Oscar de la Hoya, Kevin Iole on Mayweather-Marquez and Cotto-Pacquiao

Kevin Iole's latest Yahoo! Sports column has some "eye test" analysis from Mr. Iole and some more insight from Oscar de la Hoya about an opponent he couldn't beat.

Iole on Juan Manuel Marquez:

I came up with my own test to determine whether Marquez is really going to be a welterweight when he steps into the ring on Saturday or whether he’s just a lightweight who’s packed on a few pounds to look good with his shirt off.

I used the simple eye test.

I looked at Marquez and he hardly looked like a welterweight to me.

"Eye tests" lead baseball scouts to sign lots of bad, athletic-looking players, but Iole has more, and I have to say there's a big part of my brain thinking the same thing:

About 45 minutes before Marquez sauntered into the MGM Grand Garden on Saturday, I stood immediately to Mayweather’s left. When Marquez walked into the room, the difference was stark.

Marquez wasn’t as broad at the shoulders or as big in the arms or as thick throughout his body.

My eyes told me the story: Mayweather is a welterweight; Marquez is a make-believe one.

If you've watched "24/7," you can gather this just on TV, let alone up close to the two men. Mayweather's arms are very, very noticeably bigger, and his upper body is, too. I don't think Marquez has put on the weight poorly, simply that he can't pack the sort of muscle onto a 144-pound frame that Mayweather can.

I still don't believe this is the reason to say Marquez won't win. There are a lot of reasons, and those are covered in the Iole article, too.

Kevin also talked with Golden Boy promoter Oscar de la Hoya:

On Tuesday, De La Hoya was trying to make the case for Marquez against Mayweather. I asked him about his fight with Pacquiao and whether the outcome was the result of Pacquiao being so good, him being at the end of the line or a combination of those and/or other factors.

"Pacquiao is good, there’s no doubt about it," De La Hoya said. "And he’s fast. I thought there were 10 of him in there. I’m looking here and he’s over there. And I’m reacting to a punch from this way and there’s another coming at me from that way.

"Truthfully, he didn’t hit hard. He didn’t really hurt me. But the punches were so fast and they were coming from everywhere, it felt like there were 10 of him, seriously."

Oscar spun the same story after the fight, that Manny doesn't hit too hard, but there are lots of factors here. One, Oscar seems to hold strange vendettas against fighters that beat him. Also, Pacquiao is the headline fighter for rival Top Rank, and his November fight with Miguel Cotto has already generated more buzz than the months of Mayweather-Marquez hype. Also, Oscar is a promoter. He's been telling the world that Marquez will beat Mayweather, and he's about the only one saying it.

But most importantly, Oscar had a phenomenal chin. He faced some big hitters in his time and none of them broke him. Pacquiao at welterweight certainly doesn't hit like Tito Trinidad did.