When Floyd Mayweather Jr. meets Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18, 2009, they will not only be fighting for the right to face Manny Pacquiao. They will also be vying for the unofficial Pound-for-Pound best title. Unofficial because as of the moment, Manny Pacquiao is the man who stands atop the Pound-for-Pound rankings.

But consider these scenarios for a second:

1. What if Juan Manuel Marquez wins? Can we really say in complete honesty that he remains the #2 Pound for Pound boxer in the world? No matter how JMM wins, as long as he wins the fight, he should be co-P4P #1 with Manny Pacquiao! I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he replaces Manny as the baddest man on the planet, after all, he did lose to Manny in their last fight. Yeah, yeah some people might say that he won, but look at the official records folks, like it or not, Manny’s name has the W so quit whining. By then there would be no other recourse to determine who’s the real #1 P4P, they need to get into the ring for the third time. And what a fight that’s going to be!

2. What if Pretty Boy Floyd wins? Now this has to be qualified. Pretty Boy, unfortunately, has almost all the advantages in this fight against Marquez. First off, the fight is at 147lbs. This is his weight. He doesn’t have to go down or up in weight to get it on with Marquez. Marquez however has to bulk up just so he can be competitive. Floyd also enjoys a height and reach advantage. For a slick boxer like Floyd, this is a double whammy for any opponent he faces. He is also younger both in age and in ring years. Say what you like to say, Marquez is 35 years old while Mayweather is only 32. He’s also been in this professional sport a few years than Marquez and he has significantly suffered less damage in his fights compared to the Mexican.

Floyd’s only disadvantage really in this fight is his inactivity. You can train all you want outside the ring but not being in an actual fight for a period of time and you’re bound to develop ring-rust.

Now the reason for all these discussions of Floyd’s advantages is that for him to even create a grain of doubt that he, and not Manny, is THE MAN, he has to beat Marquez in a spectacular fashion, after all, he has all the physical advantages in this fight. Spectacular can be interpreted not just in terms of putting the guy down on the canvass as Manny usually does; spectacular can also be total domination of an opponent for the entire length of the fight.

Should Floyd win over Marquez in a pedestrian fashion, there’s no way can he claim to be the #1 pound for pound boxer in the world.