No matter.
Herein I shall lay bare my man-love for Senor Márquez, & cheer unashamedly for a Mexican victory tomorrow night.
Reasons for hoping he wins:
1) He is my favourite counter-punching Mexican, behind Salvador Sanchez. Who is dead, obviously.
2) He looks cool when he throws those weird combinations (lead right uppercut/left uppercut/left hook, anybody? Jab/straight right hand/left uppercut/overhand right?), so fluid & devastating.
3) He's got more balls than a bearing company. Four knockdowns in twenty-four rounds vs. Pac-Man? Pah. Decked versus Mayweather? Came back like a lion. Dropped then thumped whilst down by Barrera? Came back to beat the shite outta him.
4) He's trained by Ignacio Beristain, who has the coolest nickname in the sport. It's like a white guy being called "Crisp". Fvckin' A.
5) I am nothing if not sentimental, & would like a great old champ to go out with either a win or at least in a fight against another champ, rather than versus the Aussie version of Gavin Rees.
6) It would shut up the Aussies on the board, if only for a nanosecond.
7) I watched Margarito land to the body of Manny P, a guy who weighed about eleven tonnes. Re-watch the eighth round of the second Márquez fight, have a look at Manny's facial expression after he takes that combination downstairs & tell me who you think hits harder.
8 ) He has cool facial hair.
9) Balding men make me happy.
10) It will (hopefully) shut up, for once & all, my mate Tim, who has always held that Rafa is the better brother. Obviously, he is confused: Rafa is merely a Demiurge, JMM the Yahweh-esque Daddy of the clan.
11) Richard "The Secret" Williams.
Feel free to add your own encomia to this list, & then Sunday morning when I awake from my haze to find out that I've jinxed my favourite active fighter (I do this a lot), it will keep me happy in my rapidly encroaching senescence.
WAR Márquez!




