Tweet
If you consider May, Pac and Marquez to the be the top 3 welters of this generation (not necessarily in that order), then last night's fight is the last fight that will have significance. Each fighter can only go down from here as far as fights with true meaning is concerned.
Pac last night, was shown to be a fighter just a step down, from his peak performance. He'll still smash the Berto's and even the Bradley's out there but it's hard to see how he can improve from here as his main attribute is his athleticism. He can take on Mayweather, but regardless of the result, both he and Mayweather will be able to claim that they are no longer at their peak, which to me, is true. The true value of this fight is past. The ship has sailed. He can rematch Marquez yet again, but each fight since their first has compounded the fact that Marquez is the superior boxer despite all of the disadvantages (age, coming up in weight). It's hard to see a fourth fight ending any differently, and even if Pac won it legitimately, Marquez would be even older than he is now. The significance of their rivalry has past.
Mayweather can fight Pac, but what does it prove? Both are diminished from that short period of time that they were both in the same division and both clearly still at their peak. Beating Pac at this point does not raise his p4p status. The only meaningful fight to compound his p4p claim is upwards at 154+.
For Marquez, this is the best time to retire. He will never get fair terms in a rematch with Mayweather, as Mayweather will not (and should not) reduce his body weight to a fair level. He'll always have the money to pay whatever weight penalties are contracted, and therefore will always have the critical advantage. The rematch with Pac is also pointless as last night fight hammers the point that despite age, despite coming up in weight, Marquez is the better fighter. He'll NEVER KO Pac, but he'll never get a fair decision either. There's no point in a rematch for him (other than making bank).
At this point, as this top era welterweights pass, Marquez when you consider the conditions of his fight with Mayweather, and his performance last night versus Pacquiao, is the P4P #1.
Pac last night, was shown to be a fighter just a step down, from his peak performance. He'll still smash the Berto's and even the Bradley's out there but it's hard to see how he can improve from here as his main attribute is his athleticism. He can take on Mayweather, but regardless of the result, both he and Mayweather will be able to claim that they are no longer at their peak, which to me, is true. The true value of this fight is past. The ship has sailed. He can rematch Marquez yet again, but each fight since their first has compounded the fact that Marquez is the superior boxer despite all of the disadvantages (age, coming up in weight). It's hard to see a fourth fight ending any differently, and even if Pac won it legitimately, Marquez would be even older than he is now. The significance of their rivalry has past.
Mayweather can fight Pac, but what does it prove? Both are diminished from that short period of time that they were both in the same division and both clearly still at their peak. Beating Pac at this point does not raise his p4p status. The only meaningful fight to compound his p4p claim is upwards at 154+.
For Marquez, this is the best time to retire. He will never get fair terms in a rematch with Mayweather, as Mayweather will not (and should not) reduce his body weight to a fair level. He'll always have the money to pay whatever weight penalties are contracted, and therefore will always have the critical advantage. The rematch with Pac is also pointless as last night fight hammers the point that despite age, despite coming up in weight, Marquez is the better fighter. He'll NEVER KO Pac, but he'll never get a fair decision either. There's no point in a rematch for him (other than making bank).
At this point, as this top era welterweights pass, Marquez when you consider the conditions of his fight with Mayweather, and his performance last night versus Pacquiao, is the P4P #1.
Comment