Casamayor is an underrated win for Juan Manuel Marquez

By the way... it's quite a telling sign that a junior lightweight, coming off a loss, moving up to lightweight to face the lineal champion was the favorite in this fight. I'm just saying... if Casamayor was still as good as some of you are making him out to be, you would think he would be the favorite against a guy who just lost his last fight at 130 and was moving up in weight to face him.

I agree with the TS, Casamayor was a dangerous guy when Marquez fought him, past his best but still very dangerous. Casamayor had that very controversial win against Santa Cruz but that can be attributed to ring rust, his win over Katsidis cannot be overlooked, Katsidis was and still is a top 10-ish 135 pounder, Marquez being the first one to knock Casamayor out in his first fight at 135 is very impressive. Eh, I would only put Katsidis in the top 10, because lightweight has really cleared out. I would still rank someone like Zahir Raheem over Michael Katsidis. I mean, really, Jesus Chavez was doing well against Katsidis, and he is pretty old, not to mention damaged by the memory of his fight against Johnson (which I definitely don't blame him for... that is a pretty ****ed up thing to have to deal with). The first fight part is the kicker on this though... that win in his first fight at the weight is really impressive. I do find it a tad alarming that Katsidis was doing as well as Marquez was against Casamayor up until the time of the stoppages in both fights (on the scorecards that is). Way past his prime? Doubt that.. He showed power against Katsidis. He showed a lot, lot more against Marquez. JMM just had more. I agree that he wasn't in his prime. But he definitely wasn't way over the hill. Random but related: Nate Campbell is a huge but underrated win for Casamayor. I think people forget just how sick Casa used to be.. The power part is not what concerns me... the fact that a slickster like Casamayor is having to call on his power to win his fights at this point is a clear indicator that he is past it. The defensive lapses are the reason why I think Casamayor is past it... there is no way that a wild idiot with no technical skills like Katsidis should have been hitting a Cuban amateur legend like Casamayor at will. The Campbell win is probably Casamayor's best outside of Corrales I and III... I totally agree. Think of how tight his resume would be had he gotten the decisions against Corrales II, Castillo and Freitas... WOW. By the way, the Diamond fight is the first signs that he was on his way out... and it's been a while since Diamond kicked his ass and got a bad decision draw for his trouble.

He got shut out against an ordinary fighter in Santa Cruz, and went life and death with Arturo Gatti 2.0 (Katsidis). He showed up looking better against Marquez, but... seriously? Watch him fight Diego Corrales and Acelino Freitas, and then watch his fights against Santa Cruz, Katsidis and Marquez. He was obviously way past his prime. agreed. even before the katsidis fight Cassa was analyzed by these forums as a fast prime fighter. Still a very good win though for Marquez as Cassa is naturally bigger than him and has a very good resume. *Just rewatched the lincona fight and i had to say Juan Manuel Marquez is a ****in beast. that guy outweighs him by 20lbs!! and he totally schools him.

I think people forget that Casamayor may not have deserved taht win at all, and Campbell had only been boxing for about 5 years... he actually might have deserved the win over Castillo though, quite a close fight I thought he won the Campbell fight, lost the Castillo fight and won against Acelino Freitas.

Way past his prime? Doubt that.. He showed power against Katsidis. He showed a lot, lot more against Marquez. JMM just had more. I agree that he wasn't in his prime. But he definitely wasn't way over the hill. Random but related: Nate Campbell is a huge but underrated win for Casamayor. I think people forget just how sick Casa used to be.. I think people forget that Casamayor may not have deserved taht win at all, and Campbell had only been boxing for about 5 years... he actually might have deserved the win over Castillo though, quite a close fight

Casamayor vs David Diaz! Juan Diaz vs Ricky Hatton! Casa is a better fighter than Diaz, and Juan Diaz is a better fighter than hatton.

He got shut out against an ordinary fighter in Santa Cruz, and went life and death with Arturo Gatti 2.0 (Katsidis). He showed up looking better against Marquez, but... seriously? Watch him fight Diego Corrales and Acelino Freitas, and then watch his fights against Santa Cruz, Katsidis and Marquez. He was obviously way past his prime. Way past his prime? Doubt that.. He showed power against Katsidis. He showed a lot, lot more against Marquez. JMM just had more. I agree that he wasn't in his prime. But he definitely wasn't way over the hill. Random but related: Nate Campbell is a huge but underrated win for Casamayor. I think people forget just how sick Casa used to be..

I agree with the TS, Casamayor was a dangerous guy when Marquez fought him, past his best but still very dangerous. Casamayor had that very controversial win against Santa Cruz but that can be attributed to ring rust, his win over Katsidis cannot be overlooked, Katsidis was and still is a top 10-ish 135 pounder, Marquez being the first one to knock Casamayor out in his first fight at 135 is very impressive.

