Wayne McCullough wonders how useful Juan Manuel Marquez's bout with Likar Ramos was for the Mexican.
Marquez comfortable in 'safe' fight
Juan Manuel Marquez might have a superfight with Manny Pacquiao planned for November 12, but on Saturday he took a 'keep busy fight' in Mexico against unknown Colombian, Likar Ramos in a light welterweight contest.
Marquez weighed in at 138 lbs - not the heaviest he has ever fought at. Back in 2009 he took on Floyd Mayweather Jnr weighing 147 lbs, but there is little doubt that he is more of a lightweight, and he will be fighting Pacquiao at a catch weight of 144 lbs.
The Mexican has tended to fight at super bantamweight or higher throughout his career but has fought out of his weight class before for the big fights.
The fight against Ramos was a complete mismatch. He had a good record of 24 wins out of 27 fights with 18 wins by KO, but this was only his second fight out of Columbia.
The first time was when he fought Jorge Solis in February 2010 and was knocked out. He had three wins before this fight against fighters with lopsided records which showed the calibre of his previous competition.
Ramos was also a lighter guy coming up having fought around 130 lbs and he came into the fight looking chunky and not in any type of fight shape.
Marquez hadn't fought since his win over Michael Katsidis last November so he probably needed to have a fight in between.
Knockout
Ramos, who surprisingly once held an Interim world belt at 130 lbs, landed some right jabs and lefts but didn't look like he was in the fight to win. At about the one minute 47 second mark, Marquez threw a left hook and a straight right at his opponent's chin, putting him down and out. Ramos lay stiff on the floor with his eyes closed. It did not look like a knockout punch but maybe it caught him on the right spot.
Marquez got a KO win and is now looking forward to his trilogy bout with Pacquiao after fighting to a draw in May 2004 at featherweight and losing in March 2008 as a super featherweight.
This was definitely a safe fight for Marquez to remove any ring rust, but how much of that rust will be gone since the fight was over so early? The only resemblance Ramos had to Pacquiao was that he was a southpaw but he didn't stand or move the same way and didn't even come close to his fighting style.
Maybe it was good that Marquez got this one over quickly as all we got to see was his punch power. He didn't get injured which is a good thing but he will have to pack on a few pounds for his big fight later this year and hopefully there won't be any controversy like their last two encounters.
