Floyd Mayweather Jr. answered quickly and firmly any concern about his 21-month inactivity.

Mayweather's timely placed short left hook caught Juan Manuel Marquez on the chin, sending Marquez to the canvas.

The second-round knockdown set the tone to a convincing Mayweather performance late Saturday in Las Vegas. Dictating the pace from the first to last bell, Mayweather won a lopsided unanimous decision against Marquez in their 12-round welterweight bout.

``I am back, and I am going to continue to make noise in the sport of boxing,'' Mayweather said.

``I don't rate this as one of my best fights. I think I could have done a lot better.''

Really?

Mayweather fought a nearly flawless bout. Maintaining solid punching accuracy the entire distance, Mayweather (40-0) peppered Marquez with lead left jabs and left hooks. Marquez's attempt at pressuring Mayweather proved futile as Mayweather adeptly slipped or blocked many of his shots.

Although he refused stepping up the attack for a possible late knockout, Mayweather inflicted sufficient damage on Marquez. A game three-division champion, but in his first fight above 135 pounds, Marquez (50-5-1) bled from the nose and had bruises around his face.

All three judges punctuated Mayweather's performance with scorecards of 120-107, 119-10 and 118-109.

``Marquez is tough as nails,'' said Mayweather, whose last fight was a 10th-round TKO over Ricky Hatton in December 2007. ``He's a great small man. I think he brought his best [Saturday] tonight.''

Mayweather, the sport's best ``pound-for-pound'' fighter before his surprising retirement in June 2008, may have reclaimed the top spot from Manny Pacquiao after Saturday's win. Mayweather overwhelmed Marquez, whereas Pacquiao managed a draw and a narrow split decision in his two fights against Marquez, albeit in a lighter weight class.

``People say Pacquiao is No. 1,'' Mayweather said. ``I don't have to rate myself. I know what I can do. Pound-for-pound is an opinion.

``I was a professional for 11 years, and I was a world champion for 10 years. I went away for two years, came back, I fought the No. 2 fighter. I didn't rate him; [people] did. I am a critic of myself. I want to be the best I can be.''

Marquez noticed contrasts between Mayweather and Pacquiao.

``Floyd is very clever; he is 100 percent a defensive fighter,'' Marquez said. ``He is a good counter puncher. And Pacquiao is a guy that likes to fight.''

Mayweather said he wants to face the best fighters in this second phase of his career. The appealing next fight would be a mega-match against Pacquiao. However, Pacquiao's next fight likely will be a difficult one when he faces Miguel Cotto Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.HISTORIC MATCHUP

Now it is Cris Arreola's turn to make American heavyweights relevant again. Arreola will face champion Vitali Klitschko for Klitschko's World Boxing Council heavyweight title Saturday night at Staples Center in Arreola's native Los Angeles.

Born to Mexican parents, Arreola (27-0, 24 KOs) would become the first Mexican heavyweight champion if he defeats Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs).

``I don't want to get caught up with all this business about making history -- of course it's history,'' Arreola said. ``It's already known that it's going to be a big atmosphere in the Staples Center.

``Why get caught up in it?''

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