There is quite of handful of people who trash this win for Marquez because of Casamayor's boxing age and the pityful performance he put up against Santacruz. I was one of those calling for Casa's head after the horrible decision he was given against Santacruz. Casa seemed unprepared and out of place in the ring. Then came the Katsidis fight. Yes, Casa had a VERY hard time with Katsidis and showed a lot of his age in the ring. But remember, Casa mayor knocked Katsidis, who had NEVER knockdowned (from what i can remember), THREE times with the 3rd leading to the TKO which Kat also had never experienced. Katsidis is a bulldog of a fighter who takes punishment coming forward. I think any fighter has a tough time with Kat when he fights like this (and not like he did against Diaz). But nonetheless, after a KD Casa suffered himself, he took Katsidis out. That, to me, was enough to redeem himself for the robbery that occured against Santacruz. Now, one thing we have to remember is the TYPE of fighter Casamayor is. He is a cagey, tricky, experienced, BOXER who uses the ring and latteral movement with every trick in the book. He was not taylor made for Marquez the way Diaz was for Pacquiao or Baldomir was for Floyd. Casamayor is a fighter that has just as much experience as Marquez who is a great boxer and counter puncher as well. Stylistically, it was a hard fight for Marquez Coupled with the fact that Marquez was moving up a division to challenge Casamayor who has a great chin and never been KO'd. So Marquez had to deal with the experience of a cagey veteran who can box as well as the extra weight he had to put on to fight him in a division he had never fougth in before. And he got KO :) To me, thats very impressive and definitely a career win. I agree with you. Great post. Casa was demonized for the controversial decision, but he definitely rebounded with what I considered the Fight of the Year against Katsidis. He was a huge, huge threat, even when he faced Marquez.

Casamayor vs David Diaz! Juan Diaz vs Ricky Hatton!

He got shut out against an ordinary fighter in Santa Cruz, and went life and death with Arturo Gatti 2.0 (Katsidis). He showed up looking better against Marquez, but... seriously? Watch him fight Diego Corrales and Acelino Freitas, and then watch his fights against Santa Cruz, Katsidis and Marquez. He was obviously way past his prime.

eh. Casamayor got a very clear gift against Santa Cruz and was behind on points against someone like Katsidis...who is basically a lesser Gatti, at his best. add in the fact that Marquez wasnt exactly owning Casamayor up until the knockout, and you can hardly call it a huge win for him. I mean, Santa Cruz won more rounds against Casamayor than Marquez did, even if he didnt knock him out. the Juan Diaz win is far more impressive. Im not saying we shouldnt give Marquez credit for being the first one to knock out Casamayor, but the Casamayor win in itself really shouldnt be exagerrated.

I bet Casa's grimey spolier style coupled with his little tricks would have given Pacquiao a lot of trouble too.

It was an excellent win no doubt. Casamayor is an excellent technician past his best or not. That fight was also fought in the centre of ring which was even more to Casamayor's advantage, and that probably explains his success in the fight untill Marquez got to him.

thats what hunger does to a fighter man... the guy was pretty hungry after toiling in the shadows of barrera, morales & pacquiao... Agreed. In a weird way, I think toiling in Erik and Marco's shadow for so long made him a better fighter. And that, coupled with his already amazing skillset and legendary set of balls, basically made him what he is today. I'm really glad to see him getting so much love and respect these days. I always like it when the guys who've been in the shadows for so long end up shining on the big stage. It's almost like poetic justice.

Good shit, son. As usual. I really hope 'Casa gets his back problems straightened out, and wins another belt at 135 again before retiring. Yup. He was in what most people would refer to as a "no win" situation. Well, at least with retarded NSB logic anyway. But it worked out alright for him in the end. A lot of people recognize the validity of the Casamayor win, and the win against Diaz silenced any remaining critics he may have had. He completely cleaned up 135, singlehandedly, with 2 fights, and 2 spectactular knockouts. It doesn't get much better than that. Not bad for a natural Super Featherweight in the twilight of his career. :fing02: thats what hunger does to a fighter man... the guy was pretty hungry after toiling in the shadows of barrera, morales & pacquiao...

i agree... the casa win was somehow underrated for JMM... it was a chess match throughout until the cuban made a mistake of getting impatient with him IMO...

I was afraid that fight would suck at the time, but it was good shit from both guys. Despite his age, Casa brought the heat against Kat and JMM and showed he's still game. JMM stepped up and KO'd the LW champ in his first fight at 135. That was a good fight and a gr8 win for JMM. Good shit, son. As usual. I really hope 'Casa gets his back problems straightened out, and wins another belt at 135 again before retiring. Now think about this, lets say Santa Cruz would have gotten the decision against Casamayor. Then he would have been the lineal Light Weight champion. Marquez would had gun for him and most likely schooled him. At that point, he most likely would have "taken an easy fight against a paper champion". It would be like a lose/lose situation for Marquez because of some of the opinions on this site. Yup. He was in what most people would refer to as a "no win" situation. Well, at least with retarded NSB logic anyway. But it worked out alright for him in the end. A lot of people recognize the validity of the Casamayor win, and the win against Diaz silenced any remaining critics he may have had. He completely cleaned up 135, singlehandedly, with 2 fights, and 2 spectactular knockouts. It doesn't get much better than that. Not bad for a natural Super Featherweight in the twilight of his career. :fing02:

Yeah, Casamayor deserves alot of credit. I remember reading an article, it was sad they congratulated him by giving him a PIG in Cuba :( By the way, did you have him beating JLC? Casamayor is one of my all time favorites, actually. Highly, highly underrated around here. And yeah, I had Casamayor ahead of Castillo by a point or two, if I remember correctly. But as someone just said, Castillo whipped ass in the 12th and closed strong. Wouldn't call it a robbery, it was very close and I would've loved a rematch.

I was afraid that fight would suck at the time, but it was good shit from both guys. Despite his age, Casa brought the heat against Kat and JMM and showed he's still game. JMM stepped up and KO'd the LW champ in his first fight at 135. That was a good fight and a gr8 win for JMM.