One thing I know for sure is that this fight will not be going the distance. Both fighters punch as hard as lightweights, even though both 
men will be duking it out at/under the featherweight limit in two weeks. Both men have been hurt seriously in previous fights. This has all the makings of a "knock ’em down, drag ’em out" brawl.
So, who’s going to win the Juan Manuel Lopez (29-0, 26 KOs) vs. Rafael Marquez (39-5, 35 KOs) superfight in two weeks?
I believe that Lopez will emerge victorious on November 6 when he faces Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. And I don’t think it’s going to be as close as many assume it will be.
Trust me, it’s hard for me to believe that Marquez is going to be dominated by Lopez. But when I looked closely at each key factor leading up this fight, I am surprised by how apparent a Lopez victory appears.
Sure, there is the issue of Marquez having fought far greater competition in his career than Lopez as well as the fight locale of Las Vegas, where many Mexican-Americans will be in attendance to cheer on Marquez.
Although both fighters have excellent punching power, "Juan Ma" has critical speed (of hand and foot) advantages. There also appears little difference between both men in terms of conditioning. But the more "natural" featherweight Lopez will have a size and strength advantage against the smaller Marquez, who has fought most of his career at bantamweight.
"Where The Fight Will Be Decided"
Ultimately, the fight outcome may be decided by which man’s chin holds up to the other’s power. As I stated earlier, both men have been rocked in the ring. Marquez has been stopped four times in his career. Lopez was nearly knocked out by journeyman Rogers Mtagwa last year. This should make for some exciting theater.
In the end, Juan Manuel Lopez’s physical advantages in size and speed, coupled with his more dynamic ring generalship will produce an exciting, rousing technical knockout win over Rafael Marquez. I say that the bout lasts no more than 9 rounds.
We respectfully disagree over at AskTheBoxer.com.
Here’s our take on the fight:
http://asktheboxer.com/sweet-science/news/1-latest-news/266-lopez-vs-marquez.html
@AskTheBoxer Slick site by the way! I think Marquez has too much mileage at this point of his career (i.e. from the Vazquez wars) to have enough left in the tank to defeat a younger, stronger and faster opponent like Juan Ma. But that is why they fight the fights. Thanks for writing.
hello There,
i feel that this fight will play out like Barrera-Naz with Marquez countering Lopez into the back row. Lopez will be exposed here.
@darren you could be right d, but i doubt it. i must concede that i am a ‘lil cautious about lopez (i.e. his chin).
I was so wrong..I guess that’s why you’re fight insight and I’m not..lol…How do you think the other Marquez will go against Katsidis? You’d have to lean towards Marquez wouldn’t you..Katsidis is great to watch albeit fairly crude and definately open to counters and cuts around the eyes..
Katsidis has already lost when stepping up, ie Casamayor (an old Casamayor too) and Diaz….What do you think?
@darren ha, ha, ha…thanks for the props. Marquez-Katsidis is a pretty easy pick, to me at least. Marquez should dissect Katsidies via stoppage, and perhaps on cuts, as you say…
we agree on what paul needs to do. getting ko’ed should help him fight tall and use that tremendous wing span.
speaking of taunting, froch did it to abe. when in doubt, look at the money angle.
@Ja Dawson:
coudn’t resist a little money on the over.
@tom, and I think that froch goes to sleep against abraham…he gets hit too cleanly at times.