THE rematch was a far cry from the first installment, which gave us 2009?s Fight of the Year, but that?s okay. After all, with the bar set so high the first time, it is not uncommon for the protagonists to fail to live up to expectations in the sequel.
As expected, Marquez came out the victor, but his performance was far from impressive.
Here are some insights to ponder upon:
1.) Diaz boxed well early and in fact, I gave him rounds 2 and 3 because ?The Baby Bull? looked sharper during the exchanges while Marquez was often a tad slow.
2.) The fact that Marquez?s right eye looked like he had walked blind into a wasp?s nest, is a testament to the fact that he was hit easily and repeatedly.
3.) Diaz isn?t known for his power but rather stops his opponents by outlasting them. Now imagine if it was Manny Pacquiao throwing and landing hard and often.
4.) Marquez often loaded up on his punches and while he looked to be the bigger, stronger fighter in there, it took him a while to get heated up.
5.) Another thing which was too glaring not to notice is that Marquez often hit nothing but thin air. ?Dinamita? is the great fighter that he is because of the accuracy of his punches. Should we credit that to Diaz?s improved defense? Or was Marquez?s aim just poor?
6.) Diaz changed his game-plan and didn?t wade in throwing his patented six-punch combos. He opted to box, which netted him limited success. The problem is that just doesn?t hit hard enough to capitalize on the available openings to be a threat and so Marquez gradually took over from the middle rounds.
7.) Was it age or was it the drop in weight that affected Marquez?s performance? He was 142 pounds for the welterweight bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year and came in at 133.5 pounds during Saturday?s weigh-in.
8.) It may not be amiss to invoke what happened to Roy Jones Jr. back in 2003. At 34, Roy bulked up all the way to heavyweight to defeat John Ruiz and then inexplicably dropped back down to light heavyweight, in the process losing 25 pounds of muscle he had carefully and judiciously packed on.
9.) We all know what happened to Jones, not only in that Tarver fight, but to his career as well. Marquez, who turns 37 this month, shouldn?t be yo-yoing and down weight divisions either;
DANNY GREEN. Speaking of Jones, another one of his conquerors, Danny Green, is now embroiled in controversy.
Green knocked out Jones in Australia in the first round after landing a right hand to the side of Jones?s head with not much torque behind it.
Jones got up, was flummoxed by another Green flurry and the ref stopped the fight.
There were insinuations that the fight was fixed and that a so-called local boxing mafia was behind the shenanigans. Jones also reportedly filed a protest regarding Green?s hand wraps.
Two weeks ago, Green won again in just 33 seconds after landing what seemed to be an innocuous jab on the top of Paul Briggs? head. The match was for the IBO cruiserweight belt.
After the harmless tap, Briggs fell on his knees and listened intently to the referee?s count. Upon hearing eight, Briggs made a show of attempting to get up only to fall down again.
To his credit, an animated Green approached Briggs while he was down and uttered some words–apparently incensed at the bogus show of distress.
Afterwards, it was reported that two betting agencies received a slew of bets for a first round knockout. The IBO has also called for an investigation.
Briggs came into the fight with a record of 26-3 with 18 KOs but had not fought in three years. Watch the fight on YouTube and judge for yourself.
LAST ROUND. It?s on avid Sun.Star Cebu reader and top-notch pediatrician, Dr. Julio Gonzales. Cheers!
