Floyd Mayweather vs Juan Manuel Marquez - Latest News and Updates, Live Streaming Video

Pacquiao vs Mayweather The Ultimate Fight

2009-11-21T09:42:00.000-08:00

Pacquiao vs Mayweather would be the ultimate fight for the decade and could be the biggest money boxing could offer. The fight is big as Leonard vs Hearns and Ali vs Fraizer in the 80's.

After Pacquiao's total destruction of Miguel Cotto that raked about 1.25 million PPV buys. There is no other fight that you want to see and must happen. Pacquiao vs Mayweather should fight for pound for pound supremacy.

Mayweather on the money

2009-09-20T02:13:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. made an impressive return to the ring after a 21-month layoff with a unanimous points victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.

The 32-year-old dominated all 12 rounds of the non-title welterweight contest and made full use of both his left jab and agile movement at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Mayweather also put his Mexican opponent on the canvas in the second round - the victory taking his professional record to 40-0 with 25 knockouts.

"I've been off for almost two years but it felt really good to be back," said Mayweather, whose last appearance brought a 10th round stoppage of Ricky Hatton in December 2007. "I was happy with the victory but I know can get better."

Mayweather, who has won six world titles at five different divisions, held a significant weight and reach advantage over five-times world champion Marquez and was a heavy favourite going into the bout.
No sign of rust

Watched by a crowd of 13,000, he showed no sign of rust and controlled the pace of the fight with his lightning hand and foot speed, rock-solid defence and telling combinations.

Mayweather landed a couple of early left jabs and drew blood on Marquez's forehead before the latter ended a fast-paced opening round by pinning his opponent against the ropes.

Marquez was again on the offensive early in round two, but Mayweather then put him on the canvas with a stinging left hook.

Mayweather, moving nimbly and frequently leaning back to avoid head punches, took advantage of his longer reach to dominate the next three rounds.

The Mexican frequently drove him on to the ropes, but Mayweather remained in control and repeatedly landed left jabs.

He ended the 11th round by landing a crunching right hook and maintained control until the final bell sounded to end the 12th.

"That guy is tough as nails," added Mayweather, for whom the judges scored the contest 118-109, 120-107 and 119-108.

"He was a great little big man. I threw a hell of a shot that dropped him, and then he got back up and kept fighting. He's a tough guy."

Too fast

The 36-year-old Marquez, who moved up two weight classes for the fight, now has a record of 50-5-1 with 37 knockouts.

"It was a very hard fight," he said. "He surprised me with the knockdown. He hurt me in that round but not at any other time.

"I don't want to make excuses but the weight was the problem," added Marquez, who was four pounds lighter at Friday's weigh-in.

"He's too fast. When I hit him he laughed but I knew he felt my punches. I did the best I could do."

Source: skysports.com

Mayweather returns with unanimous win

2009-09-20T02:11:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- Floyd Mayweather Jr made a triumphant return to the ring with a unanimous 12-round points decision over Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.

The unbeaten Mayweather knocked down Marquez in the second round and continued a punishing assault on the five-time, three weight world champion for the remainder of the fight.

The scores of the three judges, 118-109, 120-107 and 119-108, underlined his dominance in his first bout since December 2007 when he beat Britain's Ricky Hatton.

It was his 40th win, with 25 inside the distance while Marquez slipped to 50-5-1 in the non-title welterweight match.

Mayweather weighed in four pounds more than the Mexican, incurring a reported $600,000 fine for breaking the terms of the bout, and also had an advantage in height and reach.

But advantages aside, it was a massively impressive return by the American, who is nothing but confident.

"I've been off two years, but I can get better," Mayweather told reporters.

He is now set for a moneyspinning showdown with Filipino Manny Pacquiao, who has forged his reputation as the best pound for pound fighter on the planet in Mayweather's absence.

Pacquiao also dispatched Hatton and is facing Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in the Nevadan city on November 14.

Victory will set up reportedly the richest fight in boxing history against six-time world champion Mayweather, who has spanned five different weight divisions in garnering his titles.

Marquez enjoyed some success in the second round before feeling the force of Mayweather's punching.

He felt the differences in height and weight were a factor.

"There are no excuses, but I really felt the difference in weight," said Marquez, who holds the WBA and WBO world lightweight titles and moved up to take on Mayweather, who paid tribute to his durable 36-year-old opponent.

"He's tough as nails," Mayweather said . "He's a great little man."

Source: edition.cnn.com

Five things we learned from Mayweather vs. Marquez

2009-09-20T02:05:00.000-07:00

1. The concerns over Mayweather's ring rust were greatly exaggerated

Many thought the skills that have made Mayweather a surefire Hall of Famer -- the dazzling reflexes, precise counter-punching ability and preternatural ring instincts -- might suffer from the 21-month layoff. But Floyd appeared sharp from jump street, landing 18 of 31 punches (58 percent) in the first round, compared to just 4 of 52 for Marquez (8 percent). It set a harsh tone: Marquez landed in single digits in every subsequent round. Dinamita just could never figure out a way to get into the fight. It got ugly by the end. Mayweather outlanded his outclassed opponent 34-4 in the 10th and 41-5 in the 11th, prompting Golden Boy's Eric Gomez to beg Marquez's corner to throw in the towel. But Marquez managed to finish with dignity -- con caracter -- remaining on his feet until the final bell rang.

2. Size and speed weren't Floyd's only advantages

Mayweather controlled the early rounds with the left jab, using his reach advantage to keep Marquez at a distance. But Floyd also throws a left that looks like a jab but turns into a hook mid-punch. It's a power punch. And once the opponent starts moving backwards, as Marquez did early on, Floyd can land it at will. Those hurt Marquez. After that, it was a steady diet of right-hand leads and more left jabs. We'd heard so much about Marquez's ability to make mid-fight adjustments, but it was Mayweather who impressed the boxing cognoscenti with his fistic acumen.

3. The promoters earned their paychecks on this one

The announcement of Marquez as the opponent for Mayweather's comeback fight was met with considerable surprise and skepticism back in May. What chance did the longtime featherweight champion, who'd fought just twice above 130 pounds, stand against an opponent most comfortable at welterweight?

Despite the critics, the combination of Marquez's Hall-of-Fame pedigree and consensus No. 2-standing in the pound-for-pound rankings (along with a slick promotional campaign, which included another four-part 24/7 series on HBO) made believers of us all. Not that Marquez would or even could win, but that he'd push Mayweather in a cagey, competitive fight. Yeah, right. This one was a mismatch from the start.

4. A return to normalcy for conventional boxing wisdom

It's one of the oldest axioms in boxing lore: A good big man will always beat a good little man. Most of the time, anyway. Manny Pacquiao turned the conventional wisdom on its ear with victories over De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, putting the truism to the test. Make no mistake: Marquez is a bona fide Hall of Famer, a champion in three divisions. But it was obvious from the opening rounds that Marquez was simply unable to hurt Mayweather. Even following the flash knockdown in the second round, when Marquez walked right into a left hook, he seemed content to fight in the center of the ring -- a fatal mistake. The eight or nine powerful shots Marquez was able to land seemed to slip right off Mayweather's cheeks, inducing toothy grins from the cocksure American. Transcendent talents like Pacquiao are once-in-a-generation exceptions to the rule: Saturday's fight gave fans a sobering (and expensive) reminder of the raison d'etre of weight classes.

5. Let the countdown to Mayweather-Pacquiao begin

The specter of a showdown between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao -- the former and current pound-for-pound champions -- hung over this fight before it was even made. It should finally happen next year (presuming Pacquiao gets through Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14), and it'll be a great one. Unlike the fatally flawed Marquez, Pacquiao is a small guy who can carry his punch up to welterweight. (Just ask De La Hoya.)

But many boxing fans are itching to see Mayweather pick on someone his own size. One attractive candidate is welterweight titlist Shane Mosley, who went Kanye West during Mayweather's televised post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman and called Floyd out. The exchange left Mayweather flustered and Kellerman shook -- judging by the microphone trembling in his hand -- and probably did little to help Mosley secure the high-profile megafight he's deserved since January's lopsided stoppage of Antonio Margarito. As things stand, look for Mayweather to fight the Pacquiao-Cotto winner in 2010.

Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Mayweather vs Marquez fight photos

2009-09-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

Mayweather pummels Marquez in return

2009-09-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS – Round-by-round coverage of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s unanimous decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez in front of 13,116 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Official judges scores: William Lerch 118-109; Bert Clements 120-107; Dave Moretti 119-108.

Round 1: Mayweather opens with a jab to the head and one to the body. Marquez short with a jab. Hook by Mayweather lands. Mayweather lands a hook. Marquez not doing much at all. Jab by Marquez. Marquez misses wildly with a hook. Left-right by Marquez. Good left hook by Mayweather. Another hard left by Floyd.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9

Round 2: Mayweather lands a jab and Marquez lands a hook. Mayweather seems so much faster. Crowd chanting for Marquez, but he’s not landing much. Hard right by Marquez. Mayweather smiles. It definitely landed flush. Left uppercut by Mayweather puts Marquez down. Marquez is up. Hard right by Mayweather lands. Marquez misses three shots badly. Combination by Mayweather. Hard right by Mayweather.
Mayweather wins round, 10-8.

Round 3: Hard jab by Mayweather to open the round. Mayweather blocks a Marquez combination. Left-right by Mayweather. Straight right by Floyd. Short right inside by Juan. Mayweather lands a jab. Combination by Mayweather lands. Marquez gets in a right. Speed difference between the men is stark. Right over the top by Marquez. Mayweather smiles again.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 4: Right hand by Mayweather and a jab to the body. They bang heads, but nothing happens. Good left hook by Floyd. Right to the body by Juan. Right to the head by Marquez. Mayweather popping the jab in Marquez’s nose. Marquez’s face is beginning to swell, especially right eye. Right by Marquez. Hard hook by Floyd. Mayweather flicking jab and making Marquez miss badly.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 5: Marquez tries a combination, but Mayweather scurries away. Mayweather pops jab and it lands hard. Crowd urging Marquez on, but Mayweather lands a left that does not do much damage. Marquez misses a five-punch combination. Counter right lands by Floyd. Big left by Floyd. Left hook by Floyd lands. Marquez’s right eye not looking good. Another hard left hook by Mayweather. Marquez can’t catch up to him.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 6: Straight right by Floyd. Marquez misses a combination. Double jab by Floyd. Mayweather cracks Marquez with a hard left. Marquez showed effects of that blow. Right to body by Marquez. Hard jab by Mayweather. Jab-right hand by Mayweather. Right by Mayweather. They trade in corner but not much lands. Hard right by Mayweather. Left hook by Mayweather and then a right.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 7: Marquez missing badly. Mayweather jabs to the body. They clinch in the center of the ring. Hard left hook by Mayweather. Mayweather popping the jab. Mayweather winks at HBO’s announcers while in a clinch. Jab-right hand by Floyd. Marquez’s face doesn’t look good. Marquez lands a left hook. Mayweather’s defense is remarkable. Hard straight right by Floyd and then a left hook. Left hook by Mayweather.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 8: Right by Marquez. Left hook by Marquez and a left by Mayweather. They trade jabs. Mayweather popping jab. Marquez’s left eye looks awful. He’s right above me and I can’t imagine he sees much out of it. Mayweather lands a left again. Marquez hooks to the body. Jab by Maweather. Jab by Mayweather. Marquez lands a jab. Right by Mayweather inside and he ducks away. Short right by Marquez. Right by Floyd. Combination to the body by Marquez.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 9: Right by Marquez. Jab by Floyd and a right by Juan. Floyd goes with a left to the body. Combination to body by Marquez. Left hook by Mayweather. Jab-right by Mayweather. Straight right by Floyd. Jab by Floyd. It’s a shooting gallery and Marquez is like a sitting duck. Left-right-left by Floyd wobbles Marquez. Big right by Floyd. Marquez is game, but he’s being pummeled.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 10: Mayweather is popping lefts to start round. He seems intent on maybe getting Marquez out. Two hard rights to head by Floyd. Another big right by Floyd. Mayweather lands a huge left hook. This is utter domination. Right by Marquez. Combination by Floyd. Three jabs to nose by Floyd. Short lead right by Mayweather backs Juan up. Right by Mayewather. Marquez’ corner ought to think about stopping this. He’s taking clean hard punches. I can hear them from my ringside seat popping off Juan’s head.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 11: Mayweather is landing hard lefts. Golden Boy’s Eric Gomez is in Marquez’s corner asking them to throw in towel. Uppercut by Floyd. Marquez misses badly on five-punch combination. Huge right by Floyd. Another right by Floyd. Hook by Mayweather. Right to the body by Floyd. Hard right by Floyd snaps Juan’s head back. Referee is looking carefully at Marquez. Jab by Mayweather.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Round 12: Left hook by Floyd to open round. Left-right by Floyd. Mayweather misses home-run uppercut. Mayweather not doing as much in the final. Marquez misses a combination. Hard right by Floyd and then a left. Huge right by Mayweather and Marquez hangs on.
Mayweather wins round, 10-9.

