http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story...n-manuel-marquez-brandon-rios-cowboys-stadium Dunno if its old news but "tentatively scheduled" for July 14 at Cowboys Stadium. Loads of questions to be answered, including weight, titles etc. But who wins, should it happen? Rios is probably the most physically imposing/biggest guy Marquez has faced, don't forget Kats (similarish type of fighter) dropped him. JMM undoubtedly is the better boxer but would he have the pop to keep Rios off him?
With Marquez it's not the pop, it's consistent, accurate counter combinations. No matter how strong you are, he will get to you eventually. Total man love for JMM! Anyway, I think this is a very tough fight for the Mexican maestro. He's older, smaller and a little chinny (despite having insane powers of recovery). Rios is crude but aggressive and sets a great pace. While JMM will likely batter the utter **** out of Rios, he's not as mobile as he was and he will be forced to trade. Can Rios get the stoppage where others haven't been able to? I don't think so. The first five rounds will likely be brutal affairs, before Marquez lands more often and with better technique, grinding Rios down to a stoppage in the 11th.
I can see JMM on points, this would be a really good fight, another war. I love JMM, probably my favourite active fighter, the guy encompasses everything that is great about boxing - he is highly skilled, accurate, laser-guided counters and he loves to go to war. What's not to love!?
I actually see a Rios victory in this fight. Marquez will probably be schooling him through sections of the fight but Kats/Diaz gave him big problems at times and I think Rios has a greater combination of power/chin/heart/pressure than either those two. It seems unlikely that JMM can avoid going to war at times and I think Rios will catch up to him late-ish in the fight. Cannot decide on PTS or TKO just yet.
135 would favour JMM more, but I think he'd win regardless of whether it's at 140 or 135. Can Rios make 135 anymore?
I'm not sure how Rios would react when he's got someone that will stand their ground and hit him with lots of hard shots right on the button, personally. The size advantage would be negated by Marquez's larger experience and intelligence advantage..... Can't help but think that this step up in class is a bit sudden for Rios.... Diaz and Katsidis were both experienced fighters who'd been in with good opponents (inc each other) - Rios has faced a few but they're typically decent to fringe contenders that favour him stylistically. Katsidis brought everything he had and more, and was still dominated and stopped, never to be the same again. Diaz put on a real show, but was eventually undone too. Takes a special fighter to beat Marquez, Rios ain't, IMO. We saw in the Pac fight that whilst his footspeed has slowed, the overall level of footwork hasn't deteriorated, nor has the timing and accuracy of the punching. Rios will have a bit of success early but from about the 3rd onward will start to eat uppercuts and short right hands with alarming regularity and be stopped/pulled around the 10th.
I'd imagine it would be at 140. Both their best weights right now. Rios is a dead man at lightweight. Like Uncle Rico said though, this sounds too good to be true, lol. I'll wait before there's something substancial.
This is important, JMM is comfortable at 135 and Rios at this point is dead at the weight, if he can even make it any more.
If Marquez can survive the early assault he'll take Rios to pieces with counters and uppercuts as Brandon tries to make his way in. Considering JMM's age and prievious war's it's not an insubstantial 'If' nowadays. Rios is young and hungry with a lot of heart and probably the most physically imposing fighter JMM has fought. It's not clear cut for me. JMM by close decision in a thriller.