Mayweather as good as ever

The six-time world champion, who retired from boxing 21 months ago, made a triumphant return by dominating Juan Manuel Marquez and scoring a 12-round unanimous decision in their welterweight nontitle fight Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden.

Judge Dave Moretti scored it 119-108 for Mayweather, Burt Clements had it 120-107 and William Lerch’s card was 118-109.

Mayweather, 32, who stayed undefeated at 40-0, hadn’t missed a beat after his hiatus. He was bigger, faster and, in the end, better than ever.

"I’m really glad to be back," said Mayweather, a minus-350 betting favorite whose purse was $10 million. "It was a tough fight. I needed some rounds and it was excellent work.

"Marquez is tough as nails. He’s a tough little guy and he took some unbelievable shots."

Mayweather, who weighed in at 146 pounds Friday, refused to get on the scale when he arrived at the MGM Grand. Apparently he wasn’t concerned about his weight.

He didn’t need to be. Mayweather came out impressively, particularly in the second round when he caught Marquez (50-5-1) flush on the chin with a left hook and sent him to the canvas.

The knockdown, with 1:38 left in the round, stunned the pro-Marquez crowd of 13,116. But Marquez, ever the warrior, survived and soldiered on.

"It was a very hard fight," said Marquez, who entered at 148 pounds, six heavier than at Friday’s weigh-in. "He surprised me with the knockdown. He hurt me in that round, but not any other time.

"I don’t want to make excuses, but the weight was a problem. He was too fast. If I had three or four fights at this weight, I would have done better."

Marquez took it to Mayweather in round three but couldn’t hurt him. Mayweather was too quick, too cagey to allow Marquez to pin him on the ropes for very long.

Mayweather’s jab was dynamic. The final punch statistics revealed he landed an astonishing 59 percent of his jabs (185 of 316) while Marquez connected on only 12 percent of his total punches (69 of 583).

"I was real happy with my jab," Mayweather said. "I had it working and I knew I could use what I had to use to beat him."

When Mayweather retired from boxing, he was considered the sport’s best defensive fighter. Those skills have not left him; they were on full display Saturday.

The head feints. The footwork. The hand speed to thwart an attack. It was all there and it had to frustrate Marquez, who rarely was able to land a clean shot. When he did, Mayweather merely laughed it off.

He had Marquez in more trouble in the sixth round, landing left jabs and right hooks to Marquez’s face. When the Mexican star returned to his corner, his face was a scarred and bruised mess.

Between the seventh and eighth rounds, referee Tony Weeks asked Marquez if he wanted to continue. Marquez refused to concede despite his left eye being cut and blood coming from his nose.

He seemed on the verge of exhaustion at the start of the ninth. Mayweather had been pummeling him with jabs and hooks for which Marquez had no answer.

It looked like the end for Marquez in the 11th as Mayweather tagged him with a half-dozen big rights to the head. But Marquez refused to go down, showing the courage that has been his trademark throughout his career.

He came out for the 12th, determined to finish the fight upright, even though he was clearly beaten. His pride would not allow him to quit. But Mayweather stayed with the game plan he and his uncle Roger conceived, using the jab and following with the hook.

There was little Marquez could do about it. That he managed to remain on his feet at the end was a victory unto itself.

When it ended, a less-than-gracious Marquez barely acknowledge Mayweather, who tried to hug him but was rebuffed.

While Mayweather was gracious in his praise of Marquez, the winner was incensed by Shane Mosley’s presence in the ring after the fight. Mosley interrupted Mayweather during his postfight interview, demanding that Mayweather fight him.

"That’s disrespectful to me," Mayweather said. "He’s not supposed to be in the ring. That’s my moment and he took it away from me."

It was the only thing Mayweather lost Saturday.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.