Source: sports.yahoo.com

Mayweather's weight advantage a masterstroke, says Watt

2009-09-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Floyd Mayweather pulled off a masterstroke by weighing in four pounds heavier than Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez for Saturday's non-title welterweight bout, says Britain's former WBC lightweight champion Jim Watt.

American Mayweather, who is undefeated in 39 professional fights, tipped the scales at 146 pounds (66kgs), two pounds over the contracted limit.

"I don't believe he ever planned to weigh in at 144," Watt, who held the WBC lightweight crown from 1979 to 1981, told Reuters on Friday.

Although Watt did not feel the weight difference would directly affect the outcome of the 12-round bout, he said Mayweather would be able to box better without the pressure to lose extra pounds.

"He had all the advantages going into this bout and now he has another one," the Scot added.

Ten-times world champion Oscar De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions company handles Marquez, acknowledged the Mexican would be at a significant weight disadvantage.

However he pinpointed the unexpected bonus gained by Marquez when the fight, initially set for July, was postponed by two months after Mayweather suffered a rib injury in training.

"He told me it was a blessing in disguise," said De La Hoya, referring to the extra time Marquez had to adapt to the weight.

"I was worried about my speed back then; now I feel faster than ever,' he was telling me."

Marquez, 50-4-1 (37 KOs), has never fought above 135 pounds and has moved up two weight divisions to take on Mayweather, a natural welterweight.

MAJOR PLUS

A major plus for the 36-year-old Mexican was his counter-punching skill, according to Watt.

"Marquez punches harder than Mayweather," the Briton said. "I imagine the Marquez plan is to go to the body.

"If you're in with a guy who's difficult to catch to the head, then why not go to the body? You can't move the body out the way as you can with the head."

De La Hoya, arguably the biggest name in contemporary boxing, agreed.

"He's a smart boxer, he's a very intelligent fighter but, at the same time, he has that lion's heart," De La Hoya said of Marquez, who has won world titles in three weight divisions.

"He fights to the very end. He can get dropped 10 times and he'll still come back and fight as hard as he can.

"I think that combination of him being smart and fighting to the end is going to be complicated for Mayweather."

Source: reuters.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez Prediction

2009-09-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

By Bong Paredes: In less than 24 hours we will finally get to see if Marquez has what it takes to compete and perhaps beat the best boxer for the last 10 years in Floyd Mayweather Jr. As a guy that never met a fight he didn’t like, Marquez is going to in the ring for the first time where he isn’t pegged as the better and faster counterpuncher, and seeing that those are the main attributes that allowed him to give Manny Pacquiao fits the outlook is not so bright for the Mexican great. A lot of fans believe he has a good chance of beating Floyd and I am not in a position to say he doesn’t because he is an excellent fighter, I just don’t see it happening..

These same people will allude to Mayweather’s inactivity as the possible reason for his “0” to go. They also said that even if he is consistently working out while he was retired, being in gym shape and in boxing shape are two totally different things and I agree. Because even the great Michael Jordan was not able to instantly reclaim his throne after and 1 month layoff. All of those things are true but there’s a big difference in that analogy that they failed to take into consideration. Basketball is a team sport while boxing is not. There are a lot of match-ups aside from Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway that made the difference, that’s something Floyd will never need to worry about.

Some fans also said that Marquez’ uncanny ability to make unbelievable mid fight adjustments will make a lot of difference; his fights with Pacquiao and recently with Juan Diaz are living proof. That is true, but he’s fighting Floyd Mayweather here, Floyd is the master of that. Chopchop Corley cracked him really bad early in their fight but that was as close as he got. He may be a braggart and we might not like it but most of what he’s saying is true. There is no blueprint on how to beat him. Many boxers and trainers look at first fight with Jose Luis Castillo because that was the only fight Floyd had a hard time from start to finish but he proved to everyone that it was a one time thing. He beat Castillo in a rematch and everyone that fought him after that tried the very same approach to no avail. If you have any doubts, ask Baldomir, Hatton and Dela Hoya how it worked for them.

Marquez’ ability to recuperate after getting hurt is great but there will be a distinct difference this time. Marquez is not a fast starter and if you look at his fights against Pacquiao and Juan Diaz, he made the necessary adjustments after he was dropped and/or hurt. The difference with Mayweather is he is always a step ahead of anyone. If Marquez gets hurt early and he will get hurt, Mayweather will pick him apart just like anyone else. He’ll make adjustments based on Marquez’ adjustments and it will be a vicious albeit potentially boring cycle. Marquez will have his moments but he doesn’t have enough power to really hurt Mayweather in my view. Both fighters said they will try to knock each other out and I hope for all our sakes they stay true to their word. Either way, I see Mayweather winning this one easy. I think it will be a unanimous decision win but if Marquez’ machismo and stubbornness comes into play, he’ll get knocked out in by the 9th or 10th round.

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Mayweather V Marquez Too Close Too Call, Says Insider

2009-09-19T03:32:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - The non-title welterweight bout between undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr and Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday is too close to call, according to boxing historian Bert Sugar.

Mayweather, four pounds heavier than his opponent at Friday's weigh-in, is a strong favourite to win the 12-round contest but Sugar felt the Mexican had been widely underestimated by pundits.

"I've got this as an even fight," Sugar, 73, told Reuters. "You're looking at two of today's greats and this fight can place one of them into the pantheon of welterweight greats."

Mayweather is bidding to win the 40th bout of his professional career but he faces an element of uncertainty on his return to the ring after a 21-month retirement.

"This is not the 40th fight in Floyd's career, it's the first fight of his second career," said Sugar, a cigar-chomping member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

"Twenty-one months out of anything, even riding a bicycle, is going to be a little bit of a setback. I think you're going to see a rust factor here."

Sugar, author of numerous sports books and a former publisher and editor of Ring Magazine, also pointed to the counter-punching skills, stamina and intelligence of Marquez.

"Marquez has never been above 135 (pounds) but he has no trouble with stamina," he said. "He sometimes finishes at a greater pace than he started.

STAMINA PROBLEM

"And maybe after the idleness of 21 months, the stamina problem might now be Mayweather's and not Marquez's."

The Mexican, a five-times world champion who has a 50-4-1 record with 37 knockouts, is known for his aggression and combination punching.

While Mayweather, 39-0 (25 KOs), is the best defensive fighter of his generation with lightning hand and foot speed, Sugar felt the Mexican's style could be a telling factor.

"Marquez's best punch is to the ribs," he said. "You can't hit Mayweather in the head because he is probably the best defensive fighter I have seen since Pernell Whitaker.

"But he turns his body and what does he then expose? His ribs. Marquez is one of the best thinking fighters I have seen in years. He can adapt in the middle of a fight."

Also significant for Sugar was the manner of Mayweather's last four wins -- against Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

"Each of them flagged coming down the stretch," Sugar said. "Lack of stamina, I don't know what it was."

In Sugar's opinion, Marques would be well advised to emulate his compatriot Jose Luis Castillo, who lost a controversial point decision to Mayweather in April 2002.

"That has been the biggest trouble of all 39 fights that he ever fought, his first fight against Castillo," Sugar said.

"If Marquez can move him to the ropes and pressure him, and bangs him to the ribs, that's going to be a problem for Floyd."

Source: nytimes.com

Episode 4: Mayweather vs Marquez 24/7

2009-09-19T01:33:00.000-07:00

Mayweather responds to weight controversy!!!

2009-09-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

Mayweather loses $300K per pound

2009-09-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. weighed in at 146 pounds on Friday afternoon, two pounds heavier than the weight stipulated in the contract for his comeback fight against lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The excess weight will cost Mayweather $300,000 per pound, meaning Marquez will get an additional $600,000 on top of his $3.2 million guarantee, a source told ESPN.com. Mayweather's minimum guarantee is $10 million, a figure likely to dramatically increase after the pay-per-view receipts are counted.

Marquez, who has never fought heavier than 135 pounds, comfortably made 142 pounds, two less than the 144-pound contract weight.

At Mayweather's request, nobody would speak publicly about the contract weight throughout the promotion that kicked off in early May and continued into the fall when the fight was postponed from July 18 because of a Mayweather rib injury.

However, several sources with direct knowledge of the contract told ESPN.com all along that the contract maximum weight was 144 pounds, three less than the 147-pound welterweight maximum.

But after Friday's weigh-in, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer finally addressed the issue, telling ESPN.com, "The fight was contracted as a welterweight fight with an agreed upon weight of 144 pounds. However, there were pre-negotiated weight penalties built in."

Schaefer would not disclose the dollar figure, but another source with direct knowledge of the contract told ESPN.com that the penalty was $300,000 per pound if either fighter was overweight.

According to the source, the Marquez camp knew Wednesday night that Mayweather would not make weight because Mayweather's team made overtures to Golden Boy Promotions in an effort to have Marquez agree to change weight on the bout agreements to be filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

However, Marquez's contract had already been filed reading 144 pounds, according to commission executive director Keith Kizer. But Kizer said the bout agreement was retrieved from the commission by Golden Boy Promotions and changed to 147 with Marquez initialing it.

Mayweather's contract with 147 pounds was not filed with the commission until minutes before the weigh-in. Kizer said it was supposed to be filed on Wednesday.

Kizer said the Mayweather camp asked to file it Thursday and he said OK, but that deadline also came and went.

"We were very unhappy with the lateness of Mr. Mayweather's contract," Kizer said.

Kizer said that had the bout agreements not been changed to 147, Mayweather would have faced a fine from the commission in addition to whatever penalty he had agreed to pay Marquez. For being two pounds overweight, Kizer said the penalty would have been 10 percent of his purse, or $1 million. Had he been three pounds over (147 pounds), the figure would have jumped to a 20 percent fine.

Source: espn.go.com

Mayweather weighs in 4 pounds heavier than Marquez, surprising fight fans

2009-09-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Floyd Mayweather Jr. weighed a surprising 146 pounds Friday for his comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, paying a big financial penalty for two extra pounds.

Mayweather stepped on the MGM Grand Garden stage weighing four pounds more than Marquez, and two pounds more than the fight's 144-pound catch weight limit. The fighters' contracts contained an overweight penalty clause that likely moved a six-figure portion of the purse from the undefeated Mayweather to the underdog Marquez, but won't cancel the bout.

"He loses a substantial amount of money," said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, the fight's promoter. "His advisers and his team are quite upset that he's going to have to come up with that substantial amount of money."

Golden Boy generically promoted the fight as a welterweight (under 147 pounds) bout, but the contracted weight of 144 was close to a midpoint between the more typical weights of Mayweather and Marquez, a natural featherweight who has never fought above the 135-pound lightweight limit.

Mayweather made the change Friday morning when he realized he wouldn't make the limit, said Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

"It's pretty rare, but it's something that's between the two fighters in this case," said Kizer, noting the bout isn't for a title. "It happens every once in a while when somebody realizes they can't make weight a week before the fight, but it's rare that it happens four hours (before the weigh-in). They have the ability to move up if that's what they want."

Schaefer wouldn't disclose the total penalty paid by Mayweather, who didn't appear the slightest bit concerned by the extra weight while playing to a lively weigh-in crowd that included a few hundred Mayweather fans. It was a marked change from his last weigh-in at the MGM Grand for his December 2007 bout with Ricky Hatton, when the English-dominated crowd gleefully chanted "Floyd's only got one fan!"

Still, Marquez clearly was the crowd favorite, greeted with chants and cheers from thousands of flag-waving fans of Mexican heritage.

Mayweather followed in Oscar De La Hoya's footsteps by picking on somebody who wasn't his own size, but De La Hoya's decision to fight Manny Pacquiao last year didn't work out so well. After Pacquiao weighed in at 142 pounds last December, nine months after fighting at 129, he demolished De La Hoya, who struggled and starved to get to 145.

Pacquiao stopped De La Hoya after the eighth round.

"Sometimes size matters, and sometimes size doesn't matter," Schaefer said. "I really don't know what the implications of that are, but all of that was contractually dealt with, so it was no surprise to me, it was no surprise to Marquez, and it was no surprise to Mayweather."

