Juan Manuel Marquez proved once and for all that he belonged among the ‘pound-for-pound’ elite after an exciting and thoroughly deserved unanimous 12-round points win over Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas last month.
They say good things come to those who wait and Marquez has had to wait longer than most to be recognised as one of the finest fighters in the sport.
Shamelessly avoided by the leading featherweights of the late 1990s (including Barrera and Prince Naseem Hamed), Marquez seemingly proved his worth by holding Filipino firebrand Manny Pacquiao to a draw in 2004 (despite being dropped heavily three times in the opening stanza).
However his decision to travel to Indonesia and box Chris John for little more than $35,000 (he lost contentiously on points) looked as though it may haunt him forever.
Until he did a job on Barrera at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.
It was a fantastic scrap with Marquez showing his customary guile, speed and ring craft to negate The Baby Faced Assassin’s challenge. The fight ebbed and flowed throughout but there was a sense of purpose about Marquez, who is now 47-3-1 (35).
The Mexico City native is one of the best counter-punchers in the game and at 33 is now a two-weight world champion (at feather and super-featherweight).
The win also helped clinch a unique double with younger brother Rafael clinching the WBC super-bantamweight title some two weeks before, meaning for the first time ever two brothers are now rated in our ‘pound-for-pound’ list.
Elsewhere super-middleweight Mikkel Kessler put in another superb shift to easily handle WBC mandatory challenger Librado Andrade in Denmark.
Andrade came with a reputation as one of the toughest men in the division and the Mexican was unbeaten in 24 fights (18 stopped).
But at 28 Kessler is now at the very peak of his powers and the man they call the ‘Viking Warrior’ didn’t lose a round in Copenhagen.
The WBC and WBA champion is hammering on the door now for a spot in the ‘pound-for-pound’ ratings and has impressed against some big names such as Markus Beyer and Anthony Mundine (who he easily outpointed in Australia).
He’s won 38 straight fights (29) early and has been calling out Joe Calzaghe so much in recent months it’s a wonder he is not hoarse.
There is talk of him meeting Calzaghe should the Welshman beat Peter Manfredo Jnr in Cardiff and that fight really would be one to savour, with the result now by no means a foregone conclusion.
Elsewhere on the ‘pound-for-pound’ beat in March Wladimir Klitschko was a facile winner over Ray Austin.
Klitschko won with frightening ease inside two rounds against a man many pundits (myself included) were picking to cause him problems.
The IBF heavyweight champion again called for a unification fight with Russian behemoth Nikolay Valuev afterwards and it’s refreshing to see that the Ukrainian genuinely wants to try and clear up the current heavyweight mess.
Finally in March Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck showed there is life in the old dog yet by reclaiming his WBC and WBA cruiserweight crowns against Jamaican O’Neil Bell.
Mormeck looks set to defend against British banger David Haye next and should he look impressive in that one the physically imposing Frenchman may again have to be thought of as ‘pound-for-pound’ material at the venerable age of 34.
Sportinglife.com Pound-for-Pound World Top 10:
1 – Floyd Mayweather
2 – Manny Pacquiao
3 – Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright
4 – Joe Calzaghe
5 – Marco Antonio Barrera
6 – Jermain Taylor
7 – Oscar De La Hoya
8 – Bernard Hopkins
9 – Miguel Cotto
10 – Rafael Marquez
Honourable mentions: Mikkel Kessler, Wladimir Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Juan Guzman, Antonio Margarito, Steve Molitor and Vic Darchinyan.
