he story is an old one…Juan Manuel Marquez has lived in the shadows of fellow Mexican boxing greats Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.
In surviving the early storm of Juan Diaz Saturday night en route to a stunning ninth round knockout victory, Marquez has equaled and possibly bested the legacies of Morales and Barrera.
Marquez has now held sanctioned championships as a featherweight, super featherweight, and is considered the legitimate lightweight champion of the world.
At 35 years of age Marquez notched impressive knockout victories against not only Diaz — a man 10 years his younger–, but Joel Casamayor, who had never suffered a knockout defeat and was a longtime lightweight. Barrera, also 35, is a shadow of his former self inside the ring and the glory days are quickly slipping into the record books. Morales, a mere spring chicken of 31, finds himself a year and a half removed from his last fight; a decision loss to David Diaz.
In direct competition Marquez holds a victory over Barrera. As slim as it may have been, Juan Manuel won the Battle of Mexico City.
Morales is the only Mexican to hold a victory over Pacquiao, along with two knockout losses. Barrera served as a stepping stone for a then rising Pacquiao and served up a half-hearted effort in a rematch several years later. Marquez does not have a victory over Pacquiao, but in two defeats he pushed the Filipino into the realm of greatness.
Much like the New Yorkers of yesteryear argued the merits of baseball players Duke Snider, Willie Mays, and Micky Mantle, fight buffs will debate the proper places of Morales, Barrera, and Marquez in the lexicon of Mexican greats.
One thing is clear, Marquez now clearly deserves to be in the discussion.