Source: latimes.com

Mayweather, Marquez weigh in

2009-09-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Weights by Andreas Hale & David L. Hudson
Photos by Chris Cozzone
From the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for tomorrow night’s “Number One/Numero Uno” card promoted by Golden Boy Promotions & Mayweather Promotions, televised on HBO-PPV:
Floyd Mayweather 146 vs. Juan Manuel Marquez 142
Chris John 126 vs. Rocky Juarez 126
Michael Katsidis 135 vs. Vicente Escobedo 134
Orlando Cruz 126 vs. Cornelius Lock 125
Said Ouali 146 vs. Francisco Rios 148
Erislandy Lara 155 vs. Jose Varela 156
Jessie Vargas 140 vs. Raul Tovar 141
Dion Savage 167.5 vs. Loren Myers 167.5
Mike Perez 133 vs. Richard Ellis 133

Source: fightnews.com

Weigh-in Pics from Las Vegas

2009-09-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

Roach tips Mayweather to win ‘boring’ contest

2009-09-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) — Trainer Freddie Roach, uncannily accurate in his predictions of recent high-profile fights, has forecast a points victory for Floyd Mayweather Jr. over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Although Mayweather will be returning to the ring after a 21-month retirement for the non-title welterweight bout, Roach believes the undefeated American holds a significant advantage because of his lighting hand speed and footwork.

“I like Mayweather to win on a decision, although it might be a boring fight because they are both naturally counter punchers,” Roach told Reuters in the build-up to the 12-round bout at the MGM Grand.

“Marquez is obviously going to have to take the lead and force the fight but he is more comfortable in the counter-punching mode.

“That is why he did well against (Manny) Pacquiao because Pacquiao was so aggressive at that time. He just travelled right into his game.”

Marquez has twice fought Pacquiao, earning a draw when they first clashed in May 2004 before losing his WBA super-featherweight title to the Filipino in a controversial split decision in March 2008.

“Marquez is most effective when he fights a guy coming to him,” Roach said of the Mexican, a five-time world champion who has a 50-4-1 career record with 37 knockouts.

“Now he’s going to fight a runner (in Mayweather) and he’s going to be going forward for the first time in a long time.

“It’s going to be difficult for him because of Mayweather’s speed and movement.”

Mayweather, 39-0 (25 KOs), was widely regarded as boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter until he retired from the ring after his 10th round stoppage of Britain’s Ricky Hatton in a WBC welterweight title bout in December 2007.

That mythical pound-for-pound tag has since passed to Pacquiao, largely because of his December 2008 defeat of 10-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya and his demolition of Hatton five months later.

On both occasions, Roach was Pacquiao’s trainer and he accurately forecast the results of each of those fights - virtually to the round.

While Roach is backing five-division world champion Mayweather to win his 40th professional bout, he is unlikely to be watching the contest on television.

“I’m not really excited about this fight, to be honest, because it’s between two counter punchers,” Roach said with a smile.

“Styles make fights and, as a match-maker, I think it’s a poor choice. But I’m not the match-maker so it’s not my fault.”

Source: mb.com.ph

CompuBox Analysis: Mayweather vs Marquez

2009-09-18T02:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday’s showdown between former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. and consensus number-two all-rounder Juan Manuel Marquez is filled with intrigue, story lines and questions. They include:

* How much of his skills does Mayweather, a solid 4-to-1 favorite, still have following a 22-month layoff?

* How will the 144-pound catchweight (Mayweather’s lightest since he weighed 139 for Arturo Gatti in June 2005) affect “The Pretty Boy” – and how will the additional pounds affect Marquez, who was last seen knocking out Juan Diaz at 135?

* Will beyond-the-ring distractions (the upcoming assault trial of his uncle/trainer Roger, his car being linked to a shooting at a roller rink and whispers of tax troubles) affect Mayweather’s focus and execution?

* At 36 and with many hard fights recently, will Marquez show his age?

* Is Marquez asking too much of himself by fighting a younger, quicker, stronger and rested fighter at an unfamiliar weight?

Only fight night – and hindsight – can offer answers but the numbers offer a glimpse of what might be.

Changing his spots: After losing to Chris John, counter-puncher Marquez added some spice to his normal counter-punching style. Although he’s taking more chances he still became more statistically effective on offense while remaining responsible defensively. In nine fights tracked by CompuBox since the John fight, Marquez throws more (49.4 punches per round now to 45.9 then), lands more (19.0 to 14.6), throws and lands more power shots (29.2 and 13.3 to 27.3 and 10.3) and connects at a higher rate (45.7 percent to 37.5). Defensively, he takes more punches overall (14.4 per round now to 10.0 before) but his rivals land power shots at a nearly identical rate (34.8 percent now to 34.2 then).

Waste not, want not: The secret to Mayweather’s success lies in his extraordinary efficiency. In his last two appearances against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton he averaged 40.1 and 32.9 punches per round respectively, far below the 58.8 the average welterweight throws. While he landed 43 percent and 39.2 percent overall, he connected on an eye-popping 57.3 percent of his power shots against “The Golden Boy” and 38.9 percent of them against Hatton. At the same time, Mayweather tasted a far lower percentage of his foes’ power shots – 24 percent from De La Hoya and 16.8 percent of Hatton’s. In a sport where the percentage gap between shots landed and punches fielded are in the single digits, Mayweather’s plus-minus ratings of plus-33 against De La Hoya and plus-22.1 against Hatton border on the superhuman.

Compare those incredible plus-minus power figures to those Marquez recorded in his last two fights. Marquez enjoyed a plus-11 rating against the tricky Casamayor in power punches (42 percent to 31) and nine percent overall (31-22) while against Diaz he racked up a plus-seven overall (39-32) and an excellent plus-15 in connected power punches (47-32). This means that Marquez, even at his advanced age, can fight effectively against slick boxers and wade-in aggressors alike. That will come in handy against Mayweather, who will throw his entire arsenal of offensive and defensive maneuvers at the Mexican star.

The “sludge” factor: Like Bernard Hopkins, Mayweather’s defense and countering abilities inhibit foes’ offenses, and if the “Pretty Boy” retains this aspect of his game it may prove to be decisive. Contrast De La Hoya and Hatton’s performances against Mayweather versus the three fights before they faced him. Against Mayweather De La Hoya threw 3.8 percent fewer punches a round (48.9 to 50.8), connected on 28.7 percent fewer (10.2 to 14.3), tried 9.2 percent more power shots (28.4 to 26) but connected on 24.5 percent fewer (6.8 to 9.0). Even more dramatically, Hatton attempted 39.3 percent fewer punches against Mayweather (37.2 to 61.3), landed 70.6 percent fewer (6.3 to 21.4), tried 40.8 percent fewer power shots (30.9 to 52.2) and landed 74.3 percent fewer (5.2 to 20.2).

Diaz’s frenetic pace forced Marquez to average 81.3 punches per round but because Diaz is not the most defensively skilled of fighters, Marquez connected on 39.3 percent of his overall punches and 47.4 percent of his power shots. Against the counter-punching Casamayor – a man who gives all opponents a wide variety of thought-provoking looks – Marquez threw just 46.9 punches per round overall but still landed 42 percent of his 301 power shots. The huge divergence in output suggests that Marquez adjusts his game to the opponent and based on past history look for Marquez’s output to be somewhere between the two extremes because Mayweather will likely force Marquez to take the lead. Against Casamayor, Marquez’s jab landed just 16 percent of the time and look for similarly low numbers against Mayweather. Mayweather’s ability to neutralize the jab will be paramount, for if he can stop Marquez’s jab he will have an easier time stopping everything else.

Prediction: For all the drama beyond the ring, Mayweather is always in impeccable condition. This is not the first time Mayweather has faced peripheral issues, for at one time or another both his uncle and father sat in jail cells during his fights – and he’ll be the first to tell you that his record remains perfect. He is anxious to prove he remains the best in the business – both in the ring and at the negotiating table.

Despite all the buildup, Mayweather has continued his pattern of shrewd matchmaking. Save for the layoff, Mayweather has every conceivable advantage – size, speed, power, ring wear, scar tissue (or the lack of it) and purse size. To top it all off, the fight is taking place in his hometown. In short, the native of America’s biggest gambling town has stacked the deck.

The only question is whether Mayweather will try to make a statement by battering the out-sized Marquez before knocking him out or whether he’ll be content to pick Marquez apart in his usual safety-first manner. He has the dimensions to control the flow and geometry and when that’s the case he wins. Therefore, Mayweather will win a comfortable unanimous decision.

Source: boxingscene.com

Can Mayweather Draw A Crowd?

2009-09-17T19:40:00.001-07:00

The unbeaten boxer's return to the ring is no bonanza. But his next fight could be.

For Floyd Mayweather and his handlers, the goals for his Sept. 19 comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez should be simple: make a few bucks and get out of there with your health intact. Oh, yeah--and score enough points to win.

Those are the necessary ingredients for Mayweather's real payday--a potential 2010 showdown against Manny Pacquiao that would be billed as the bout to determine the world's best pound-for-pound fighter. Pacquiao has generally held that distinction since knocking boxing's meal ticket, Oscar De La Hoya, into retirement last December. Pacquiao faces his own test this fall, taking on former junior welterweight champ Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14.

"It would be one of the great fights in history," says Mark Taffet, senior VP of Sports Operations at HBO, which is charging $49.95 a pop for this Saturday's fight, of a potential Pacquiao-Mayweather brawl.

For now, Mayweather (39-0; 25 knockouts) doesn't seem to be getting the kind of traction he anticipated for his return to the ring after an 18-month absence. That's despite an intriguing matchup against Marquez (50-4-1; 37 KO's), a top fighter from the boxing hotbed of Mexico who has shown few signs of slowing down at age 36.

"Our two biggest consumer segments are African-American and Latino," says Taffet. "This is America's No. 1 fighter vs. Mexico's No. 1 fighter, so you've got true mega-fight potential."

But the economy is tough, and boxing's biggest challenger for younger audiences, Mixed Martial Arts, is holding its popular UFC 13 bout in Dallas the same night. Tickets remain available at Las Vegas's MGM Grand Garden Arena, a sure sign that Mayweather-Marquez isn't shaping up to be quite as mega as Taffet hopes. Mayweather's 2007 bout with Oscar De La Hoya sold out in two hours, then drew 2.4 million pay-per-view buys. The fight will be available in 170 movie theaters in the U.S., a sign that the fight's promoters are acquiescing to the reality that some fans will only sign up for a cheaper alternative ($15) to the view from the living room sofa.

Using live gate sales as a gauge for overall interest, the fight figures to resemble the Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton matchup of last May (850,000 PPV buys) more than the any of the million-plus viewers that De La Hoya routinely pulled in. That would likely earn Mayweather, who scored $25 million for the De La Hoya bout, about $8 million this time around. Richard Schaefer, CEO of De La Hoya's management company Golden Boy Promotions, which is representing Marquez, claims that early tracking shows that PPV buys could break the million mark, but that in the end "Anyone's guess is as good as mine."

For HBO, that would mean two premium post-Oscar fights this year drawing solidly without hitting jackpot status. The chance for that comes next year, should Mayweather and Pacquiao square off. Better yet, there's a chance that fight could be held at Yankee Stadium, adding a dash of history and an extra level of interest. The likes of Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali traded blows at the old version of the stadium, in the days before big fights migrated to Vegas.

Sports marketing experts say staging a big bout there could hook casual fans, much like the NHL scored with its annual outdoor baseball stadium game on New Years Day. But unlike hockey, boxing still lacks a regular schedule to follow up a big event with. And the sport still suffers from a plethora of governing bodies that yield too many champions. "It makes a lot of sense, but without doing it on a regular basis, it's only going to do so much," says Patrick Rishe, who teaches sports business at Webster University in St. Louis.

Yankee officials, looking to add events to help pay for their $1.5 billion palace, have publicly expressed interest in adding boxing to a mix that already includes several scheduled college football games.

First, though, both Mayweather and Pacquiao have to win the fights in front of them. And that doesn't figure to be easy. Both opponents--Marquez and Cotto--are highly regarded fighters with legitimate chances to win. Just what boxing doesn't need, since neither has the charisma necessary to attract huge audiences. Mayweather and Pacquaio have more, but not enough for either to step up as the next De La Hoya--unless they're fighting each other. Beyond that, the cupboard is still pretty bare.

