The former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr has selected Juan Manuel Marquez as his comeback opponent. They are set to fight on July 18 at the MGM Grand. The event is promoted with the tagline “Number 1”, clearly a direct insult to the number one boxer in the world Manny Pacquiao.

Even if Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been inactive for the last 16 months, his skills will still be sharp. His slick defensive skills and refusal to engage toe-to-toe has kept minimal wear and tear on his body.

Juan Manuel Marquez has been winning bouts against top-tier opponents lately. He scored a knockout victory over legendary Joel Casamayor and won over the younger and taller Juan Diaz. He is officially the king of the lightweight division. He has desperately called out for a third fight with Pacquiao but the Pacman has been reluctant to fight him. It’s Marquez’s counter-punching style that has Pacquiao confused.

So what did Marquez do? He chose to fight the former pound-4-pound king in Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both of them are superior technical boxers.

Marquez has to climb two weight divisions to fight Mayweather. It will be held at a catch weight of 144 lbs. Expect Mayweather to have a significant advantage in speed and power over a bloated and maybe sluggish Marquez. If this fight were held at 140 lbs., Marquez would have a bigger chance of winning this fight. No disrespect to Marquez, he is one hell of a fighter but he is too small to challenge Mayweather.

It is kinda disappointing to see Mayweather Jr fight a significantly smaller opponent. He should put those remarkable boxing skills on display against a legitimate welterweight like Shane Mosley.

Marquez has been an underdog for the majority of his career but he has pulled huge upsets in the past. Many boxing experts believed he won the second match against current king Manny Pacquiao. I would not be suprised if Marquez somehow wins this match.

Come fight night, expect Mayweather to be rusty in the first couple of rounds before finding his rhythm.

Marquez has to push the action and take the fight to Mayweather. He needs to fight an inside game to be effective against the longer Mayweather. He should neutralize Mayweather’s jab.

Mayweather will have to establish a jab against the smaller Marquez. Keep throwing out the jab and keep Marquez off him. His reach and speed will be enough to throw Marquez off rhythm. He will land the cleaner and crisper punches.

This will be a competitive match but Mayweather will squek out a decision. Then, it is on to the fight of the decade: Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Here is a link to The Ring Magazine website showing the Mayweather-Marquez Press Conference:

To hype up Pacquiao-Mayweater, Floyd is beginning to take shots at Pacquiao