Boxing Writer Distinio Lois sees Marquez as last man standing
[BoxingGlove Notes]
On Saturday, October 12, 2013, at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, 5 time world champ, Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez, and 2 time world champ, Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, will pitch their battlefield tents and clash in a survivor winner take all fistic war, for Bradley’s 147 lb. W.B.O. crown.
Survivors, you say? Well, let’s look at their most recent fight history.
It took Juan Marquez 4 grueling war-like fights to finally vanquish his perennial ring nemesis, Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao, by a knockout with a hard counter-punch right hand in the 6th round of their epic fourth fight.
The reality is as, we all saw that night, Pacquiao was pounding and hurting Marquez and giving everyone the feeling that is was a matter of time, and that if not in that same 6tt round, but certainly in the upcoming 7th, he was going to knock out Marquez. Suddenly, that counter- punch right hand attack helped Marquez win and finally gain fistic revenge over Manny Pacquiao.
That one big punch.
On the other side of this boxing survivor story we have Timothy Bradley who absorbed a beating from the same nemesis, Manny Pacquiao, and although he appeared to have lost the fight after being badly battered, he survived the 12 rounds, and was “awarded” the gift decision by the fight judges.
That decision erupted in an almost nationwide outcry and accusations of corrupted fight judges. As is the normal policy of Fight Commissions, the decision despite all of the protests was not reversed. Pacquiao was the obvious winner by all of the viewers and ring expert analyst that night. Negotiations were underway to get Bradley and Marquez to fight Pacquiao again, but after many problems the “survivors” agreed to fight each other.
How will Marquez and Bradley perform against each other? Let’s analyze.
Timothy Bradley, 30-0- 1 no contest, 12 knockouts, is a 30 year old tough undefeated 2 time world champ and current proud holder of the W.B.O. 147 pound title. He recently again “survived” a horrific pummeling for 12 rounds at the hands of a Russian “hands of stone” fighter, Ruslan Provodnikov. Almost from the first round bell, Bradley who fought back bravely was battered by Provodnokov. In the 12th and final round, Provodnikov scored the 2nd of 2 knockdowns as the final bell sounded.
Bradley “won” the decision and admitted a week later that he felt concussed and his voice started to slur from the Provodnikov fight. Now he says he felt fine in preparation for the Marquez fight with no after-effects.
Really?
Marquez said that even at age 40 he felt “like I was only 20 years old.” He added: “I have always taken care of myself, and I even took up Yoga. It’s a promise I have made to my wife Erica and my 3 kids since they want me to retire soon.”
The veteran Marquez with an enviable fight record, 62 fights, 55 wins, 6 losses, 1 draw, 40 knockouts, with 5 world crowns, double of Bradley’s record, is an accountant by trade who started to box at age 8 under the direction of his still current trainer, Boxing Hall of Famer, Ignacio Beristain. Amassing an amateur fight record of only 44-2, 32 knockouts, he left the accounting trade and concentrated on boxing because he found it easier. In his last press conference, Bradley told me that he had started boxing to get “out of the streets” and his father, Timothy, Sr. encouraged him to continue because it was good for him.
After an amateur boxing history of 140 amateur fights which earned many National Golden Gloves Titles, he then contacted trainer Joel Diaz, turned “pro”, and as his Dad said “the rest was boxing history”.
It is my contention after seeing them both fight Pacquiao, that Marquez will survive this war. He is the more technical counter-punching fighter who will wait his turn until Bradley makes a mistake. Bradley on the other hand will carelessly and perhaps with confident abandon rush in thinking that at age 40 Marquez cannot sustain the pressure.
After all, Bradley survived a total of 24 rounds of the Pacquiao and Provodnikov ring torture chamber.
I don’t see a knockout in this fight I do see Marquez winning by a close decision.