Source: forbes.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s return is dotted with controversy

2009-09-17T19:37:00.001-07:00

The fighter's legal and financial problems make his challenge against Juan Manuel Marquez even tougher.

Minutes before Manny Pacquiao decked Ricky Hatton in May, Pacquiao's business manager grabbed a ringside chair.

The small talk was that morning's surprise comeback announcement by Floyd Mayweather Jr., who had "retired" a year earlier while atop the pound-for-pound rankings with a 39-0 record -- perfection enhanced in 2007 by a victory over Oscar De La Hoya in boxing's most lucrative event ever.

"Mayweather just shot himself in the head," Pacquiao's business manager, Michael Koncz, assessed. "Now, he has to sell a fight on his own."

If it was an imposing task then for the skilled fighter stuck in a bad-guy's role, doing so in the face of an active criminal investigation and personal financial problems has made the challenge stiffer.

Instead of waiting for the Pacquiao outcome or making a date with world welterweight champion Shane Mosley, Mayweather chose his comeback foe to be Mexico's world lightweight champion, Juan Manuel Marquez, who is best known for his 2003 draw and 2008 split-decision loss to Pacquiao.

"Me fighting Shane Mosley?" Mayweather asked as he stopped in Hollywood on Monday to hype Saturday's bout. "Who wants to see that fight?"

Some are asking the same question about Mayweather-Marquez. Larry Merchant, HBO's boxing analyst, recently e-mailed The Times regarding Mayweather: "Historically, greatness has been determined not by not losing, but by fighting -- and often re-fighting -- the best opponents out there." Marquez, smaller than Mayweather, is a 4-1 underdog.

The cheapest $150 seats that usually sell out within hours in major bouts remained on sale Monday for Mayweather-Marquez. Fight promoter Richard Schaefer said he expects a live gate in excess of $6 million, and predicts the bout will be the most lucrative pay-per-view fight of the year. Pacquiao's Nov. 14 fight against welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is already sold out, promoter Bob Arum noted this week, with nearly $9 million in tickets sold.

Beyond the suspect matchmaking, Mayweather's ability to bridge his brilliant boxing skills to the maximum millions he could collect as one of the world's top fighters is being tested by his associations: to people involved in a shooting last month outside a roller-skating rink where he often takes his children, and to his uncle-trainer Roger Mayweather, who was arrested in April on suspicion of attempting to strangle a female boxer.

"A lot of people have personal problems, why bring ours up?" Mayweather Jr. asked. "Why can't they just say we're a good fighter and trainer? It's crazy."

The praise Mayweather deserves as a fast-moving, defensive tactician is accompanied by a personality that can be abrasive. In past episodes of HBO's reality series, "24/7," hyping his fights, Mayweather embraced the "Money" Mayweather persona, flashing a roll of $100 bills, jewelry and riding in expensive vehicles, and his uncle was portrayed as wacky and comically opinionated.

De La Hoya, a promoter of the fight, contends the drama surrounding Mayweather and his demeanor are a draw.

"Millions watch because they can't wait to see him lose." De La Hoya said. "That's a great thing."

De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions has worked feverishly to sell the bout, scheduling 11 consecutive days of media events to spread word about the fight in addition to the promoter-paid "24/7" series.

But the law enforcement probes into the alleged violence surrounding the Mayweathers have a graver feel than the family's past animated internal friction, and HBO had to address it in this version of "24/7."

"It seems like the chaos around Floyd Mayweather doesn't affect his training regimen or his camp," HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg said. "It's almost like he thrives on it, like trouble is a fly on the wall that can be swatted away."

In a search warrant affidavit, Las Vegas police reported a witness named Damein Bland said that on Aug. 23, Mayweather approached a man named Quincey Williams at a skating rink and "confronted him about a text message Williams had previously sent Mayweather . . . that he hoped he lost his next fight. Mayweather threatened Williams"

Minutes later, according to the police affidavit, Bland said he and Williams saw Mayweather and two others standing in the parking lot next to Mayweather's Rolls Royce. Bland said he saw one of the men, whom he identified as "O.C.," "with a firearm in his hand and a flash coming from the firearm." Police found six gunshot holes in the BMW being used by Bland and Williams, according to court records.

"The facts are Floyd had nothing to do with this . . . he's the most misrepresented athlete in the world," Mayweather's manager, Leonard Ellerbe, said. "We don't condone violence by any means."

Schaefer asked, "How can you blame Floyd? I don't know what he did wrong . . . there's crazy people out there."

Bill Cassell, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, told The Times Wednesday the investigation into the shooting and Mayweather's alleged threat is "ongoing."

There's also financial trouble. News reports have revealed a $6.1-million IRS tax lien against Mayweather Jr., and last week JP Morgan Chase Bank sued the boxer for $167,000 unpaid on a loan after repossessing a $528,000 Mercedes Maybach 57S from him in January.

Mayweather denies being strictly financially motivated to end his 21-month layoff.

"Why can't I come back just because I love boxing?" he asked Monday.

Source: latimes.com

Mayweather continues history of ducking opponents

2009-09-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS -- As he faced the media for one of the final times before his welterweight showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday, Floyd Mayweather kept his rhetoric the same. He respected Marquez, but he was going to crush him. He respected Manny Pacquiao, but Pacman is not boxing's No. 1 fighter. And when Marquez falls, it will be further proof that Mayweather is one of boxing's all-time great fighters.

But his last argument is dubious. Whenever Mayweather retires -- for good, not that 21-month hiatus he took after defeating Ricky Hatton in 2007 -- history will make his legacy. He will be remembered as an Olympic bronze medalist and a six-time world champion in five different weight classes. He'll be remembered as a slick fighter with impenetrable defense, lightning fast hands and sneaky power. And he'll also be remembered as a flamboyant character whose ability to play the role of the villain boosted the popularity of boxing when the sports landscape was ripe with competitors.

History will not remember him as an all-time great. It won't put him on the pedestal with Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Julio Cesar Chavez. Because to be great, you have to fight the great, and for most of his career Mayweather has staunchly refused to do that.

Mayweather likes to argue that his remarkable skills have created the illusion that he is facing inferior competition. "People say 'how do you feel about not having the Sugar Ray Leonard [type of] opponents?'" said Mayweather. "I do have those types. I just dominate so spectacularly, it doesn't look like it."

But Leonard has wins over Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran. Mayweather's biggest victories have come against an aging Oscar De La Hoya and an undersized Hatton.

Certainly, a lack of quality opponents is a factor. But while there are no Haglers, Hearns or Durans for Mayweather to challenge, there are several solid opponents he has avoided. There was Antonio Margarito, who Mayweather turned down $8 million to fight in 2006. There was Shane Mosley, who has been actively seeking a fight with Mayweather for years. And there is Pacquiao, who has not specifically asked for a fight with Mayweather but does not appear to be someone Mayweather is interested in facing. When asked about Pacquiao on Wednesday, Mayweather once again brought up Pacquiao's 2005 loss to Erik Morales, as if trying to discredit Pacquiao with his past.

Even Marquez, who Mayweather (39-0) will face Saturday at the MGM Grand (HBO PPV, 9 p.m.), is a cop-out. The reigning lightweight champion, Marquez (50-4-1) is rated by most boxing publications among the top three (and in many, the top two) pound-for-pound fighters in the world. With gritty wins over Juan Diaz, Joel Casamayor and Marco Antonio Barrera -- not to mention a controversial loss to Pacquiao -- it's a status Marquez has earned. But Marquez, 36, is adding nine pounds to his 5-foot-7 frame to reach the 144-pound weight limit to fight Mayweather, who is still expected to be the bigger, faster and stronger man.

Talk of Mayweather's future opponents is even more maddening. On Wednesday Mayweather, 32, was non-committal about potential matchups with Pacquiao, Mosley or Miguel Cotto. He told a small group of reporters that he didn't care about who the fans or the press wanted him to fight, that he would choose his own opponent. Judging by his words, that opponent is De La Hoya. During Wednesday's press conference, Mayweather told De La Hoya he would "tap both him and Marquez on the same night" and grinned widely when Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer joked about the retired De La Hoya making a comeback.

"He wants to fight me again, I know he does," said Mayweather. "From the bottom of my heart, I just don't like him."

Facing De La Hoya, who struggled against Steve Forbes before being wiped out by Pacquiao last year, would do little for Mayweather's legacy. But it would do a lot for his bank account. And maybe that's how Mayweather should be remembered: smart, savvy, a man who, when presented with big opportunities, has jumped on them.
And a fighter who, when presented with tough fights, ducked.

Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Against Mayweather, underdog Marquez swings at greatness

2009-09-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS — When a fighter is as special as Juan Manuel Marquez, it shouldn't take this long for him to reach this level.
In 16 years as a professional, however, Saturday's bout vs. Floyd Mayweather at MGM Grand will be just the second time he has headlined a pay-per-view event (HBO PPV, 9 p.m. ET).

A featherweight for most of his career, this is Marquez' first bout above lightweight (135). The non-title bout is being billed as a welterweight fight even though it'll take place a few pounds below the 147-pound limit.

Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs), the pound-for-pound king before he took a two-year layoff, is a heavy favorite.

"It doesn't matter with me when people say Mayweather (will) win," says Marquez, a Mexico City native who has rarely been an underdog. "I will put my Mexican heart inside the ring."

Until recently, when there was talk of all-time great Mexican fighters, the role call would read, in order, Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.

It wasn't until five years ago that Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) started to creep into the picture on the heels of a draw in his first fight with Manny Pacquiao.

Marquez was dropped three times in the first round, his nose broken on the final one, but got up to not only finish the 12-round featherweight championship fight but win more rounds against the hard-punching and mythical pound-for-pound king.

In 2007, Marquez finally got a shot at Barrera and won a unanimous decision. He never fought Morales, who fought a trilogy with Barrera from 2000-04, the last two PPV shows.

Marquez, 36, left Bob Arum's Top Rank and signed with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions in 2006.

?All the time I been behind Morales and Barrera. I know it?s my time,? says Marquez of feeling frozen out against his countrymen. ?I?m very angry...Three fights (with) Barrera and Morales? What happened to Marquez? My promoter didn?t give me the opportunities.?

Even though he lost a split decision in a rematch with Pacquiao 18 months ago, Marquez came back to win the lineal lightweight crown, becoming the first to knock out the long dominant but underrated Joel Casamayor.

In February he became the first to KO Juan Diaz in a leading candidate for Fight of the Year.

He expects Mayweather, who has fought as high as 150 pounds, to impose his perceived advantage in strength.

"I think Mayweather is going to come out with everything in the first round. He's not going to wait," Marquez says. "If that happens it's going to be a great fight."

The anticipation is so great for Marquez that he revealed he'll do anything — including drinking his own urine for extra vitamins in HBO's series 24/7: Mayweather/Marquez— to win.

The sight of Marquez downing the yellow liquid in a clear glass without the slightest cringe has created a national buzz. That 24/7 episode is one of the network's top two-rated shows since they began airing before PPV fights two years ago, according to Mark Taffet of HBO PPV.

"A fighter who's lost before, he's got doubt. There's a blueprint on how to beat Marquez," Mayweather says. "There's not a blueprint on how to beat Mayweather.… But I'm not going to drink urine or nothing like that. (That's) crazy."

A win of this magnitude would put Marquez alongside, and maybe even above, his idol, Chavez (107-6-2). "It'll make Mexican people crazy," he says. "Me, too."

No lien: There is no longer an Internal Revenue Service lien on Mayweather's purse, meaning that the IRS will not show up at today's weigh-in to collect the roughly $6 million Mayweather was believed to have owed.

Source: usatoday.com

Mayweather tipped in 'boring' contest

2009-09-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

Trainer Freddie Roach, uncannily accurate in his predictions of recent high-profile fights, has forecast a points victory for Floyd Mayweather Jr over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on Sunday.

Although Mayweather will be returning to the ring after a 21-month retirement for the non-title welterweight bout, Roach believes the undefeated American holds a significant advantage because of his lighting hand speed and footwork.

"I like Mayweather to win on a decision, although it might be a boring fight because they are both naturally counter punchers," Roach told Reuters in the build-up to the 12-round bout at the MGM Grand.

"Marquez is obviously going to have to take the lead and force the fight but he is more comfortable in the counter-punching mode.

"That is why he did well against (Manny) Pacquiao because Pacquiao was so aggressive at that time. He just travelled right into his game."

Marquez has twice fought Pacquiao, earning a draw when they first clashed in May 2004 before losing his WBA super-featherweight title to the Filipino in a controversial split decision in March 2008.

