The Biggest Fight of 2009

Floyd Mayweather (39-0) vs Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1) pits together 2 of the top 3 fighters in the sport of boxing. For his part, Mayweather has been able to outbox every one of his previous opponents, including Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Diego Corrales, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Mayweather relies on superior speed and defense, applying a consistent game plan of occasional straight shots while constantly protecting himself. Mayweather was last seen picking apart Ricky Hatton over 10 rounds in December of 2007. At 32 years of age, he can still be referred to as being "in his prime", particularly because he has taken so few damaging punches in his career. To my knowledge, he has never even been knocked down (although replay footage showed that his glove touched the canvas when he got clocked by Zab Judah).

For his part, Juan Manuel Marquez has boxed many of the top fighters of the past 4 or 5 years. He outboxed Marco Antonio Barrera and outslugged Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz. He lost a close decision to Chris John in 2006. Marquez also has a draw and a split decision loss in 2 fights with Pacquiao. He's proved himself to be on the absolute top level, but is he strong enough to outmuscle Floyd? It would seem necessary for Marquez to back Floyd up and to damage him to the body and control the pace of the fight if he is to win. Marquez last fought at 135 lbs, so the contracted weight of 144 lbs for this fight will surely be a challenge.

If Mayweather is rusty and missing punches, we could have an interesting fight. Marquez may get brave and test Mayweather's chin with his technically accurate shots. The best case scenario might actually be Marquez controlling the early part of the fight, this might force Floyd to throw with a vengeance and bring out the best of his skills. Even in this type of battle, I feel that Floyd is too fast and too strong, and would likely win by TKO around the 9th round. If the fight is more tactical and cautious, I think we'll see Floyd's heavier punches and better defense carrying him to a unanimous decision win. So my prediction: A win for Andrew's Sweet Chin Music and a loss for Joel M's Hurricane Candlebox.