By Cliff Rold (Photo by Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages)

The sooner fans realize it the better, unless they want to keep paying for fights that aren’t fights.

Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO) got a shot at Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 39 KO) probably in large part because he was seen by some as second only to Manny Pacquiao in pound for pound terms.  That comparison shopping could take place, weighing how Mayweather would look with Marquez, and how Pacquiao did look, was also a bonus.  What was learned by night’s end is something which gets forgotten too often in hyperbole: pound for pound is not a weight class.

Saturday night, the world was reminded that Welterweight is.

Floyd proved the difference twelve rounds to none on Saturday night.  Reigning World Lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO) is a great fighter.  In historical, pound for pound, terms he will go down as greater than men like Jose Luis Castillo, DeMarcus Corley, Zab Judah, Emanuel Augustus, and Ricky Hatton.  He might lag slightly behind Oscar De La Hoya but not by much.

Yet he was nowhere near as competitive with Mayweather as any of those men were.  Not all of those Mayweather fights were at Welterweight.  Castillo was an outstanding Lightweight who gave Mayweather two great Lightweight fights.  Corley remains the only man ever to stun Mayweather when both were at Jr. Welterweight.  Weight divisions matter and Marquez, who fought the bulk of his career at Featherweight, had no business at Welterweight.

Pound for pound #2 or not, Marquez would have been hard pressed to beat Welterweight #10. 

To be fair, the Mayweather found once upon a time at lower classes most likely beats Marquez in those domains as well.  Style wise, Marquez had no answers for Floyd just as he struggled to look good against the slick styles of Freddie Norwood and Derrick Gainer in years past.  But the scale did no favors. 

Regardless of where he was a decade ago, Mayweather is solidly a Welterweight now and has been for a while.  That he could not comfortably come farther down the scale than 146 lbs. is all anyone need know.  He maintains the speed and defense the world has come to expect and yet the questions remain what they were before his vacation/retirement. 

Will he test his skill against the best of the Welterweight division? 

Could that answer hinge on Manny Pacquiao proving whether or not he truly belongs with real Welterweights in November? 

Let’s go to the report card. 

Grades
Speed – Pre-Fight: Mayweather A+; Marquez B+/Post: A+; B
Power – Pre-Fight: Mayweather B; Marquez B/Post: Same
Defense – Pre-Fight: Mayweather A+; Marquez B+/Post: A+; B-
Intangibles – Pre-Fight: Mayweather A; Marquez A/Post: Same

There’s really not much to add about the fight itself.  Marquez gets credit for gamely marching forward and not quitting.  When his countryman Genaro Hernandez was similarly outclassed in 1998, he called it a night early.  Marquez soldiered on.  Marquez snuck in a left hook or right hand occasionally to keep the action honest.  Mayweather smiled at the shots.  Marquez had brought neither speed nor power up the scale.  It still bears noting Mayweather handed Marquez his first decisive loss.

As the fight wore on, Marquez’s defense got worse.  Forced to open up in search of a prayer, he couldn’t find a jab or a right hand he wouldn’t take.  Marquez did adjust to make sure the lead left did not drop him again, also an example of a fighter whose chin usually gets better with a good sweat. 

Despite the hype, figuring out who would win this fight was about as tough as assessing Mike Tyson-Peter McNeeley.  When Marquez stepped on the scale Friday with the slightest of loose skin on his sides it got even easier.  Mayweather came in fresh as a daisy at 146 lbs., damn the catchweight, and in doing so may have shown why catchweights should be viewed with skepticism.

Had Mayweather tried to squeeze into 144 lbs. rather than just coming in at his fittest weight within the Welterweight limit, there is a chance he might have had to dry out and come in at less than his best.  It is unlikely Marquez wins under those circumstances, but maybe he wins a round or two.  What would that prove?  It might have been cheap the way Mayweather went about the weight, and it’s worth wondering if he ever had any intention of hitting 144, but there never should have been a catch in the first place. 

Weight limits exist for a reason.  It’s what should be expected and anything less should be viewed with skepticism.  Marquez wanted to try a Welterweight and got one. 

Mayweather wanted a name opponent who couldn’t seriously threaten him.  He got what he wanted to.  Choosing Marquez as a first foe back after some time off was never a problem.  Pretending Marquez’s pound for pound regard meant a real fight at Welterweight was.

Looking Ahead

Now that the foregone conclusion has been reached, both Mayweather and Marquez can look to the future.  It is rare when a one-sided fight result leaves an intriguing road ahead for both combatants but it is the case this time.

For Marquez, a potential opponent emerged on the undercard of his Saturday defeat.  Michael Katsidis (26-2, 21 KO) won the WBO’s interim Lightweight belt.  Marquez, the lineal Lightweight king, is also the WBO beltholder.  Katsidis would give him the sort of aggressive foe that would make for a good fight and rehabilitate his image at the same time. 

There is also the chance for a rubber match.  World Jr. Welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KO) is likely out of reach if he beats WBO Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KO) in November.  If he does not, if even a catchweighted Welterweight is too much for him, then Pacquiao-Marquez III could be the biggest fight for both.  Marquez could also look to a rematch of his epic with Juan Diaz (35-2, 17 KO).

Marquez has options.

So does Mayweather.

At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, Mayweather stated more than once that WBA Welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO) already has a fight on tap and shouldn’t be worried about Mayweather.  It’s not quite the case.  Mosley might fight WBC titlist Andre Berto (25-0, 19 KO) but Mayweather could change those plans.  The two had a mildly amusing smack session in the ring after Mayweather-Marquez and has been a match discussed many times in the last decade.  Pacquiao-Cotto is not until November.  Mayweather-Mosley could happen in the winter of 2010 and there still be plenty of time for either man to face the Pacquiao-Cotto winner in the spring or summer.

Of course, the Pacquiao-Cotto winner is a huge factor.  Despite blowout wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, there is still some question about whether Pacquiao can beat a fresh, larger, skilled fighter.  Should he beat Cotto, even at a catchweight which begs comparisons to anyone but Henry Armstrong, he might answer some of those questions. 

Mayweather-Pacquiao is probably already the biggest fight which can be made.  It can still get bigger.  And while some will see Pacquiao’s struggles with Marquez as evidence that he could never beat Mayweather, it is worth remembering that Marquez was nip and tuck with Marco Antonio Barrera, a fighter Pacquiao might not have lost a round to in two fights if not for a blown early knockdown call in the first bout.  Styles making fights and so on…

It might or might not be as good a fight as Mayweather-Mosley in the ring, but its magnitude would overcome the objection.

How ironic would it be though if Cotto won?  When Floyd walked away from the game, it was Cotto who stood out as the man most thought could push Floyd.  With a defeat of Pacquiao, he would regain much that luster and become again that character in the Mayweather narrative.

That the narrative is in full swing again is what matters going forward. 

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com