Does Rafa have a chance?

[Dick Buffman]

is Nacho is officially out of Rafa's corner/life?

I think so, he seems to be rolling with Zaragoza now.

[savorduhflavor]

Rafa can put Lopez to sleep.

Lopez has the same problem Cotto has...he can get lured into brawls. Say what you will about Marquez, but he's still a very sharp, hard puncher and Lopez has a propensity to get hit.

I think very differently from most of you.

I can see Marquez stopping Lopez early. If it gets into the later rounds, Marquez's age will show and Lopez will overwhelm him.

[rizkybizness]

I think so, he seems to be rolling with Zaragoza now.

if i recall correctly, the showtime team mentioned during his last outing against izzy, that nacho was neglecting him or something to that effect

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

I wonder if you've ever even seen Marquez fight the way you describe him in the op.

He's got 35 k.o's in 39 fights. I'd say his punching power is just fine. As for his speed, again, I don't know what fights you've seen because he puts together some of fastest and sweetest looking combo's I've ever seen.

As long as he's not shot to ****, he should k.o Lopez despite being older and naturally smaller.

I have seen most if not all his fights but KOing people at 122 and under is a bit different than KOing a very big 126lber.

Combo's and speed are two different things, he's a great technical fighter but he also get's hit a lot as well and Lopez is so big at that weight class.

I would love nothing more than to see the old lion come up big once again but I have a feeling we are in for a big let down on a highly publicized fight.

[Dick Buffman]

if i recall correctly, the showtime team mentioned during his last outing against izzy, that nacho was neglecting him or something to that effect

I don't know what happened tbh, but I remember reading a story on here a while back where Nacho said that he didn't think Rafa cared about boxing anymore, and that he didn't think he trained as much as he should etc.

Like, Rafa thought he was too badass to train like he used to anymore or something to that effect.

I wish I knew what happened though.

[Dick Buffman]

I have seen most if not all his fights but KOing people at 122 and under is a bit different than KOing a very big 126lber.

Combo's and speed are two different things, he's a great technical fighter but he also get's hit a lot as well and Lopez is so big at that weight class.

I would love nothing more than to see the old lion come up big once again but I have a feeling we are in for a big let down on a highly publicized fight.

He just seems like he has natural power despite the weight class. Maybe it won't be what it was at 118, but he throws with such perfect technique that he always gets serious torque on all his punches.

If he wins, I'll probably get banned for excessive happiness and gloating.

[rizkybizness]

I don't know what happened tbh, but I remember reading a story on here a while back where Nacho said that he didn't think Rafa cared about boxing anymore, and that he didn't think he trained as much as he should etc.

Like, Rafa thought he was too badass to train like he used to anymore or something to that effect.

I wish I knew what happened though.

JMM and Rafa are probably one of the greatest siblings to have parallel boxing careers but it must suck being #2

i'd like to see Rafa back with Nacho for the JuanMa fight

[lefthook2daliva]

Seems to be the way of the game these days. Young fighters seek legitimacy and fighting other young fighters is often not credited enough, as these days the words "bum" and "tomato can" is thrown around too often. In a sense, they are forced to seek out past greats or names on the slide to add credence to their own name, otherwise people will always ask, "who have they fought?"

Seems to me that as fans we are partly to blame, since we expect our young up-and-comers to challenge themselves, while at the same time not giving them their due for fighting the ranks.

Well said.

[JOZ]

Marquez will take Lopez apart, I don't believe that Marquez is done just yet. I will even go further i think Marquez will KO Lopez late.

[extracurRICular]

I know people are hyping this fight up but for me, I think it's going to be an early KO.

First off, I think Rafa is old and done, he's 35 years old and been in way too many wars.

Second, he has to come up in weight to fight the bigger, faster JuanMa.

I think this fight would have been much better 2 years ago at 122lbs or 126lbs but I just think now it's way too late.

Izzy hurt and knocked Rafa down and Izzy is nowhere the puncher or has the size JuanMa does.

I just don't understand why boxing continues to feed us these bull**** hyped up fights when this is nothing but a tune up for JuanMa so we can see him and Gamboa go at it finally.

The only chance Rafa has is surviving the first 3 rounds. I don't even know if he has the power at 126 to threaten JuanMa even with JuanMa's suspect chin.

There is a chance....as small as it maybe...we have all seen JuanMa get tagged.....Bernabe tagged his ass good....he dropped his ass flush....some one with more ring experience might have been able to do something with that....would I bet the house on Rafa winning???....not really but JuanMa can be tagged hard and knocked down....maybe Rafa can capitalize....