My favourite fighter of all time. A near perfect boxing machine. A cyborg devoid of emotion and perfectly tuned to win. lol
I know that description is over the top but his destruction of Prince and his epic trilogy against Morales cements him in my mind as one of the best to ever step in the ring.
Marco made one of the biggest transitions in styles that I ever seen made. The first half of his career he was the stereotypical Mexican brawler who came forward throwing hooks to the body and always looking for a brawl. He had an all time classic fight with Kennedy McKinney on HBO's Boxing After Dark. Marco was on roll until he ran into Junior Jones who basically had KO'd Barrera, but Marco's cornerman ran into the ring causing the ref to call a disqualification before Marco was stopped. The had an immediate rematch and Junior outboxed Marco winning a decision.
Marco took off almost a year after the decision loss. When he returned he was a very different fighter. Marco at first looked like he might be gunshy, but it became apparent that he was becoming a much more technical boxer who used a good jab and boxed really well. He showed off his technical abilities when he used fundamentals to clearly beat Prince Naseem Hamed in their huge matchup. The guy who started out as the brawler turned full technician. It was a insane change that probably extended his career by many years. Marco got the better of the three fights with Erik Morales which solidified his place in the boxing HOF.
One of my favorite fighters. His fights with Morales were great but my favorite fight of his was beating Hamed. I loved that fight! In his next fight, I was able to meet Barrera and watch his training and his fight against Enrique Sanchez.
Marco made one of the biggest transitions in styles that I ever seen made. The first half of his career he was the stereotypical Mexican brawler who came forward throwing hooks to the body and always looking for a brawl. He had an all time classic fight with Kennedy McKinney on HBO's Boxing After Dark. Marco was on roll until he ran into Junior Jones who basically had KO'd Barrera, but Marco's cornerman ran into the ring causing the ref to call a disqualification before Marco was stopped. The had an immediate rematch and Junior outboxed Marco winning a decision.
Marco took off almost a year after the decision loss. When he returned he was a very different fighter. Marco at first looked like he might be gunshy, but it became apparent that he was becoming a much more technical boxer who used a good jab and boxed really well. He showed off his technical abilities when he used fundamentals to clearly beat Prince Naseem Hamed in their huge matchup. The guy who started out as the brawler turned full technician. It was a insane change that probably extended his career by many years. Marco got the better of the three fights with Erik Morales which solidified his place in the boxing HOF.
Great post man. Always good hearing your perspective on boxing. I miss those days of the sweet science.
Marco made one of the biggest transitions in styles that I ever seen made. The first half of his career he was the stereotypical Mexican brawler who came forward throwing hooks to the body and always looking for a brawl. He had an all time classic fight with Kennedy McKinney on HBO's Boxing After Dark. Marco was on roll until he ran into Junior Jones who basically had KO'd Barrera, but Marco's cornerman ran into the ring causing the ref to call a disqualification before Marco was stopped. The had an immediate rematch and Junior outboxed Marco winning a decision.
Marco took off almost a year after the decision loss. When he returned he was a very different fighter. Marco at first looked like he might be gunshy, but it became apparent that he was becoming a much more technical boxer who used a good jab and boxed really well. He showed off his technical abilities when he used fundamentals to clearly beat Prince Naseem Hamed in their huge matchup. The guy who started out as the brawler turned full technician. It was a insane change that probably extended his career by many years. Marco got the better of the three fights with Erik Morales which solidified his place in the boxing HOF.
VU for that post. I'm a huge fan of his already and that just made me more impressed.
I love the idea of a guy just shutting his mouth and working away quietly on his craft for a year before unleashing it on the world, particularly prince naseem. That might be my all time favourite boxing performance.
My favourite fighter of all time. A near perfect boxing machine. A cyborg devoid of emotion and perfectly tuned to win. lol
I know that description is over the top but his destruction of Prince and his epic trilogy against Morales cements him in my mind as one of the best to ever step in the ring.
Ring magazine round of the year vs Morales. Insane
Marco made one of the biggest transitions in styles that I ever seen made. The first half of his career he was the stereotypical Mexican brawler who came forward throwing hooks to the body and always looking for a brawl. He had an all time classic fight with Kennedy McKinney on HBO's Boxing After Dark. Marco was on roll until he ran into Junior Jones who basically had KO'd Barrera, but Marco's cornerman ran into the ring causing the ref to call a disqualification before Marco was stopped. The had an immediate rematch and Junior outboxed Marco winning a decision.
Marco took off almost a year after the decision loss. When he returned he was a very different fighter. Marco at first looked like he might be gunshy, but it became apparent that he was becoming a much more technical boxer who used a good jab and boxed really well. He showed off his technical abilities when he used fundamentals to clearly beat Prince Naseem Hamed in their huge matchup. The guy who started out as the brawler turned full technician. It was a insane change that probably extended his career by many years. Marco got the better of the three fights with Erik Morales which solidified his place in the boxing HOF.
I remember when MAB hit Morales at a press conference and ran away lol I love that trilogy. Then after the 3rd fight Morales threw a water bottle at MAB but it hit his dad instead. Those two fucking hated each other and still do from my understanding. I could be wrong on that last part though