Two of my very favorite fighters squaring off in the ring in what must certainly be an early candidate for fight of the year. Both fighters put up impressive volleys against each other, but I have to agree with Power Puncher here. Defense is neither fighter's strong suit. Marquez shows sound evasive tactics now and again when he bobs and weaves away from punches, but he carries his right hand in a way that will always make him susceptible to the left. I lost some money betting on a distance fight with Juan Manuel winning by decision, but I'm not the least bit unhappy. What a fight! What a devastating knockout! I hope Diaz can trudge on even after almost back-to-back losses. He is one of the most exciting fighters out there today and I believe he can achieve greatness if he can somehow pick up the pieces.
His defense was better against Barrera and in the Pac rematch than it was tonight against Juan and against a mummified Joel Casamayor for mine.
The best fight I've seen in many years. I don't follow the sport enough anymore to be able to say who's the best p4p, but I believe those who say that Marquez is a good candidate.
Definitely. I was shocked myself when the fight began. Marquez was taking too many shots than usual and I already thought he would lose the fight by decision coming into the third round. He struggled his way back into the fight to win by knock out but it cost him everything he got that night. At this rate, I won't give him much of a chance against Manny for their inevitable third encounter but we will have to wait and see how Pacman does against the Hitman in a potential FOTY candidate fight .
I'm not sure his defense was much different, its the style of a fast combination puncher throwing compact shots on the inside/mid range. Marquez is good at defending from jabs/straights at long range and slower paced fights, he just hasn't got a defense against a left hook on the inside
Thought he got hit by plenty of jabs and straights against Juan. I was surprised how often Juan's jab got home. Had Juan actually made that the foundation of his arsenal he probably would have won the fight because it was landing flush pretty much whenever he decided to throw it, which in the end, wasn't enough times, because he deluded himself into thinking he was Meldrick Taylor with the all the flurrying he did in its stead, which on the whole wasn't that effective.
Which Juan I must admit to getting confused by the commentators at times on this 1. I thought JMM was landing sneakier effective counters early to mid in a 50-50 back and forth fight, but they saw Diaz winning everything pretty much. It made me question 'are we seeing the same fight, am I wrong'. Diaz's speed of hand and closing the gap, and his intensity was something else that impressed me. Allot on here are talking as if he was talentless B Class aren't really appreciating what he did in that ring and ignore his quality wins. JMM did well to fight at that pace and turn it on late but hes lucky Diaz didn't have A level power. I think Hatton stops JMM at 140, same style of fight but bigger stronger and harder hitting
I just rewatched it and you're right, Diaz was throwing lots of punches without much landing. The commentators were constantly going on about Diaz's work, but JMM was landing the far better punches.
Agree. Considering the type of fight it was, Marquez was always going to get caught with some shots, as would any other world class fighter for that matter. However, he never took so many that his heart stood out over everything else in his performance. Apart from getting caught in the 2nd and being wobbled, his defense was pretty good. He wasn't taking clean punches on a regular basis throughout the fight. Pretty much decent defense taking into account he's not Pep or Locche.
What a great fight. Marquez was impressive - his skill level is a sight to behold. I thought he won the last Pacquiao fight absent the knock down.
I think Diaz hurt Marquez a few times early, JMM just didn't have any defense against the left hook until he started moving more
The only time I visibly seen Marquez hurt was when he was rocked and wobbled during the second round.