"Marquez is most effective when he fights a guy coming to him," Roach said of the Mexican, a five-times world champion who has a 50-4-1 career record with 37 knockouts.

Going forward

"Now he's going to fight a runner (in Mayweather) and he's going to be going forward for the first time in a long time.

"It's going to be difficult for him because of Mayweather's speed and movement."

Mayweather, 39-0 (25 KOs), was widely regarded as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter until he retired from the ring after his 10th round stoppage of Britain's Ricky Hatton in a WBC welterweight title bout in Dec. 2007.

That mythical pound-for-pound tag has since passed to Pacquiao, largely because of his Dec. 2008 defeat of 10-times world champion Oscar De La Hoya and his demolition of Hatton five months later.

On both occasions, Roach was Pacquiao's trainer and he accurately forecast the results of each of those fights - virtually to the round.

While Roach is backing five-division world champion Mayweather to win his 40th professional bout, he is unlikely to be watching the contest on television.

"I'm not really excited about this fight, to be honest, because it's between two counter punchers," Roach said with a smile.

"Styles make fights and, as a match-maker, I think it's a poor choice. But I'm not the match-maker so it's not my fault."

Source:

True Believers

2009-09-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

By Steve Kim (Photo © HoganPhotos.com / GBP) - There aren’t many people who believe that Juan Manuel Marquez will defeat Floyd Mayweather on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather is thought to be too big, too strong, too fast and too young for the master counter-puncher who has never fought above 135-pounds. But there are two individuals who will be at the Grand Garden Arena this weekend who are fully expecting a ’ Dinamita’ victory.

Their names are Darryl Walker and Kirk Christiano. If you’ve read my past diary entries, they are better known as,’ Darryl and Kirk’, forever attached like ’Hall and Oates’, ’Ernie and Bert’ and ’RUN DMC’. Many of you have asked about them in the past. They are simply the most ardent followers of Marquez on the planet, bar none. Yeah, some of you will claim to be as big as fans as they are- stop it. The line begins with this pair, everyone else goes behind them.

Ask yourself this, how many of you had your flight booked for Indonesia when Marquez was originally scheduled to face Chris John in December of 2005?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

It’s one thing to attend a fight at the Madison Square Garden or the Mandalay Bay, but to actually have had solid plans to go to Indonesia? Alas, the fight was post-poned to March of the following year and they would not be able to make the trip. It’s one of the few Marquez fights they have missed this millennium. But the crazy thing is, to them, it wasn’t that crazy of an idea for them to have planned on going in the first place.

" Not really," said Walker," we were pretty committed to going to every single one of his fights, no matter where it was. And they had finally had the date set for December 10Th, I bought me and Kirk tickets to Jakarta on Singapore Airlines to arrive the Monday before the fight and so we were going to go. And to get from there to the island where it was, we had to figure out transportation, assuming we could do it, and it didn’t seem crazy or odd. I could afford it, I had the time- I didn’t have a kid- so it didn’t seem all that crazy to me. I was excited about going and I’m deeply disappointed that I didn’t make it for the real fight."

As the fight was re-scheduled, he didn’t really believe that Marquez would actually fight in this exotic locale for the paltry sum of around $30,000, until Marquez actually arrived in Indonesia that week. And as Walker says that as he got back from Argentina around that time," Kirk and I came within a hair of getting tickets that Monday. He was really in Indonesia."

Marquez dropped a controversial 12-round decision to the local boxer. But the result of that bout doesn’t particularly anger him.

" No, I can’t reconcile myself over the second Pacquiao fight," said Walker, the bitterness still evident in his voice. He and his best friend believe firmly that Marquez easily out-boxed ’the Pac Man’ last year." The Chris John fight, that was in a foreign country. Juan, he didn’t really look like himself that fight. I scored the fight, I watched it on the internet, I had it eight-to-four and that’s with giving every close round to John. But that wasn’t the real Juan Manuel Marquez in that fight and he won the fight. But you’re fighting in another guys hometown- it’s like fighting in Texas."

This story really begins in Oklahoma- yeah, Oklahoma- where Kirk, who hailed from Guymon and Walker from Keyes, met each other as amateur boxers back in the ’80’s, when things weren’t exactly regulated as closely as they are today.

Christiano recalls," We fought in a gym, with a town of 8,000 with holes in the wall, snow blowing through the walls and people would fight for the older gloves because some of the gloves we used to spar with were ten years old and had no padding left."

As Christiano, who boxed alongside his twin brother Don, first laid eyes on Daryl, he didn’t believe that this guy, who had to be driven 60 miles each way to the gym by his father, was actually a boxer.

It’s in settings like this that you meet characters that can only exist in this sport. Christiano recalls the head trainer at the gym being a bit like Clint Eastwood’s character in ’Million Dollar Baby’." Smoked, drank, ate candy all the time, got in bar fights all the time and everyone was scared to death of him. And ’Speed’( which is Walker’s nickname) was hitting the bag and he had his hands down too low and the coach kicks ’Speed’ in the butt and he said,’ Get your hands up. what do you have, crabs?’"

Boxers were plentiful in that region and they could fight up to three times a week. The duo often sparred together. Soon they were off to Oklahoma State University. Mainly because of the boxing club located in Stillwater run by Ralph Friend.

" I wouldn’t say he recruited us, we got recruited because he was really after Kirk’s twin brother, Don." And they boxed through the large majority of their years in school." I didn’t handle losing well," said Walker, who fought till his third year in college," and I lost a lot."

Walker graduated with his bachelors degree in electrical engineering in 1987 and got his masters two years later. Christiano got his diploma in accounting a few years after that( as he must’ve red-shirted). But through it all, they were boxing fanatics. And back then it was another would-be Mexican legend that they pledged their allegiance to.

" We started out before Julio Cesar Chavez was ever a world champion, I said,’ this guys going to be the greatest Mexican fighter of all-time.’ So for years we basically told that to everybody and we followed him when we could," said Christiano." We were in college, didn’t have money but we did go to a couple of his fights late in his career."

He turned out to be a prophet, ’JC Superstar’ was as good as advertised but it was on the night of September 18Th, 1998, after Chavez quit on his stool against Oscar De La Hoya, that they came upon a realization. As they walked out of the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Christiano said to his buddy," We aren’t doing this guy any favors. We were giving him money just to get whuppings, we need to find a new guy to follow."

At that time fighting in anonymity out in Los Angeles under the Forum Boxing banner was a young, fledgling fighter from Mexico City, who was working under the watchful eye of Nacho Beristain.

What’s interesting is that Christiano, who alerted his pal to this burgeoning boxing talent- first saw Marquez in what was a mighty struggle versus Julian Wheeler a few years before in 1995. A fight in which Marquez was basically bailed out late. That wasn’t exactly the type of performance that has people yearning to buy stock in a guy.

" Truth of the matter is he could have easily lost that fight, he was behind, but you could already see the non-Mexican style," said Christiano." At that point, he had almost no weight on his left foot, his left foot was almost half-way in the air, punching perfectly, perfect vision. Big thing about him, if you ever did catch him clean, he always immediately reacted. The one thing you never wanted to do with Juan was piss him off in the ring because he would so quickly react to it."

What these two former boxers love and appreciate about Marquez is the skill and dexterity he shows in the ring.

" I would say that what really drew me to him, Kirk said it best, he’s beautifully brutal. But it’s really that he’s a master," said Walker." You know when you watch most people fight, you can see them setting people up and you can kinda see where they’re going and how many people do you watch, where you just go back and look what the hell happened. And Juan is that guy, you don’t see it coming, you just have to look at the replays to see what the hell happened."

Walker still marvels at the four-punch explosion that sent Manuel Medina down in a heap in a small ballroom at the Mandalay Bay in 2003, when he won his first major title belt. And he’s right, that striking combination couldn’t have been thrown more stealthily or been executed any better than by Bruce Lee, himself. That fight was part of a small independent pay-per-view show produced by Top Rank. It was the second Marquez fight they had attended live. Marquez’s fight eight months before, a tenth round TKO of Hector Marquez in ten rounds at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas was their first.( " And at that fight," recalled Walker," I badgered some Asian guy, asking him if he was Steve Kim." No, it wasn’t me, by the way.)

Soon they were fixtures at all his fights. The only one Walker has missed since then was his match-up versus Rocky Juarez in November of 2007 because the birth of his daughter, which I guess is an acceptable excuse. But they have traveled to Las Vegas, Houston, Grand Rapids, Pittsburgh and Uncasville, Connecticut. But during this stretch, as Marquez played third banana to the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, Marquez really didn’t have much of a fan following even among the Mexicans. But two Caucasian guys- who soon made custom made Marquez soccer jerseys, that they wear to every one of his bouts- stuck out like two sore white thumbs to the fighter himself.

" It didn’t take him very long to figure out, because you remember how unpopular he was, it used to be that he could walk through a casino in a boxing town and nobody would recognize him," Christiano, recalls." It didn’t take him very long at all to figure out that me and ’Speed’ were big fans. We were following him around. When he weighed in for the Marcos Lincona fight, he called ’Speed over- I wasn’t even at the weigh-in- because he recognized him. As soon as he got out of the ring that night, he came straight to me and ’Speed’. So that was like the first time he ever acknowledged us. It was a big thing."

In August of 2006, after scoring a stoppage of Terdsak Jandaeng, in Stateline, Nevada, a group of fans had made their way into a theater for the post-fight press conference. Before Marquez talked about his nights work, he actually pointed out the pair and thanked them for all the years of support. Afterwords, Gary Shaw, who promoted that show, which also featured Marquez’s brother, Rafael, was so impressed that he invited them to dinner with the fighters and the promotional staff at the swanky MontBleu Casino and Resort steakhouse.

" That was pretty awesome but it was also kind of embarrassing because I don’t want to be seen as ’the Marquez guy’, a hanger-on, or the guy who expects anything. I just want to be a fan. I want to buy my tickets to the fight and go watch him fight," said Walker." You know how some people try to clutch on to a guy, they try to rid their fame kinda, so to speak? I just want to appreciate him."

But whenever Marquez sees his boys, he acknowledges them.

" It’s gratifying," admitted Walker," but it’s more gratifying to see him get his due." As he witnessed how Marquez was swarmed by the masses in the aftermath of his rematch with Pacquiao, he knew that he had reached a certain plateau. He was no longer just another guy." I appreciate that more than any shout out towards me."

Let’s make this clear, they are devoted fans, but they aren’t like the characters played by Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd in ’Celtic Pride’. They have lives and real responsibilities. Walker, 44, now resides in San Jose, California, is an attorney who specializes in intellectual property patents.( After earning his degree in electrical engineering at his alma mater, he graduated from Santa Clara law school in 1999.) Christiano, lives in Phoenix, Arizona and works for the local phone company.

But make no doubt about it, Marquez and boxing are an important part of their lives. Most of their discretionary income and vacation time is devoted to these pursuits. Because they plan and book their flights and hotel rooms months in advance, there have been times they have been stuck going to fight cards where Marquez’s fights have been scratched. This happened twice, when Marquez was supposed to face Derrick Gainer originally in Los Angeles on the Roy Jones-Julio Gonzalez undercard and a few years later when his bout with Jimrex Jaca was scratched, meaning that they were stuck watching Barrera bludgeon Mzonke Fana in El Paso.

Those who are in their lives know that Marquez is vital to them. Daryl’s significant other, Mirna, has no qualms." Yeah, she knows how important it is and that I’m not going to miss a fight of his." Oftentimes, she accompanies him to fights. Meaning that during these excursions, Walker not only has to pay for another flight, but two flights, as his mother is flown in from Oklahoma to babysit their daughter for that weekend.

Hey, it’s expensive being a Marquez fan. And come Friday night, they will be somewhere inside the MGM Grand, most likely the Rouge, drinking up a storm( they love themselves some ’Tom Collins’), smoking cigars and talking boxing all night. My former colleague, Doug Fischer, and myself have spent many a memorable night- where we don’t remember all that much- with these two. They can drink and smoke like Marquez counter-punches, all night long.

Back in February after Marquez dispatched Juan Diaz, a group of fans and members of the fight community congregated at the bar at the Hilton Americas. As I told these guys of Marquez’s challenge of Mayweather, Christiano, without batting an eye, told me," Yeah, Marquez could use a tune-up fight."

And he meant it.

