was what it was all supposed to be:- a victory that would bring back the glory of the past years when Mayweather was the undisputed pound4pound boxer in the world. Predictably, some even said that he is back to no.1
But alas, that was not meant to be.
The victory was tarnished by the fact that Mayweather, in my opinion, did not play the game fairly. He ignored the agreed upon catchweight of 144 lbs. He came to the weigh-in at 146 and God knows how much he weighed at fight night putting the size-disadvantaged Marquez further deeply in the rut.
Had Mayweather and his Team paid more attention to his weight or much more, cared about it and came on the weigh-in just right on target, his victory would have been clean.
Nothing could have been said and people would have easily dismissed the real size difference between a true lightweight (Marquez) and a legitimate welterweight (Mayweather) and zeroed in more of the brilliant performance of Mayweather.
Yes he won his “come-back” fight, but to many including this writer, the victory was tarnished by the weight issue.
As I mentioned in a previous article that drew the ire of some of his supporters, Mayweather possibly just did not care how heavy he was at the weigh-in. He simply must come in bigger than Marquez to assure that he can dominate the Mexican gladiator who from the beginning was already pretty disadvantaged.
There simply was no reason to come overweight. With the skills he showed, he could have easily defeated the out-classed Marquez even if Mayweather came in at 140.
But Mayweather had to win at all cost to preserve his marketability. That included ignoring contracts and common sense fairness.
Thus, his victory was tarnished.
Top photo: Floyd Mayweather's jab hit home to the overmatched Juan Manuel Marquez during Saturday nights fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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