Dougie’s FINAL Mayweather-Marquez mailbag

Sep

MAYWEATHER 146

I'm reading that Mayweather weighed in at 146 for the fight with Marquez.

Is there any sort of penalty for him weighing in over the reported 144 lb limit? — Gopal Rao

Rumor has it that Mayweather has to pay $250,000 for each pound over 144 pounds, so if my sources are correct “Money” has to cough up half a million for Mr. Marquez, who looked pretty good at 142 pounds (although he was obviously wearing lifts in his shoes in order to get an eye-to-eye staredown with Floyd).

I’m sure the good folks with the IRS are thinking “Hey, that’s OUR money!”

FLIPPIN' THE SCRIPT

Hey Dougie,
Has anyone fought Mayweather going backwards and counter punching him? — Stephen, Montreal

I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head. Judah tried to do that in the middle rounds of his 2006 fight with Mayweather, once Flolyd figured him out, but he didn’t do a very good job of it.

It’s hard to go backwards and counter-punch a guy who seldom steps forward.

DON'T COUNT OUT DINAMITA

What’s good Doug?
A lot of your fellow boxing writers and fans are picking Floyd Mayweather and I can see why. He is bigger, stronger, and faster than Marquez, but as you and I both know, it’s not always about that. There are intangibles and factors that go into the sweet science that can’t be measured until the fight is over. And the way I see it, the main factors in this fight will be the increased level of opposition Mayweather will be facing, rustiness, and their in-ring adjustments.

In the skills and intangibles department, JMM is a significant jump from what Floyd has gotten use to facing. ‘Owes Money’ a.k.a. ‘Needs Money’ will not be facing a faded boxer/puncher out of his element in an aggressive role that will suddenly stop using what had previously been working (i.e. De La Hoya and his jab). Nor an aggressive fighter that absolutely refuses to adjust and allowed himself to get hit more than a few times in a row with the same punch (Ricky Hatton and Mayweather’s straight right and jab in the 7th).

Sparring behind closed doors without cameras before a small crowd is one thing; performing under the bright lights in front of an audience of millions against the best and most versatile opponent you’ve ever faced is entirely different. A huge question that most tend to forget (or disregard) is the layoff and how it will undoubtedly be a factor. FM Jr. won’t be as sharp as usual and Dinamita isn’t the type to just sit back and let you figure it out. The layoff will have an effect on Mayweather Jr.'s usually excellent stamina down the stretch too. It depends on how much JMM will make him work and how many times he gets hit on whether it will be a significant factor or not.

The last key factor will be the in-ring adjustments. Juan Manuel will have an answer to whatever Floyd decides to throw at him and if he doesn’t, he’ll eventually find one. Mayweather will mix his attack up, but he better choose wisely, Marquez will adapt as soon as he sees a pattern or a lead punch more than a few times.

I see the fight playing out in 3 parts. Someone will take control early, the other in the middle rounds, and it will be either someone taking full control on the back end or back and forth exchanges. It will be competitive; I hope that means it’s a good fight too, because if it is, Marquez will win and that will put a smile on a lot of faces. It's long (I know), I hope it makes the mailbag cut and you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing. Marquez SD.

Take it easy Doug – Hector in Mass.

This was a long-ass email, Hector, but your analysis is pretty damn good. I refuse to count Marquez out and your email made me think that he’s got a shot Saturday night. We’ll see what happens, but if Marquez pulls it off, I’ll be sure to give you your props in Monday’s Mailbag.

MAYWEATHER BY TKO

Hey Doug,
It's been a while since I've felt compelled to email you. I wanted to send in my prediction for Saturday's fight, not to be right, but maybe my putting in my head's prediction will ruin Mayweather's chances. 🙂

Before I do, I want to say that I love Marquez. I think he is the best combination puncher of this generation and probably one of the best ever. He's a humble guy, super-tough and a superb technician. He's someone I never want to miss fight and my emotions are running high during his fights.

That being said, I'm forced to go with my head and pick Mayweather. I would love to see Marquez knock him out, but I fear it will not happen. I'm going with Mayweather by TKO in 7 or 8. Marquez has always done well against someone who comes to him. I think that was the reason he was able to give Pacquiao so much trouble (in addition to being brilliant and tough). He's a counter-puncher and shines with an opponent's aggression. Mayweather is not that kind of opponent. Mayweather will likely use his quickness and accuracy to potshot Marquez at a distance, busting him up and frustrating him. If Marquez were actually a welterweight, I still might not pick him, but would give him a good chance of catching Mayweather with a shot and hurting him. However, even if that were the case, Mayweather is very good at riding out a storm. He did it so well with Demarcus Corley that he seems to have erased it from history. Rarely does anyone mention how rocked he was against Corley.

