Reality thumps Marquez’s courage

So imagine today if boxing didn’t have weight classes.

Unsure of what might happen?

Take a look at the beaten and besieged face of Juan Manuel Marquez.

As hearts go, there is a mountain of one beating inside his 142-pound frame. But as for moving up in class to engage one of the most skilled fighters in history Saturday evening, well, reality thumped courage.

If you kept score following the third round at home, you must have run out of things to talk about.

If any rust gathered on Floyd Mayweather Jr. during his 21-month layoff from boxing, it must have settled on one of those extravagant chains he wears around his neck, because his 12-round unanimous welterweight decision over Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden occurred with the ease of yawning.

It happens when you are so much bigger, so much better.

On this night, put an emphasis on the bigger part.

It was minutes following the destruction when trainer Freddie Roach released a quote through Top Rank: “Floyd,” Roach said, “congratulations on beating the best lightweight in the world.”

And thus, the potential buildup for Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao has begun.

Roach trains Pacquiao and saw what everyone else did Saturday, that Mayweather was far heavier than a hand-picked opponent who was a 130-pounder eight months ago and never had fought above 135 until now.

Mayweather declined to be weighed by HBO before the fight, perhaps because he knew what a ridiculous disparity to Marquez it would be.

Marquez weighed in at 142 on Friday; Mayweather came in 2 pounds over a contractual limit of 144 and was at least 8 to 10 pounds heavier by the time the bell rang Saturday. He lost $600,000 for coming in heavy, which went to Marquez.

The smaller man earned every cent.

“A very hard fight,” Marquez said. “I don’t want to make excuses, but the weight was the problem. He’s too fast. When I hit him, he would laugh, but I knew he felt the punches. We tried to work on speed — if I had three or four more fights at this weight, I would have done better. I did the best I could.”

Unsure of what might happen?

Mayweather threw 493 punches and landed 290; Marquez threw 583 and landed 69. Mayweather landed more jabs each round than Marquez did total punches.

I have no idea how Marquez stayed up for 10 more rounds after walking into a left hook and being floored in the second. He took jab after jab to the face. He appeared spent physically by the fifth but just kept coming forward and enduring punishment.

Said one ringside reporter: “He is Juan Manuel Marquez. You have to kill him.”

Mayweather was so fresh, he offered a little dance in his corner before the 11th round. The scores of 119-108, 120-107 and 118-109 didn’t give the rout justice. It was that one-sided from the beginning.

“It took me a couple rounds to really know I was back,” Mayweather said. “I know I’ll get better. Marquez is tough as nails. He’s a great little man. He was really hard to fight. He kept taking some unbelievable shots.

“I just told myself to box and stay calm.”

What now?

Pacquiao is set to fight a bigger Miguel Cotto here in November, another evening when size could make a significant difference and put the current pound-for-pound king in some peril.

But if Roach’s pupil wins, the clamor for Mayweather-Pacquiao and a possible May fight undoubtedly would grow. You have to figure it would draw more than the 13,116 that showed at the MGM on Saturday because, like Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton before him, Pacquiao would sell any fight against Mayweather.

Marquez had the guts but not the drawing power.

The truth is that making the Pacquiao fight between Mayweather and his former promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank might be tougher than anything between the two boxers.

Perhaps playing off this truth, Sugar Shane Mosley strolled into the ring following the fight Saturday and called Mayweather out.

There are two things I never thought I would see: Floyd Mayweather being so much bigger than an opponent as he was Saturday and someone else being more shameful in front of a microphone.

“Shane is desperate,” Mayweather said. “It was very disrespectful for him to come into the ring. All I ask for is respect. It was my fight. My moment. He is desperate.”

And this was a hand-picked beating of a much smaller and yet brave man.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He also can be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on “The Sports Scribes” on KDWN-AM (720) and www.kdwn.com.