By James Slater – 35-year-old Rafael Marquez so badly wanted to join his older brother, 37-year-old Juan Manuel, as a three-weight world champion. However, as we know, despite a great effort, Rafael was a beaten man after eight-rounds of his war with Puerto Rico’s Juan Manuel Lopez this past Saturday.
This leaves lightweight king Juan Manuel as the sole member of the battling Marquez family with a world title. The question is, will the elder sibling lose his belts in his next fight, set for the 27th of this month? That really would be a bad result for the proud Mexican duo, but tough Australian warrior Michael Katsidis certainly plans to rip the world lightweight crown from Marquez at the end of the month..
Promising to be, if not quite as thrilling a high quality affair as Saturday’s featherweight rumble, then not too far behind, Marquez-Katsidis is eagerly awaited.
Perhaps having more left in the tank than his younger brother, Juan Manuel is coming off a dominant points win over Juan Diaz, back in July. Not having been through the type of hell his brother went through three times against Israel Vazquez, it’s no real surprise the elder brother has more left despite being more advanced in years. This lack of severe wear and tear may well be a factor in Nov. 27th’s fight.
Katsidis, though the younger man by seven years, and despite coming off an impressive stoppage win of the previously unbeaten Kevin Mitchell, is looked at by some as a fighter with a lot of miles on the clock. At one point, some observers even went as far as to suggest “The Great” was close to being a shot fighter. He wasn’t, and he isn’t, but after wars with the likes of Graham Earl, Czar Amonsot and, most damagingly, Joel Casamayor, does Katsidis have enough left to be able to beat the great Marquez?
Both lightweights can go to war when needed (and Katsidis, one of the sport’s most exciting practitioners, seems to WANT to go to war in every fight!), but Marquez has skills that allow him to box in a cool and classy manner and win by that route also. This greater ability to adapt could be another important factor in Nov. 27th’s fight.
Cuts and other facial injuries could also be a big factor, with both men suffering from loss of blood in recent outings. Marquez has never been stopped, while Katsidis has failed to see the end of a fight just one time. As such, unless we are treated to a shockingly quick ending, we should be in store for a long and hard battle at the end of the month. But who will win?
Unless his age suddenly becomes an insurmountable obstacle to overcome, Marquez, the better, smarter boxer, as well as being of equal power and possessing a better chin, will win – either on points or maybe by late stoppage.
The world lightweight title will remain in the Marquez house, even if the WBO featherweight title wasn’t added this past Saturday. And who knows, maybe Juan Manuel will go on to extract revenge over “Juanma,” the man who beat his brother. Lopez apparently is interested in a fight with the 37-year-old!