" ’Speed’ will tell you this, I have a real neurosis when it comes to his fights. You can watch him with Hector Camacho Jr., Donny Lalonde, at any weight and I’ll start developing a neurosis about whether Juan can beat this guy. But then as it comes closer to the fight, I always end up agreeing with ’Speed’ and he always seems to see it the right way. And I just can’t see that you can make a cogent argument against him. I don’t see a scenario where Mayweather wins this fight."

This doesn’t seem to be false bravado. Like the way the ’Super Fans’ believed in their beloved Chicago Bears on that famous ’Saturday Night Live’ skit, they stand by their man.

Walker claims he’s not nervous, instead," I’m excited and the only time I’ve ever been nervous is before a fight to a point where I thought,’ Look, this is a tough fight’ and usually in my head I’m pretty relaxed because I’m confident he’s going to win- like I’m confident he’s going to beat Mayweather- the first Pacquiao fight. I was a little nervous."

As Marquez crashed to the canvas for the third time that night in the opening frame, Walker was still making travel plans for his next outing." I was ready to go to Couer d’Alene, Idaho for his next fight."

But Christiano admits to having a case of the nerves despite his assurances of a Marquez conquest. He knows that they share a minority opinion. Yet, he is undaunted.

" It’s not good for my health when Marquez fights. Starting a couple of days ago, when I start thinking about it, at all, I wont sleep that night. So at the same time I’m supposed to be working eight hours a day, I’m spending an awful lot of time looking for Marquez news. So I’m not going to enjoy the undercard, at all. It’s going to suck.

" I’m not even going to enjoy the fight much but hopefully, I’ll enjoy the aftermath."

Source: maxboxing.com

Mayweather vs. Marquez = Huge Mismatch

2009-09-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

This fight is an utter joke. I for one am not in the least bit interested in seeing this bout and watching poor Juan Manuel Marquez get slaughtered. If you people think that Marquez has a chance against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday night then I have some desert property I want to sell you. This is going to be a royal slaughter and if you want to pay to see this farce, it’s on you.

This is cherry picking by Mayweather at its worst. Seriously, this is bad for boxing to have a fight this one-sided. By the way, I hear that the tickets still aren’t sold out for Saturday’s bout at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. And that is really pathetic.

This fight should be sold out if people really cared about it, but clearly people like me are too smart to throw their money away in this circus attraction. The reason why I see this as a gross mismatch is simple. Marquez is older, smaller, slower and has much less boxing skills than Mayweather.

Marquez is 36-years-old and has been through a number of hard bouts in the past two years and taken a lot of punishment against Joel Casamayor, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Diaz. Marquez probably should have won all three of the bouts, but got ripped off in the fight against Pacquiao last year in March, losing by a 12 round split decision in a poorly scored fight.

Saturday’s fight matches two counter punchers up against each other and it will be interesting to see who does the attacking in the fight. I doubt it will be Mayweather, I can say that much. Mayweather may be the bigger fighter of the two, but he’s not into taking chances and will probably do what he always does, in other words, sit back and wait for Marquez to come to him so that he doesn’t need to be the one to take any chances.

The pay isn’t fair, because Mayweather is getting a huge $15 million dollar payday, I hear compared to a much smaller amount for Marquez. I don’t think Mayweather is worth that kind of cash, not in this fight he is. This isn’t a mega fight to me.

I consider a mega fight one where there are two evenly matched fighters, like if Mayweather were to be fighting Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito or Paul Williams. I consider those mega fights because I consider them as fighters that could fight Mayweather on even terms pretty much and wouldn’t be a t huge weight size, and skill disadvantage like Marquez will be against Mayweather.

William may be a light middleweight right now, but he only moved up in weight because all the other welterweights were afraid to fight him. Williams could move back down at a moments notice if Mayweather would show interest in fighting him.

Are you kidding? Mayweather won’t fight Williams. Mayweather will never fight Williams, at least not in this lifetime, even though Williams has fought most of his career up until recently at welterweight. Mayweather fans love to say that it wouldn’t be fair because Williams is much taller than Mayweather.

If that’s the case, then why is Mayweather fighting Marquez? Answer me that? Mayweather has freakishly much longer arms than Marquez, almost six inches longer. If Mayweather fought Williams, then Mayweather would be the one at the huge disadvantage. If it’s fair for a fight for Marquez, then it should be the same for a fight with Williams.

Of course Mayweather won’t fight Williams, nor will he fight Joshua Clottey, Cotto, Margarito or Mosley. This is called cherry picking. And the worst part is that boxing fans still have to pay the same kind of big money that they would be paying if Mayweather to fight someone his own size and ability.

That is such a joke. It’s like having a grand chess champion go to elementary school to beat up on some poor 6th grader in chess.

Mayweather has everything going for him in this fight with Marquez – speed, age, weight, boxing skills, taller, longer reach, power, accuracy, experience against top level opposition and home crowd. Need I say more?

Source: boxingnews24.com

PHOTOS: Mayweather vs Marquez Final Press Conference

2009-09-16T20:30:00.001-07:00

Does Marquez pass eye test?

2009-09-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS – I listened to Juan Manuel Marquez on Tuesday afternoon try to explain the nutritional benefits of drinking a glass of his own urine two times a day.

I listened to another guy talking about how throwing boulders while climbing a mountain near Mexico City would convert Marquez into a welterweight.

Marquez’s highly regarded trainer, Nacho Beristain, will give you a bewildering assortment of measurements he’s made that have convinced him that Marquez is ready to leap from the lightweight division and its 135-pound weight limit to welterweight to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday in an HBO pay-per-view bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Me, I’m not so sure Marquez is a welterweight. I know he’s a phenomenal featherweight and a superb super featherweight and a pretty solid lightweight. As to Marquez’s insistence that he’s big enough to hand Mayweather his first defeat in 40 professional fights, well, I’m just not so sure I’m buying that.

It sounds like a lot of hocus pocus.

Drinking pee is not for me and, as far as I know, Marquez isn’t going to be able to hit Mayweather with any of those boulders he was tossing on that mountain.

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. This is a guy who, almost exactly 10 years ago to the day, fought in a championship bout on the same card as Mayweather at a casino in Las Vegas.

On Sept. 11, 1999, Marquez lost a 12-round decision to Freddie Norwood at the Mandalay Bay in a fight for the World Boxing Association featherweight title. In the main event on that show, Mayweather retained his World Boxing Council super featherweight belt by thrashing Carlos Gerena.

From the day he turned pro in 1993 until the end of 2006, Marquez was a featherweight. He moved up to super featherweight in 2007 for the opportunity to make a big payday against fading Marco Antonio Barrera. He fought there twice more and then, a year ago, with no prospects of a third fight with Manny Pacquiao, he moved to lightweight to take on another fading veteran, Joel Casamayor.

He won the belt that night with a typically efficient performance, then he defended it in February against Juan Diaz.

Now, here he is preparing to fight as a welterweight for the first time in his career.

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.

Now, I’d rather have a talented, gifted smaller man on my side than a heavier, less-skilled man.

And I’m the first to admit, I’ve been far from perfect at understanding the impact when a fighter moves up in weight. I was convinced Oscar De La Hoya was far too big for Pacquiao when they fought last year.

I thought that while Pacquiao might, indeed, be the more gifted fighter, De La Hoya was so much bigger and stronger that those advantages would overcome whatever edges in skill Pacquiao possessed.

Well, we know how that one turned out. Pacquiao put on the performance of his life, and De La Hoya looked like he didn’t belong in the ring. Pacquiao stopped him in the eighth round.

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.”

Marquez talked Tuesday about his work to improve his speed. He insisted that by the end of his training camp, he had improved his speed considerably and was convinced he was as fast as Mayweather.

Basically what we have here is a guy who has to add pounds to his body to make the weight and who has to drill to try to add the speed.

It’s happened in this decade. Shane Mosley jumped from lightweight to welterweight in 2000 and defeated De La Hoya. Roy Jones moved from light heavyweight to heavyweight in 2003 and bested John Ruiz.

And Pacquiao went from lightweight to welterweight last year to beat De La Hoya.

So there is precedent for a smaller guy moving up and being successful.

But in each case – Mosley, Jones and Pacquiao – the guy moving up was decidedly faster.

On Saturday, the bigger man will be Floyd Mayweather.

On Saturday, the faster man will be Floyd Mayweather.

On Saturday, the stronger man will be Floyd Mayweather.

That doesn’t guarantee him a win, but it’s a hell of a start.

Methinks Marquez is going to find that hitting Mayweather is a lot tougher than throwing a boulder up a mountain.

Source: sports.yahoo.com

Mayweather-Marquez meeting respectful, for the most part

2009-09-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is rapidly approaching his official return to boxing this Saturday to face Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

On Wednesday, Mayweather Jr. took another step closer by addressing media members for the final time at the pre-fight press conference.

For his final official statements from the microphone, he thanked his sponsors and was surprisingly respectful of his opponent.

“It’s been a tremendous camp, there’s been a lot of hard work and dedication,” Mayweather Jr. said. “In the sport of boxing, if you want to go down as a legend you have to face the best in your era. At this particular time, Marquez is one of the best fighters in my era.

“He’s a hell of a fighter. Counter-puncher. Good boxer. But I’ve been around the sport and faced many styles. I’ll adjust and adapt when I get in that ring Saturday night.”

Marquez was also brief and thanked his native country of Mexico for its support.

“I don’t like talking outside of the ring, I just want to say three things,” he said. “One: I prepared myself very hard, physically and mentally. Two: I want to thank all the Mexican people for their support in me. Three: I want to dedicate this fight to all the Mexican people around the world.”

While the press conference went off mostly with no harsh words, there were a few exceptions.

Some people noticed that former boxer and president of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, was taking pictures from his seat on-stage.

During his time at the microphone, he explained why.

“People are wondering why I’m taking pictures,” De La Hoya said. “I want to capture the moment when Juan Manuel Marquez dethrones the king…”

To which Mayweather Jr. interrupted from his seat, “You couldn’t do it.”

De La Hoya, who lost a split decision to Mayweather Jr. in 2007 turned to him and said, “No, I couldn’t do it. But I’ll tell you one thing — Marquez is ready. I want to freeze this moment of history in the making.”

Roger Mayweather, Mayweather Jr.’s uncle and trainer, also didn’t raise his hand before interrupting Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe after Ellerbe said, “There are a number of great trainers in the sport…”

“Yeah? Great?” Roger said. “I know you’re talking about me. What you need to say is, there are other trainers out there. Listen, here’s how boxing goes. Don’t steal my mic, I’m gonna spread something to you real quick.

“Great is Michael Jordan. Great is Floyd Mayweather. That’s what great is. The dudes behind me, I don’t worry about the dudes behind me because I know they don’t know (expletive) anyway. If they knew what I knew, they’d be ahead of me. So I don’t know about great, don’t give them credit for being great.”

For the most part however, both fighters’ camps showed respect for one another.

Mayweather Jr. even raised from his seat to shake hands with Marquez’s head trainer, Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Beristain, after Beristain said he admired the fighter and his family.

“There’s not too many fighters that I’ve had the privilege to face like Floyd Mayweather,” Beristain said through an interpreter. “I want to give the highest esteem to his team. They’ve got a great athlete and a very good fighter. His uncle and father are great trainers that I admire, and I admire him very much.”

Beristain, who also trained De La Hoya for his fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2008, went on to say that despite his enormous respect for Mayweather Jr., he feels he can be beat.

“Juan Manuel Marquez is a great athlete in his own right, with a great technique and work ethic,” he said. “We’re worked so hard for this fight and we have the belief we have a chance to win.”

Source: lasvegassun.com

Flamboyant Mayweather takes humble approach with Marquez

2009-09-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — In the midst of the cameras, microphones and questions, Floyd Mayweather Jr. pauses to take inventory of what's ahead.
Saturday's showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez at MGM Grand is important (HBO PPV, 9 p.m. ET), as is the TV interview he's booked to do next, but neither comes before his 9-year-old daughter, Iyanna.

"I've got to pick up my daughter from school," he says, pausing to alert his publicist, who offers to find his mother to do it. "Don't worry about my Mom I'm picking my daughter up today. She's been going to school for a while and I haven't picked her up yet."

FAMILY TIES: Mayweather ties start to bind
This is the fighter, and the man, Mayweather wants to project: A thoughtful, considerate, responsible 32-year-old father of four, dressed down in a white T-shirt, sneakers and camoflauge pants. Not the cursing, trash-talking multi-division champion, flaunting the cost of his home, designer boots or visits to strip clubs.