I hope my prediction ruins Mayweather's chances and I hope that you can email me back to laugh at my foolish prediction.

Thanks for your always insightful articles and just to put it out there, when HOB was shutdown I didn't read internet boxing for 2 years. Best site ever. — Jeff

The version of HousofBoxing.com from late 1999 through 2000 was the G.O.A.T. of boxing websites. No doubt about it.

I remember how much Mayweather was rocked in that Corley fight and I don’t have to tell you that Marquez is better fighter than Chop Chop. If Money gets “the wobbles” during Saturday’s fight Marquez is the kind of sharp shooter who can reverse your prediction.

Don’t worry, if Mayweather loses I’ll be sure to give you everyone else who predicted that Marquez would get blown out exactly 142 pounds worth of s__t.

MARQUEZ ARTICLE

Good article on Juan Manuel Marquez beating the odds. I've followed your work for enough years to know that writing that story was very hard. You and I know Marquez doesn't have a chance in hell. Everybody does, and that is why the promotion has really been so watered down.

Like him or not and I know personally you really don't. His over the top trash talk and bravado is him and it is what makes him sell, his love him or hate him, but you have an opinion about him persona. Like Tyson. The stuff he usually says and does draws headlines, like when he said “I'm going to Atlantic City and step on Gatti,” “attach him to a swivel and beat him to death,” “he's a punching bag.” “known for taking punishment”. When they fought Castillo they said “if you throw a bottle in the ring you are going to hit him” because he had no defense. The stuff he did and said about DLH and Hatton. It was entertaining, sometimes funny, some times just stupid, but it gave us something to read.

But because nobody gives Marquez a shot to win, he can't say anything (Mayweather) and so they are not grabbing any real headlines. His promotions usually had stuff to write about, but this one is pretty boring by Mayweather standards. So I don't think this one will be a typical recent Mayweather seller, because he can't do “his” schtick that normally works for his promotions.

I still predict him stopping Marquez, mark me down my man. — JB

I will, JB. I’ll be happy to tell you that you were wrong if Marquez shocks the boxing world again.

For the record, I favor Mayweather by decision. It’s hard for me to predict a Marquez victory having never seen him fight above 135 pounds, but I also know that he’s a great fighter and the kind of man who thrives in adversity and that’s why I cannot totally dismiss his chances.

The column wasn’t hard at all for me to write. I wrote it from the heart. There haven’t been too many times that a boxing match left me in awe (the Vazquez-Marquez rubbermatch was one such time) but Marquez has done it a few times this decade. He did it in the first Pacquiao fight and he did it again in his lightweight bouts with Casamayor and Diaz.

Fighters that can elicit that kind of emotion from boxing writers are special. Floyd used to elicit that kind of response from me (the last time was his 130-pound title defense against Jesus Chavez in November of 2001).

Now, Mayweather is — as you correctly pointed out — a carefully orchestrated character of himself that is designed to create controversy and sell pay-per-view buys.

You are also right that the perception that Marquez has no shot and the civil vibe JMM brings to the promotion is messing up Mayweather’s usual self-promotion. But it’s HIS fault the fight is not moving tickets and might not do over 500,000 PPV buys. He’s the one who chose Marquez as an opponent and insisted in making it a welterweight fight.

He could have come back against Shane Mosley, or waited a day until after Hatton-Pacquiao so he could face the winner, but he took what he tought was going to be an “easy” fight. Well, whether it is or not, that’s the perception and fans don’t want to pay their hard-earned money to watch a freakin’ tuneup!

Mayweather is also the guy who opened his big mouth and said that he’s the reigning PPV king and would have to get 60 percent of the pot of a potential Pacquiao bout for that fight to happen. Now where is your boy going to be if Mayweather-Marquez does 450,000 PPV buys and Cotto-Pacquiao does 750,000? How is Mayweather going to tell Mosley that he doesn’t do enough PPV buys if he can’t carry a PPV promotion by himself (just like the SugarMan)?

Mayweather complains a lot about the media being negative towards him but he often digs his own graves with his mouth.

CHOICE OF FIGHTS ON SATURDAY

Doug,
Big fan, glad you found a new home at the ring.

