Mayweather/Marquez, Klitschko/Arreola

Last Saturday, Dad and I watched the re-broadcast of Floyd Mayweather Jr./Juan Manuel Marquez and the title bout between Cristobal Arreola/Vitali Klitschko. I wrote some stuff up but haven't had time to post til now. Mom's been sick, so I've had to take care of Dad mostly by myself.

Mayweather v Marquez

Here's how I had it round by round:

1. 10-9 Mayweather
2. 10-8 Mayweather
3. 10-9 Mayweather
4. 10-9 Mayweather
5. 10-9 Mayweather
6. 10-9 Mayweather
7. 10-9 Mayweather
8. 10-9 Mayweather
9. 10-9 Mayweather
10. 10-9 Mayweather
11. 10-9 Mayweather
12. 10-9 Mayweather

This was pretty much a one-sided match. Besides the fact that Mayweather cherry-picked Marquez as the opponent for his comeback fight, his size and speed gave him the natural advantage. There is also the controversy about Mayweather "buying" himself a $600K weight advantage. That being said, Mayweather looks like he's in superb condition.

In a way, this match was also a clash of styles. Marquez's hunt-and-peck approach just didn't hold up well against Mayweather's fast hands. Marquez couldn't get in close enough to do any real damage without exposing himself to Mayweather's left jab. Oh, and the 2nd round knockdown. That too. This isn't to say that Marquez looked bad; to his credit, he has a good chin and hung in there. I didn't think this match would go the distance.

Speculation about the next match abounds. Will we see a superfight between Mayweather and Pacquiao? We'll have to wait for the outcome of the Pacquiao/Cotto matchup on 11/14.

Many people doubt Pacquiao's ability to stand up to a well-conditioned fighter like Mayweather, especially after his routs of an aging De La Hoya and a haggard, poorly-conditioned Ricky Hatton. Personally, I share Freddie Roach's faith in Pacquiao. He might find himself having to work a little harder, but I still think he's still the best pound-for-pound in the sport.

Klitschko v Arreola

Round by round:

1. 10-9 Klitschko
2. 10-9 Klitschko
3. 10-9 Klitschko
4. 10-9 Klitschko
5. 10-9 Klitschko
6. 10-9 Klitschko
7. 10-9 Klitschko
8. 10-9 Arreola
9. 10-9 Klitschko
10. 10-9 Klitschko

This was another mismatch, as far as I'm concerned. Klitschko's size and reach advantage already made him the heavy favorite, but in the end, it was the older fighter's experience that made the difference.

Arreola has a lot of heart and clearly lives to box. He's got a hell of a chin and took a lot of punishment from Vitali. At the end of the bout, Chris got props from the crowd and Michael Buffer, and even Klitschko stated that the fight was difficult and that he has "big respect" for Chris. The being said, a number of factors contributed to his downfall.

For one, Arreola's had a relatively short professional career. He just hasn't clocked enough hours to go the distance against a world-class heavyweight like Vitali. There is also the elephant in the room (or ring, oh brother): conditioning. Arreola reminded me of James Toney circa his match against Ruiz in 2005. He seems to battle the work-hard-play-hard Ricky Hatton syndrome of bingeing between fights. That being said, I believe Arreola will be back for more soon. Once he gains some more experience and gets his conditioning under control, he might just be the next up-and-coming American heavyweight. He's powerful and nothing to mess around with, just needs a little refining.

Throughout the fight, Klitschko used his reach advantage to dictate the distance. He used his jab to back Arreola up and wear him down. Arreola provided a fairly constant onslaught, but Klitschko caught a lot of the blows on his arms. This was one of the better defensive fights I've seen from Klitschko. What made this successful defense remarkable is that Vitali fought most of the rounds in an easy, relaxed stance with his hands most often down by his sides. This enabled him to keep Arreola at arm's length and to use his pawing jab. As Harold Lederman pointed out, Klitschko's performance was the definition of ring generalship. He was in control the entire time. Nb this was also one of the more active heavyweight bouts I've seen.

Klitschko retains his title, but watch for Arreola. I look forward to seeing more from him.