"(Marquez) respects my fight game. He told me that a long time ago," says Mayweather of the low-key final press conference Wednesday, where he rose to shake hands with Marquez's trainer as the pair showered one another with compliments. "It's just a lot of fighters in the past I talk trash to have really disrespected me. … So I say bad things."

Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs), regarded as the mythical No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter before leaving in 2007, has passed every test with flying colors.

In Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) he'll meet not only the best Mexico has to offer, but one of the sport's top three fighters pound-for-pound who is as skilled with both hands as he is gritty.

Mayweather's biggest challenge of the night, however, may be this: Can he carry a major PPV show without a major foil?

Marquez has only headlined a PPV card once, a 2008 decision loss to Manny Pacquiao that drew 405,000 buys.

Before Mayweather fought De La Hoya— the greatest draw in PPV history — Mayweather hadn't exceeded 375,000 buys.

"I feel like I always was a pay-per-view star," says Mayweather, whose win vs. De La Hoya drew a record 2.4 million buys and almost 1 million with Hatton. "Marquez has a good following with his Mexican people. He's going to have a lot of support."

This bout was originally announced for July 18 but pushed back to Mexican Independence weekend. Since then the push to grow this into a superfight by co-promoter Golden Boy Promotions has been substantial:

•In conjunction with NCM Fathom, the card will be shown via closed circuit in 170 theaters nationwide, with $12.50 to $15 suggested ticket prices.

•Three major sponsors are on board that weren't for De La Hoya-Mayweather: Quaker State, Affliction clothing and AT&T's first venture into boxing.

•Tecate is offering a $25 mail-in rebate on the $49.95 show for viewers, with purchase of an 18-pack or larger, and a $30 rebate for food purchases at participating stores nationwide.

•An aggressive campaign through social networking sites and in the urban dotcom markets, BET.com, JayZtv.com and Allhiphop.com, among others, to reach out to Mayweather fans.

HBO is in on it, too, using this fight as a launching pad for its new approach to saturating the marketplace with digital content.

It's all part of "the hunger to go younger," says Mark Taffet, senior vice president at HBO PPV. "We're moving in a completely different direction than what we were doing a year ago."

Money matters:

Marquez's base salary is $2 million for the bout. TV undercard combatants Chris John will get $50,000; Rocky Juarez $80,000; Michael Katsidis $125,000; and Vicente Escobedo $90,000.

Mayweather's purse won't be known until Friday because of deductions, says Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The IRS is expected to attend to collect back taxes. According to Kizer, the agreed upon total is "unofficially $5 million."

Source: usatoday.com

MAYWEATHER VS. MARQUEZ FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

2009-09-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

FLOYD MAYWEATHER

"To go down as a legend, you have to face the best in your era and Marquez is one of the best in my era.

"I have been around the sport and I have experienced many different styles, and I will adjust and adapt. Now I am back and September 19 is another big day for me.

"You can expect blood, sweat and tears on Saturday night. I predict one hell of a fight.

"I have a lot of respect for Marquez. He hasn't said anything bad about me, so I have nothing bad to say about him. How can I say something bad about someone who respects my fight game?

"This isn't going to be difficult. Nothing is difficult. I just had to get back into the groove. I had to keep working hard. I love to box. I love to go into combat.

"Roger watches all of the tapes, but Roger doesn't tell me how I am going to beat him (Marquez). He says to me that I just need to fight and adapt. And if I ask him, 'How am I going to do that?' Roger responds, 'because you are great.'

"I am not like other fighters. Other fighters have been beat. There is no blue print to beat me. There is a blue print to beat Marquez, because he has been beaten before.

"I am a strong individual and only the strong will survive. I have the skills to pay the bills. It is not about who is the biggest. It is about who is the most skilled. When I get in the squared circle, I am going to do what I have to do to win."

JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ

"Everyone knows I don't like talking outside the ring, but I want to say three things. First, I am prepared physically and mentally. Second, I want to thank all of the Mexican people for supporting me and third, I want to dedicate this fight to the Mexican people who are going to be here and all of the Mexican people around the world.

"I want to thank God for helping me train very hard with no injuries. It is a great challenge for me and I am training very hard for this fight.

"In my mind, Floyd Mayweather is the number one pound-for-pound fighter, and to be number one, you have to fight number one.

"Mayweather is illusive and a counter puncher. I am going to go after him. There is a chance he might try to come after me, but I know I am going to go after him.

"This fight is a different weight for me. I worked very hard. I built up my speed and my strength.

"I know people are betting against me, but it doesn't matter to me. I have my mind and I have my concentration, and I have the motivation to win.

"This fight is the most important fight of my career, and I am going to put everything in the ring.

"I don't like to make predictions; I let my fists do the talking."

ROGER MAYWEATHER, Mayweather's Trainer

"Do you know what great means? Great is Michael Jordan, Floyd Mayweather, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Robinson."

NACHO BERISTAIN, Marquez' Trainer

"There are not too many fighters who have had the privilege of fighting a great athlete like Floyd Mayweather. Now it is my fighter's turn. Juan Manuel Marquez is a great athlete in his own right. He has great technique and work ethic in everything that he does.

"I also want to say that Juan Manuel Marquez and I have always admired Mayweather because he is such a bright fighter and outstanding fighter. I feel that he is the number one pound-for-pound fighter along with Bernard Hopkins.

"We have worked so hard for this fight and we believe that we have the chance to win.

"I want to give the highest esteem to Mayweather's team because they have a great athlete and a great fighter and I hope that he stays humble. He has a great personality and I admire him very much. His uncle and father are great trainers and I admire them as well. Me myself being a trainer, I admire him very much."

LEONARD ELLERBE, CEO of Mayweather Promotions

"This has been the best promotion. Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions working together hand in hand. When you have two teams coming together it is always going to work.

"The king is back. That is why we are all here.

"Floyd Mayweather what can I say? Since he announced his return to the sport of boxing, there has been tremendous buzz. No matter where you look, people are talking about Mayweather vs. Marquez.

"We have introduced a number of different platforms for this fight. There are many new avenues for consumer awareness so there won't be one person out there who is not aware of this great event."

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, President of Golden Boy Promotions

"This fight is going to be the biggest fight of the year. There is no doubt about it. The people are anxious, especially since it is falling on the Mexican Independence Day weekend. It is a special night because all of the world will be witnessing an upset.

"I am up here taking pictures from the stage, because I want to capture the moment when Juan Manuel Marquez dethrones the king. I couldn't do it, but I will tell you one thing--Marquez is ready. I want to freeze the moment of history in the making.

"The sport of boxing deserves this. We are showing the world that boxing is alive and well. We are selling unprecedented pay-per-view numbers and live gate numbers. We aren't up here gloating that Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions are doing great things for ourselves, we are doing these things for the sport of boxing. We are showing the whole world that boxing is here to stay.

"I want to tell Mr. Nacho Beristain that I am sorry that I failed you. I didn't do you right in the ring. You are an amazing trainer. You have done a tremendous job working with 18 world champions, and I wanted to take the opportunity to say that to you.

"Marquez always does what is necessary not only to win fights, but to please his loyal fans. He is not your typical Mexican warrior. He comes in with no holds barred and attacks. He has some good school behind him. That is what makes this fighter different from every body else.

"Marquez is the number one Mexican fighter today, which is a big deal because you have had great fighters coming out of Mexico in the past who have created a loyal following throughout the country and that is what Juan Manuel Marquez has today."

RICHARD SCHAEFER, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions

"Mexican Independence weekend has really become THE fight weekend in Las Vegas. We (Golden Boy Promotions) have been here regularly on this great weekend in boxing bringing the biggest fights to fans around the world.

"This amazing promotion is going to conclude on Saturday. On HBO 24/7 we saw the vast differences between these two fighters in the way they train and the way they live.

"On Saturday night, Juan Manuel Marquez will carry the hopes and dreams of almost 100 million Mexicans on his shoulders and into the ring. A few minutes later, Mayweather the American superstar will make his entrance. Mayweather is here to put all doubters to rest and to make a statement that 'Yes I am still number one.'

"There is a tremendous amount of marketing power behind this fight with an excess of 700 million impressions. I couldn't believe it myself, I had to double check. It is true. There are over 700 million impressions out there for this fight.

"Mexicans around the world are looking to this fight. It is like when the Pope visited Mexico City. It is of that magnitude. This is like their religion.

"There was a poll on Yahoosports.com. Within 24 hrs of the poll being posted, 55,000 people responded. Forty-six percent chose Marquez to win, and 51 percent believe Mayweather will win. As you can see, the public knows this is going to be a close fight and it is going to be a great fight.

"Come and see the fight here at the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas."

MARK TAFFET, Senior Vice President of HBO Pay-Per-View

"When Oscar de la Hoya retired, people said 'What will boxing do now? What is going to happen next?' The answer is simple. Look at what has taken place in 2009. It is evidenced that the best is yet to come. We are in the midst of one of the greatest eras in the sport's history. This era's great welterweights are going to leave their mark on the history of the sport.

"There is no bigger story in boxing and one of the biggest stories in sports this year is Floyd Mayweather's return to boxing.

"America's number one fighter. Mexico's number one fighter. The two biggest fan bases.

Mayweather has ignited the urban markets the same way that De La Hoya ignited the Hispanic markets.

"HBO's 24/7 draws new fans to the sport of boxing in order to ensure boxing's future. The Mayweathers are must see TV that have our fans glued to their television sets. Juan Manuel Marquez has created an identity with fans that he didn't have before. And I want to say that we are all intrigued by your (Marquez') interesting training techniques.

"We have made it so that wherever consumers go, watch listen, read, tweet, text, they are going to be surrounded by Mayweather and Marquez."

RICHARD STURM, President of Sports and Entertainment for MGM Mirage

"MGM Grand welcomes the return of Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions as we end the summer and welcome Mayweather back to the ring. We are also thrilled to host the return of one of the sports' favorites in Juan Manuel Marquez.

"Saturday night will be a memorable one for fans as Floyd Mayweather returns to the ring after a brief retirement. He has always called MGM Grand home after having fought here five previous times."

Source: philboxing.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Is out of His Mind!

2009-09-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is at it once again, bashing MMA calling it a “sideshow act” (http://mmaxclusive.com/2009/09/14/floyd-mayweather-who%E2%80%99s-rich-franklin/).

Well I agree that boxing does pay better, I think Floyd is yet again making himself sound uneducated by even claiming that the best all around fighters in the world are boxers because the last I check boxing isn’t a real fight.

Now if Floyd is trying to say that boxing is all that is needed to best a complete fighter then I think he should put his mouth where the money isn’t and prove that point.

I am a fan of Floyd I think he is a great boxer but sometimes I think he talks smack and makes excuses so he can keep hiding behind the 10 & 12ounce gloves. Anyone who isn’t a complete moron can see that MMA or UFC (for those who don’t know what MMA is) is the closest thing there is to a real fight.

Nobody is going to put a 10 or 12 ounce glove on and give you a 10 count every time you fall down. They are going to throw a punch with nothing to cushion the impact, if you get hit and happen to fall down you might get your face kicked in let alone punched in. Now let’s thank the Dana White and UFC for giving us the closest thing to a real fight. Here is a fact; there has never been a boxing match (Amateur or professional) where the fighters’ chins have been properly tested. If you think about it from a realistic point boxing is like checkers and MMA is chess. How can you say you are the best fighter in the world when there are thousands of styles of fighting and you are doing one style that has the most limitations?

The only way you can determine who the best fighter in the world is to have a sport that incorporates every style of fighting and sets decent rules that make the sport safe and non brutal like street fighting. This is what MMA (UFC) gives you. Honestly Floyd everyone is tired of hearing your bull, take the pay cut and prove you’re a real fighter, prove you really have a chin, don’t hide behind limitation and 12 ounce gloves, put your boxing skills to the ultimate test, honestly you are rich already, what have you got to loose, prove you are not only the pound for pound best boxer in the world, prove you are the pound for pound best all around fighter in the world. Heck it may be the death of me but I would be willing to scrap you in a MMA bout as a warm up fight for you, I would take the beating for running my mouth just to get you to make the transition! I guess I am a little out of my mind also, the things I would do to see some great fights.

Source: bleacherreport.com

RETURNING TO THE RING: Mayweather 'sharp as razor'

2009-09-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

With four days to go before he returns to the ring, resuming his boxing career after a 21-month layoff, Floyd Mayweather Jr. declared all is well.

"I'm sharp as a razor, and everything will play out the way we planned," Mayweather said after his official "arrival" Tuesday afternoon at the MGM Grand, where he will meet Juan Manuel Marquez in a welterweight fight Saturday.

