The Ring Return of Juan Manuel Marquez!

By Joshua “City” Brewer

Word on the street is that “Dinamita” Juan Manuel Marquez, 56-7-1, 40 KO’s, is looking to make his long awaited boxing comeback in June. This is exciting news for fans of the 43 year old Mexican legend. He’s been out of action since his May 17, 2014, unanimous decision over the sturdy-chinned Mike Alvarado.

If you know boxing then you know Marquez as he rose to fame from the shadows of other Mexican boxing legends fighting in or around his weight class over the years by putting on exciting fights providing us with a number of thrilling knockouts.

You best know him from his four fights with Manny Pacquiao which gave us 42 rounds of amazingly unforgettable boxing action that will reign as part of the golden moments in boxing history. The future hall of famer’s resume has been stout over the last two decades. He’s been in the ring with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, JR., Marco Antonio Barrera, Timothy Bradley, Joel Casamayor, and Chris John among other formidable foes and current and past champions.

Marquez is now in that rare place where he’s no doubt provided in the ring that he’s a fighter to remember but he’s looking for potentially one last fight to send his career off. In an era in which fighters seem to fight later in age, he’s now got the itch once again to display his warrior mentality. Marquez doesn’t owe the boxing public this fight and it’s more so a matter of his fighting spirit. He’s not one to let down the fans and respects the perils of competition.

A name that I’ve heard in contention, where solid or not, is Miguel Cotto, 40-5, 33 KO’s. With a hall of fame career lined up on his own, Cotto was scheduled to fight James Kirkland back in February but Kirkland was injured and the fight was cancelled. Cotto has been out of action since his November 2015 loss to Canelo Alvarez. That said, both Cotto and Marquez have both been inactive for long periods so rust could be a factor for each of them.

One of the factors that would come into play with Cotto Vs Marquez is weight. Marquez last fought at welterweight, 147 pounds and hasn’t been higher. Cotto on the other hand hasn’t campaigned at welterweight since 2009 and his last few fights have been at middleweight, though catch-weights were in effect. Essentially you can say that Cotto hasn’t fought below 155 since 2009. The question is whether Cotto can make 147 at 36 or if Marquez is willing to fight above 147 at this point?

That puts this fight in a weird space. From a fan perspective it’s two known names with storied careers on the tail end. It would without a doubt be nice to see the two face off since they each share common opponents. Whether the fight will be as exciting as we may seek is definitely a question. Both fighters a counter-punchers at heart. Additionally, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each of the fighters that it’s hard to gauge where they stand at this point in their careers. Both did have a formidable showing in their last bouts but at 43 and 36 years old, one never knows when father time comes knocking.

Regardless of what transpires and whether this fight actually takes place, these two have provided us with great viewing material over the past several years. Ideally, I’m sure both would like to their careers to end with a victory over one or the other. The loser still has a place in boxing history as well.

As far as Marquez, he’s expected to make an announcement on a comeback fight in the coming weeks. Regardless of the opponent Marquez can’t do any harm to his legacy at this point regardless of opponent in my eyes. If he’s able to get Cotto then that would be great. If he’s able to rematch Timothy Bradley, who’s also looking for a fight, that would be even better as I’m sure Marquez would take a different approach to ensure he got win this time. Time will tell. Onward Dinamita, onward.

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