By Ryan Maquiñana
Unified bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire told BoxingScene.com that he expects Manny Pacquiao to stop Juan Manuel Marquez in the middle rounds on November 12.
“I think that fight can end around six and eight [rounds] if Pacquiao can land his big shots,” Donaire told BoxingScene.com in an exclusive interview yesterday.
Donaire, one of the most cerebral fighters in boxing, attributed the prediction to the evolved discrepancy in size between the fighters.
“I know that Pacquiao has a lot of power, and you don’t really want to underestimate the capability of Marquez, but from his power and from this weight class, I think Marquez is a bit too small for 140 [or] 147 [pounds],” Donaire said.
While Pacquiao’s body has grown past 140 pounds, going 5-0 with two knockouts over the last three years in that department, Marquez didn’t fare as well in his lone appearance above 135 pounds, a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2009.
“[Marquez] was good and that probably his biggest weight would be 135, but being at 140 [or] 147 is just too small for a full-grown guy like Pacquiao, who’s now full-grown at 140 [or] 147,” Donaire added. “Like I said, Marquez always has an ace in his pocket, [and] you never know how a fight goes, but from my perspective, I think he’s just too small for that weight class.”
The rest of the interview with Donaire covers a variety of topics, from his upcoming fight against Omar Narvaez to a future road that could include Jorge Arce, Toshiaki Nishioka, and Yuriorkis Gamboa. Check out BoxingScene.com later this weekend to read it in its entirety.
Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. He’s a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at www.maqdown.com or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.
