JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ vs TERDSAK JANDAENG

Long considered one of the most talented fighters in the business, Juan Manuel Marquez has not exactly seen his skills rewarded lately.

Things started to go wrong, ironically, after the former featherweight champion had been involved in one of the most dramatic fights of the past few years when he rallied after three first-round knockdowns to force a draw with Manny Pacquiao in May 2004.

His manager, Nacho Beristain, rejected an offer of $750,000 for a rematch with Pacquiao — and Marquez’s career lost momentum. He scored comfortable but unexciting points wins in title defences against fellow-Mexican Omar Salido and the Colombian southpaw Victor Polo, then strangely had his IBF title vacated because no promoter was interested in staging a mandatory defence by the Mexican against an obscure Thai.

As if all this was not bad enough, in his last fight Marquez lost his claim to the WBA belt when he was outpointed by the unbeaten Chris John last March in Indonesia.

There were the usual complaints about judges favouring the local fighter, but the fact is that Marquez lost a unanimous decision.

At 32, Marquez needs, I think, one of those “statement" type of performances, and there is a chance he will get one when he meets the Thai southpaw, Terdsak Jandaeng, on the Showtime card that also features younger brother Rafael Marquez in a bantamweight title rematch with Silence Mabuza (preview coming later).

Marquez’s bout with Terdsak is for the WBO’s vacant interim featherweight title (champ Scott Harrison has been going through a sort of breakdown and clearly needs time to get himself back together).

Even though Marquez is boxing for a steppingstone title, the important thing is that he is back on American TV and, with promoter Gary Shaw behind him, can put himself into position for the bigger fights with the right type of performance.

Frankly, I do not think that a technically proficient but dull type of victory is going to do a lot to help Marquez. I think that he needs the sort of win that will make people sit up and take notice, which is where Terdsak comes in.

Terdsak, who has won 24 of his 25 bouts, is tough, dead-game and comes to fight but he is not in Marquez’s league when it comes to boxing ability.

I saw Terdsak on TV in his biggest fight, when he was soundly outpointed in a 12-rounder by the undefeated Joan Guzman at White Plains, NY, last August. He was aggressive and defiant but there were times when the Dominican seemed to be playing with him.

Guzman dropped Terdsak in the sixth — a flash knockdown, the Thai being more surprised than hurt — but in the last six rounds the Dominican just danced, slapped and flurried his way to the comfortable decision. We learned later that Guzman had hurt both hands. If Guzman had been able to punch solidly in the last half of the bout I think that Terdsak might have been hard-pressed to go the limit.

The Thai is physically very strong, with one of those physiques that looks as if it has been carved out of rock, and he can certainly take punishment. He is, though, easy to hit, and I think that his bravery in this type of fight could place him in the “too game for his own good" category.

At a certain level, fighters such as Terdsak will beat their opponents on sheer guts, conditioning, workrate and willingness. When they step up to the higher level, against the Joan Guzmans and the Juan Manuel Marquezes, their limitations get exposed — sometimes cruelly.

I do believe that Terdsak will give it a great try against Marquez. He is not the type who is easily intimidated. The Thai will keep coming and he will keep doing the best he can, trying to back up Marquez on the ropes and wear him down. Meanwhile, Marquez is likely to be hitting him with sharp, precise punches.

The sort of fight I envisage is one in which the Thai will have some success early with sheer pressure only to be gradually and remorselessly broken down by the much more skilled and experienced boxer.

On paper the fight should go 12 rounds because Terdsak is durable and Marquez has not stopped anyone in three years, but I have a feeling that the Thai’s frontal-assault style means that Marquez will more or less be obliged to keep hitting him, round after round.

If the fight does indeed follow this pattern, with the Thai gamely taking punishment, it is possible that the referee and doctor might start to think about stopping the fight.

Since the Leavander Johnson tragedy, Nevada officials have been less inclined to let a courageous fighter keep on taking punches in what clearly is a lost cause.

We saw this when Wayne McCullough was pulled out of the fight — to his bitter disappointment — after 10 rounds in the rematch with Oscar Larios. We saw it again when the Filipino Randy Suico was rescued in the ninth round against Juan Diaz.

I think that a point may be reached, around the ninth or 10th round, when a decision might have to be made by the referee and doctor about whether Terdsak should be allowed to continue.

The Thai fighter, in fact, seems made-to-order for a sharpshooter such as Marquez.

This bout looks the perfect opportunity for Marquez to show us the fighter that he is capable of being, and I do not think he will let the opportunity pass him by.