Mayweather Predicts Bout With Marquez Will Be "One Hell of a Fight"

When Floyd Mayweather Jr. took a temporary hiatus from the sport of boxing after his domination of the formerly undefeated British sensation Ricky Hatton, he was universally regarded as the pound-for-pound best boxer on the planet. On Saturday September 18th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather finally returns to the ring where he will face the toughest test of his career against tenacious counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez.

According to CNN, Mayweather Jr. commented on his upcoming fight by expressing an unusual amount of respect for his opponent, saying, "To go down as a legend, you have to face the best in your era and Marquez is one of the best in my era. "You can expect blood, sweat and tears on Saturday night. I predict one hell of a fight."

Throughout his storied career, Mayweather Jr. has traditionally attempted to hype his fights by directing relentless verbal venom towards his opponent in an attempt to generate mainstream interest and gain a psychological advantage over his opponent. This time around, Mayweather Jr. has opted to take a different route by refusing to trash talk his opponent due to the amount of respect that he has for him.

The 32-year-old Mayweather, who has never tasted defeat in 39 professional fights, looks to remain undefeated against one of the most highly respected boxers in the world. Marquez's professional record is 50-4-1 and he has taken Manny Pacquiao to the limit on two separate occasions. Many boxing pundits feel that Marquez defeated Pacquiao in both fights, although the judges scored their first fight a draw and the second a split decision victory for Pacquiao.