I have to respond to the notion that boxing fans and ufc fans are totally different. With Floyd going head to head against the ufc, let me bore you with another story how ufc fans really CHOOSE ufc over boxing when they go head to head. Now sure, Floyd turns people off, and I for one, can't stand the guy (respect his skills, blah blah blah). But Marquez on the other hand, is one of my favorite fighters. I never miss one of his fights, but when I asked some people to come over this weekend to watch the fights, one of my friends, who is a huge boxing fan, said, “no thanks, not watching Floyd and the UFC is on”. He is a huge boxing fan who never misses a fight, but would rather watch the ufc. I have some friends that all we used to do is watch boxing at this house, and he told me he still likes it, but the ufc is better now. When I hear promoters say that ufc has an audience, and boxing has another, I totally disagree. Boxing may have lost these fans. And if that is true, boxing fans are seriously outnumbered. Now, I know that Floyd doesn't sell pay per views without a de la hoya or hatton, but if he loses the pay per view battle this weekend to the weakest ufc pay per view of the year (it really is, or at least, is so far), that could be an interesting storyline. I'd like to hear what you think about that.

By the way, me personally, I'll take a good boxing match over a good mma match. Just want to hear your opinion. — Nate, Austin, Tx

I agree that there is crossover with boxing and UFC fans and when the two go head to head on the same evening those crossover fans are going to go with the better buy or the more entertaining show.

Mayweather without De La Hoya or Hatton does not usually equal “good buy” or “entertaining show”, which is why I wish he would shut the f__k up about the UFC and keep Dana White’s name out of his big mouth.

The thing about Floyd’s bad boy image is that he’s not like the young Muhammad Ali or Hector Camacho where fans who hate him are willing to pay to see him lose. Boxing fans who hate Mayweather don’t want to give him their hard-earned dough. I’ve known this for years. Now you know this to be true.

MAYWEATHER VS. MEDIA

To:
[email protected]
I know this is late, but reading your MASSIVE MAILBAG of Mayweather v Marquez, a reader pointed out that Floyd called out Shane, and you said
you wanted a little proof. Well, here it is…

Floyd's “call out”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d45qL6nC_34

And Shane's response

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uz9qVhLIY0

Also, I don't think Floyd gets a fair shake in the media. When he was
fighting Judah the media was on his ass asking why isnt he fighting
Ricky Hatton, or Baldomir, as if Floyd was ducking them, but Hatton got
his what was coming to him in due time. Not that you can speak for other
people, but here is that interview as well…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kXwJo7DWPA

Regardless if you post this, I'd like to get your opinion on it. Please
don't label me a nut-hugger. — Jabre, Galveston, TX

Jabre, I don’t think you’re a nut-hugger but I don’t think you’re the sharpest tool in the shed.

The nut-huger who posted that YouTube video of Mayweather’s post-fight interview with HBO’s Larry Merchant tried to hide this fact, but that first link you gave me is after Mayweather’s paid sparring session with Henry Bruseles. That fight took place in January of 2005 in front of all of 12 people and it did dismal ratings on HBO.

Do you know where Shane Mosley’s career was at the start of 2005? He had been campaigning at junior middleweight and he was coming off back-to-back losses to Winky Wright (both in 2004). Mayweather had only fought once in 2004, his 12-round decision over DeMarcus Corley, who buzzed him early.

Now you tell me, WHO THE F__K GAVE A RAT’S ASS ABOUT A MOSLEY-MAYWEATHER MATCHUP IN 2005?

I mean give me a f___king break, people! Mayweather hadn’t even fought Gatti in his first PPV headliner.

I want all of you to stop trying to convince me that Mayweather “called out” the best fighters in the divisions he occupied in the last four or five years. I’m on this beat. You aren’t. I know what goes down and what happens. And to be truthful I don’t even give a f__k about what Floyd did or didn’t do in 2005 and 2006 anymore. I’ve said and written everything I have to say about those years. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of debating folks who are either nut-huggers or new to the sport and woefully uninformed about recent history.

All I care about is the present and the future. I want to see what Mayweather does Saturday night with a smaller, slower, older man. And if he does what he’s SUPPOSED TO DO then I want him to fight a worthy opponent — that’s the winner of Cotto-Pacquiao or Mosley. And I don’t want to hear any s__t from guys who post bulls__t videos on You Tube (I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about the goober who posted the video to that first link you gave me).

Thanks for writing, and I’m sorry to go off like that but this Mayweather s__t gets really old sometimes.

Dougie can be reached at [email protected]