Late stoppage for Marquez after a tough first few rounds seems to be the opinion around here and I cant see any reason to disagree.
The ****? Did Rios' people not see what happened to Baby Bull? I expect a similar outcome if I'm honest
I think there would be more 'ooh and aah' moments in this for Marquez than against Pacquaio. In other words Rios would be able to hit and hurt Marquez. His defensive reflexes are not the best and Rios is no joke and he would test Marquez' feet as well. I think it's a closer fight then people think.
I think a prime Marquez, or an even slightly past prime version, would have no trouble at all in this one. But despite the schooling he gave Pacquiao at an uncomfortable weight for himself, there have been signs in the fights before that a bit of wear and tear is creeping in. Saying that, his skill set has never dimished and though he gets hit a bit more these days, it should make this fight even more exciting. Personally, I'd like to see it at 140 as I feel this could be the best weight for the 2 of them. If it does happen, I'm going to favour Marquez on points.
The more I think about this the better it gets. Rios is good at pressure, and educated pressure at that, he's not as basic as Katsidis. When you take into account Rios' strength and size, as well as his resilience, there really are a lot of things Rios has in his favour.
I personally think at his best, Diaz was better. No denying though that Rios is an excellent pressure fighter
I do agree with Slip's point, in that it's Rios and his pressure, reckless style that could potentially win this fight for him. Obviously aside from being naturally aggressive there aren't many parallels that can be drawn between Manny and Bam Bam, but the more technically correct and less reckless a fighter becomes, the easier Marquez finds it to deal with - Mayweather aside of course. I think Diaz fought the right fight against him personally, he wasn't equipped physically or technically to box with Marquez and had to fight in an aggressive, high octane fashion. Unfortunately for him he completely showed out whenever he was cut, and was open to being hit with straight shots, and to the body. No doubt a few astute analysts among us bagged a few quid on Marquez by late stoppage, as opposed to the 1/2 win only.