By Ted Sares – In a virtuoso performance that blended superior size with speed and skill, Floyd Mayweather Junior (now 40-0) had his way with Juan Manuel Marquez over 12 rounds. As for any signs of ring rust, there were none. Indeed. Mayweather’s reflexes were never sharper.
A crunching knockdown in the second round compliments of a well leveraged left hook signaled what was to come and took the Mexican crowd totally out of the fight. From that point on, it was simply Mayweather throwing pin point rights and lefts with nice jabs in between. For his part, Marquez was tentative, unable to adapt, and virtually helpless against the larger, faster, and more skilled “Money.” He was never able to initiate the action because Mayweather controlled the action from the out set and put on an incredible display of ring generalship..
In between rounds three and four, Marquez had the look of a fighter who knew how things were going to end. He also looked tired.
In round six, Mayweather used his right leads to punish Marquez almost at will, yet he did not take unnecessary risks in going for the kill, though it appeared he could have achieved that end.
However, as much as the HBO trio of announcers tried to hype the fight, it was too one-sided to be termed compelling. What it did showcase was a great fighter who possesses a solid offense and a solid defense and has no flaws that I could detect.
I had it 120-108 as I scored round eight even. Otherwise, it was a shutout.
Now the intriguing question is who does Floyd fight next (assuming he doesn’t take another temporary retirement)? My thinking is that Shane Mosley (who looked ready to rumble during the post-fight interview) deserves a shot, but then, the winner of Cotto-Pacquiao would give new meaning to Floyd’s new nickname.