Through perseverance, an incredible work ethic, sound technical skills, a big punch and a granite chin and will, Juan Manuel Marquez has finally stepped out of the shadow s of his countrymen and contemporaries, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, defeating Barrera in the process in their 2007 fight.

I have only recently became a real fan of Marquez. Marquez has displayed tremendous heart in almost every fight he has been in, including and especially, in his fights with the great Manny Pacquiao, fighting back from early knockdowns to finish strong and come within a hair’s breadth of winning in both fights, getting a draw in their first fight and split decision in the second. This is an indication of just how good Marquez is.

Marquez has proven himself to be one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world today and rightly so. He fights Floyd Mayweather Jr tonight (09/19/ 09). Mayweather is favored to win. I’m hoping that Marquez can pull off an upset against Mayweather. It’s tough hill to climb but between the two, Marquez is the only one to face a current pound for pound champ in his prime. That has to count for something.

Marquez is moving up in weight. He’ll be fighting at 142 for the first time. Mayweather is the bigger man and will probably be fighting at around 160. I’m hoping that Marquez can handle both the weight and Mayweather’s speed. With timing and solid counterpunching, he just might pull it off. No prediction here, just a very strong hope. Let the best man win.

Most underrated in his time.

I'm on a one fight-win streak;I figured Pacquiao-Hatton would go about the way it went..no I'm lyin(I figured it would go at least fo')...anyway,I see Mayweather announced he was comin' back against Juan Manuel Marquez.I noticed a photo of them.The camera was obviously behind Mayweather(and Mayweather was obviously callin' Marquez a muhfuh..).I just noticed the smile on Marquez's face;it said:hey "amigo",my little brother Raphael can kick yo' tuchis.Mayweather(to me hasn't been impressive at 147);Marquez always is.