Marquez steals show from Mayweather on "24/7"

Like many of you, I've been watching HBO's "Mayweather/Marquez 24/7" on Saturday nights as the program builds up to the Sept. 19 pay-per-view fight between the returning Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather remains cartoonish in the way he presents himself (or at least the way his scenes are edited). But we've been there, done that in previous editions of "24/7." I mean, how many times can you listen to Mayweather brag about his money and mansion, say he's the best and fib about his IRS issues without becoming ill?

At least seeing him on roller skates was something new, right?

But easily the most memorable moment through the series' first two episodes came from the other camp. It was watching Marquez's, um, interesting choice of beverage in the second episode. Even more disgusting than watching Marquez eat some of his purchase of 25 raw quail eggs (which he referred to as "turkey boogers") from a cup with a spoon was watching him drink his own urine.

Yes, his own urine. Does this mean we should refer to him as boxing's Whiz Kid?

Anyway, there's nothing like a camera shot of a man walking into the can with a glass and unzipping, followed by a quick cut to him walking out, sitting down on a chair and hoisting a glass of fresh pee in all of its glistening yellow glory … then downing it like a Coke on a summer afternoon.

I wish I was kidding. It was actually disturbing.

Ace publicist Fred Sternburg, who is not working on this promotion but has yet to encounter a subject he can't crack a joke about, summed up the series' jumping-the-shark moment perfectly: "Now we know why the promotion is called 'No. 1.' It's a good thing it wasn't called 'No. 2.'"

While I'm on the subject of Marquez's choice of beverage -- which he said he has been drinking during training camp for the last five or six fights, supposedly to ingest additional nutrients (whatever) -- I thought maybe I'd pack an extra travel mouthwash to give him at the news conference next week in Las Vegas.

A few more thoughts on "24/7":

• I've lost count of the number of F-bombs Marquez's trainer, Nacho Beristain, has dropped, but I appreciate the honesty of the subtitles HBO uses for the Spanish-speaking Beristain. You don't get that kind of translation accuracy on a media conference call.

However, I wish HBO would also use subtitles for Roger Mayweather and Floyd Mayweather Sr. If anyone can understand what the hell they're saying, there might be a job for you in the CIA working as a code cracker.

• I don't know about you, but it seems as though every time I see a segment from Mayweather's camp, somebody is wearing a "Mayweather Promotions" shirt or a sign for the company has been strategically placed in view. And with every piece of promotional material I receive and on every conference call I join, I keep hearing about Mayweather Promotions this and Mayweather Promotions that. Here's the problem: Mayweather Promotions is not a licensed promoter, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, nor will it be in time for this fight.

• What's with "24/7" and grooming? In a previous edition of the series, we got to see Freddie Roach get a haircut. This time we got to see Mayweather receive a pedicure. I'll never get that minute back.

• One other TV boxing item for you: Although parts of it were a bit cheesy and painfully scripted, I thoroughly enjoyed Tuesday night's episode of "Shaq Vs." on ABC, in which 7-foot-1, 320-pound Shaquille O'Neal faced 5-10, 160ish-pound Oscar De La Hoya in a five-round exhibition match, taped a couple of weeks ago at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Next week, Shaq will swim against Michael Phelps, which will certainly be a lot less painful than getting smacked around by De La Hoya, who won a unanimous decision. No scores were announced, but it looked like De La Hoya got the legit decision against the self-proclaimed "Manny Shaquiao." Love that nickname.

Although they wore headgear, big gloves, fought in a 24x24 ring and boxed four two-minute rounds with a one-minute fifth round, it seemed like both guys were going at it pretty hard, although it is unlikely that De La Hoya, who was trained by Bernard Hopkins, was going full blast. I did notice a little bit of swelling on De La Hoya's face, because Shaq, who was trained by Roach, did land some nice jabs. In any event, it was a fun hour of television. It also further convinced me that De La Hoya eventually will get the hunger again and come out of retirement for at least one more fight.

His answer to one of the questions in his postfight interview was telling: "Let's say I decide to come out of retirement … I think every other fight would be easy" compared with the one against Shaq.

Sowing the seeds?

• One other thing on my mind: There has been much written elsewhere on the Internet about how Shane Mosley will be fighting Joshua Clottey on HBO on Dec. 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. But you haven't seen me write a news story on it yet, and many of the Fight Freaks have questioned why. Pretty simple: I write news stories when there is real news backed by facts, and the fact is that HBO isn't on board yet with a Mosley-Clottey fight scheduled the day after Christmas. That means there currently is no fight, which means there is no story. Trust me: If and when the fight is a go, I will write about it.

Source: espn.go.com