Marquez had some good wins at 135. He knocked out Diaz, Katsidis and Casamayor. Can he do it against Mancini?
Mancini was a better Diaz, and Marquez was an inferior Arguello, so what you're looking at is a very tough fight for Marquez. However, I do think he wins, by decision, by virtue of landing the cleaner shots.
I think Mancini could well take this one. I find it hard to get Diaz and Katsidis giving him awful fights out of my head.
Are those fights necessarily arguments against Marquez, though? I think they prove he can withstand some rocky moments against a big, strong LW and then pound them into submission.
I definitely think they are. If fighters the calibre of Katsidis and Diaz can have plenty of success with their style, then surely it's not far fetched to say that someone with a very similar style (one almost in the middle of their's) who was much better could beat him? Then obviously Mancini did quite well vs Arguello - who I think is levels above Marquez, even at lightweight - and I'm gonna go with Mancini. Although, of course, Marquez is the better fighter and the arguments for why he could win are valid. The Bramble dissections and the beyond quality performance in the Diaz rematch. It's a great match-up IMO, and who wouldn't wanna see it? It'd probably be like a hybrid of Mancini-Bramble, Marquez-Diaz and Marquez-Katsidis.
