Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez believes Floyd Mayweather should have walked away from one of his 50 career bouts as the loser.
‘Money’ Mayweather is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters to have ever graced the sport, remaining unbeaten for the duration of his 21-year professional career where he won world titles in five weight classes.
Marquez locked horns with him at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas back in September of 2009, although there were no world titles at stake for either man.
Mayweather was declared the winner via unanimous decision after putting on an impressive display, as the three judges scored the bout 120–107, 118–109 and 119–108 all in favour of the American.
In a resurfaced interview ahead of Mayweather’s 2015 ‘super-fight’ with Manny Pacquiao, Marquez hinted that, whilst he himself was bested by the American, he believed Mayweather did not deserved to get his hand raised in his first encounter with Jose Luis Castillo back in 2002.
“He has the defensive resources, technique, speed and counter-attacks to do a lot of damage to Pacquiao, and I think he will impose [those traits]. I know how judges perform in Las Vegas, as we saw in that fight where José Luis Castillo beat [Mayweather]. However, [the judges] gave it to Mayweather and Pacquiao has no alternative but to knock Mayweather out to end his undefeated record.”
Mayweather – who is set to face Mike Tyson in an exhibition next year – defeated Castillo via unanimous decision to capture the WBC lightweight title when they met for the first time in April of 2002, although the result sparked outrage from the boxing community who felt the Mexican should have been declared the winner.
They clashed for the second time later that year, with Mayweather putting on more of a comprehensive performance to settle the score and successfully defend his WBC lightweight crown.