Mayweather (39-0 with 25 knockouts) said he has been sticking to his routine as the fight draws nearer.

"I'm boxing every day, going home, playing with my kids, watching and betting on sports; I love sports," Mayweather said. "I box every day. It's like a basketball player shooting jumpers. You don't want to take a week off."

Mayweather was respectful toward Marquez on Tuesday, as he has been throughout the fight's promotion, but also maintained he will remain undefeated after Saturday's scheduled 12-round fight.

"I don't worry about no fighter," Mayweather said. "He's got to worry about me. I don't watch no tapes. I can adjust to anything in the ring."

Mayweather's not worried about anything outside the ring, either. In the latest potential distraction, The Associated Press reported Monday that Mayweather is being sued by JP Morgan Chase Bank over a car loan. The story said Mayweather owed $167,000 on a Mercedes Maybach 57S valued at $528,000.

The former champion said he wasn't aware of the suit, filed in Clark County District Court last week. In fact, Mayweather claims he hasn't owned the car in nearly two years, having sold it two months after he reportedly bought it.

"I'm fine," Mayweather said when asked about the car specifically and the health of his finances in general. "I'm comfortable. But I don't understand why people keep bringing up my finances. They're my finances. I don't come into your house and start asking you about your finances, do I?"

Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive officer of Mayweather Promotions, said the AP story was inaccurate and that Mayweather sold the car to a Las Vegas businessman awhile ago.

"Floyd hasn't been served no lawsuit," Ellerbe said. "Floyd hasn't had this car in well over a year. It's more like two years. A guy named Mark Laidler bought it from Floyd in April 2007, so I don't know where all this stuff is coming from."

Several hundred people filled the MGM's lobby for both fighters' arrival, with Marquez being roundly cheered and Mayweather drawing a mixture of cheers and boos.

Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs), a former world lightweight champion, will be at the highest weight he's ever fought at.

He is eager to get in the ring after the bout, originally scheduled for July 18, was postponed because of a rib injury Mayweather suffered in training in June.

"I've waited a long time for this opportunity," Marquez said. "I am prepared to give my best."

Interest in the fight appears to have picked up. Ticket sales are near 12,000, an MGM spokesman said, and the fight should be close to a sellout. The Grand Garden will seat 15,700 for the bout.

Source: lvrj.com

In days leading up to fight, Floyd Mayweather Jr. reminisces about his early career

2009-09-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Jr. is always quick to remind everyone he’s the most successful pay-per-view boxer in the sport’s history.

He often refers to himself as the "cash cow", and his lavish lifestyle has been well documented on the HBO series, "24/7."

There was a time, however, when all he wanted was the first-place trophy.

“I can remember my first amateur bout, I still have the trophy on my dresser,” Mayweather Jr. said. “I was 64 pounds. I didn’t care who I was facing I just wanted to fight. After the fight, we stayed at the Red Roof Inn. I slept with my trophy in the car all the way home.”

For young boxers in the beginning of their careers, the ultimate goal is the Golden Gloves championship, which hosts regional and national tournaments.

In 1993, at the age of 16, Mayweather Jr. won the Nationals tournament for the first time as the youngest member of his team. He would win it again in 1994 and 1996.

“I felt bad when I won the Nationals because I was beating guys much older than I was,” he said. “I rode home in the van with this big trophy almost touching the roof. They said, ‘Floyd, you want to go in the store?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t want nobody bothering my trophy.’

“When I was 16, you know what made me fight hard? I looked over and seen that big trophy and was like, ‘Wow, we getting that? Oh man, I’m gonna fight hard.’ And that was it. It wasn’t about the money.”

Those were simpler times.

On Saturday, Mayweather Jr. makes his return to boxing after a 21-month layoff with plenty more than a trophy on the line.

While there are many theories on the reasoning behind Mayweather’s return, the 32-year-old fighter says that the same competitive drive he had as a young fighter is still the reason he’s here.

“Nobody sees the hard work I put in, when I go to the gym at 3 a.m. in the morning,” he said. “I put the tape around my own hands and train by myself; mentally, physically. A lot of fighters, once they go home, they’re done. I go into overtime to be the best.”

His opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, also remembers his amateur career — one that is now 55 professional fights in the past.

“I remember, they were great moments for me,” Marquez said. “My nerves were going all the time. When I fought amateur fights, I was always pretty nervous.

“But when I finished the fight and they gave me the trophy, I would feel very happy. It would feel great.”

Along with reminiscing about their respective beginnings in the game of boxing, the two fighters also answered questions about the fighters they looked up to during their grand arrivals Tuesday at the MGM Grand hotel.

For Marquez, his inspiration came from one fighter in particular — Julio Cesar Chavez.

“My idol is Chavez for only one reason: He fought with the best fighters,” Marquez said. “He never said, ‘No, he’s a good fighter. I don’t want to fight him.’ He fought everybody.”

As a boy growing up watching boxing, Mayweather Jr. says he could never pick a favorite from the loaded welterweight division.

“Back in that era, I liked Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Haggler and Thomas Hearns,” Mayweather Jr. said. “It was crazy, I used to get chill bumps watching them because I didn’t want them to fight each other but they had to.”

“Boxing has been a blessing my whole life.”

Source: lasvegassun.com

Floyd: I'm the true superstar

2009-09-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JNR has stepped up his war of words with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather believes Pac-Man has no right to the crown he effectively relinquished by retiring after his win against Ricky Hatton in December 2007.

Pacquiao has established himself as the best fighter on the planet in Money's absence but the undefeated American is determined to set the record straight.

He said: "I'm not saying Pacquiao's not a good fighter and I'm not saying I'm the only star in boxing.

"There are other stars in boxing — but there's only one mega-superstar."

Mayweather, 32, makes his comeback on Saturday night knowing a win against Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas could open the door to a lucrative showdown with Pacquiao.

And he is determined to prove he still has what it takes to beat anyone put in front of him.

Mayweather added: "After I had time to rest and enjoy life with my family and friends, I started to miss the competition and my fans.

"I don't worry about no fighter — fighters have to worry about me. I can adjust and I can adapt against anyone.

"People seem to forget, I fought Hatton when he was undefeated and I laid down the blueprint for how to beat him."

Source: thesun.co.uk

Juan Manuel Marquez - The Reprisal

2009-09-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

Wee-Man's way to beat Floyd

2009-09-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ reckons spending a penny is his way to earning millions by ending Floyd Mayweather's reign as the unbeaten best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Marquez drinks his own urine after each training session believing the bizarre drink gives him strength for fighting.

He takes on Mayweather at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday and is convinced drinking his own pee puts back vital vitamins and nutrients his body has tried to get rid of.

The Mexican tempted Mayweather out of retirement after he knocked out Ricky Hatton.

He said: "I drink my own urine because that's where a lot of proteins and vitamins are.

"It is part of your vitamin intake. Why not drink them again instead of wasting them.

"I think that this helps me. I have done it for the last five or six fights with good results."

Madcap Marquez, 36, also reckons he has the perfect chaser for his pint of pee — he eats 25 raw quails eggs straight after.

Mayweather — undefeated in 39 — insists he has the perfect answer for Marquez's bizarre diet and says:

"If he opens his mouth I'll give him some gorilla pee, some silverback pee. I am going to call him 'Pee-Pee Marquez' now.

"If you're in good shape, you're in good shape. You don't need to drink no pee.

"I'll tell him what I tell any fighter, 'Say what you want because I am gonna beat you anyway'.

"I have a big mouth and people want somebody to shut me up, until someone can shut me up I am the king."

Source: thesun.co.uk

Strong Undercard for Mayweather-Marquez

2009-09-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

Even if you think this Saturday nights contest between the comebacking Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is a physical mismatch, another hand-picked Mayweather foe or a high-priced walkout bout, you have to hand it to the organizers of this pay-per-view promotion.

They have put together one of the very best undercards in years. You may question the main event but there’s no questioning the two fights that will precede it.

While other promoters have promised ’spectacular’ supporting bills and shoved Yuri Boreman down our throats, ’Numero Uno’ has two highly anticipated bouts in Michael Katsidis-Vicente Escobedo and the rematch between Chris John and Rocky Juarez. Say what you will about the featured bout- and there are vastly differing opinions- but top to bottom, this is a pretty damn good night of boxing.

This certainly beats having Butterbean and Mia St. John on the card.

" What we really need to do is create more events and not just one fight. I think you do have a certain audience for big boxing pay-per-views and we really need to focus on giving young, emerging talent an opportunity to really take their game to the next level and that’s why we wanted to put together some of these guys, some of these great match-ups and really give the fight fans not just an opportunity to just see a great main event, but really a great card," said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, which is handling this show.

The cynic will point out that the reason why Mayweather-Marquez has a robust undercard attached to it, is because it absolutely has to have one. Given the widespread opinion that neither Mayweather or Marquez have fared well as the A-side of a promotion. And there’s more than a grain of truth to that. Those undercards that featured the above-mentioned St. John and ’Bean, did huge numbers because the featured attraction was a guy by the name of Oscar De La Hoya. The truth of the matter is that while the die-hard fans yearn for strong undercards, big pay-per-view numbers are procured when the general public- who are casual fans, at best- come inside the tent to take a look. They don’t care who fights in the first two hours of a pay-per-view telecast, they only care about the main event.

Don’t agree with me?

The De La Hoya-Mayweather pay-per-view set records across the board, getting well over two million purchases. But can you recall anything memorable happening on that undercard before Oscar and Floyd got into the ring? The last two cards featuring Manny Pacquiao( against De La Hoya and then Ricky Hatton) had embarrassingly bad lead-up bouts put together by Golden Boy and Top Rank. Yet, those shows did strong business.

It’s like the movie industry, you can have the great ensemble cast for a feature film, but you need an A-lister like Will Smith or Tom Cruise on the marquee to make it go at the box-office. In boxing, the main event, sells the show. While Mayweather-Marquez will most likely have the far superior undercard than what will be put together for November 14Th when Pacquiao faces Miguel Cotto, it’s the latter fight that will do much stronger numbers.

One of the reasons why the UFC has been able to make up ground on boxing is that their pay-per-view shows are much deeper in talent and competitive fare.

On that issue, Schaefer says," I’ve actually heard that before from people,’ Oh, look at what MMA’s doing, look at what UFC’s doing’ and so on, that they have much better entertainment value. But the thing is, it’s easy to say that because they have a totally different compensation model. And if you get away with paying 20-percent of your net revenue pot to your fighters to compensate your athletes, then you can automatically afford to put those kind of fights together. But if it’s the other way around, like we in boxing have, then somehow it hampers your ability to put these great cards together.

" So it really takes, in order to put this kind of card together, like we’ve done here for September the 19Th, the understanding from the principals, meaning Golden Boy, Mayweather Promotions, to really make an investment. Because that is what this undercard is. This is really an investment in the sport because you have two fights with Escobedo and Katsidis and Chris John and Rocky Juarez, both of these fights could be on HBO. As a matter of fact, if you could take these two fights, everybody would say,’ What a great ’Boxing After Dark’ that is.’ It would be an amazing ’Boxing After Dark’."

The license fee for a ’Boxing After Dark’ can range between $500,000 and a million bucks. One of the reasons why most promoters don’t put on solid undercards is because it’s costly to do so.

" This is a really expensive undercard, we’re really doing that to see if the fight fans out there are going to say,’ Hey, guys, y’know what? Golden Boy, Mayweather Promotions, great job. We are going to buy that pay-per-view. We want to be a part of that. We want to support your efforts. We are in your corner.’ Just like we are in the fight fans corner in bringing them this kind of thing.

" So we hope it’s going to work."

24/7 vs. HARD KNOCKS

Am I the only one who prefers ’Hard Knocks’ much more than 24/7? I just think 24/7 is simply over-produced and has really become formulaic. While ’Hard Knocks’, which followed the Cincinnati Bengals through their training camp this summer, is much more real and organic. Yes, they both are stylishly shot and edited, but you get the sense that there’s no way the HBO producers are asking Marvin Lewis to do anything ten times just so they can get the exact shot they are looking for. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s my gut feel.

Also, Mayweather, whether he’s trying to be a good guy or bad guy, is just a bad actor in general and is unconvincing and contrived in either role. I think this promotion and 24/7 would be much better off if Mayweather and Chad Ochocinco could change roles.

There’s a ’been there, done that’ feel with 24/7. But I look forward to ’Hard Knocks’ every summer. The last episode where they followed the last few remaining Bengals who were on the proverbial ’bubble’ was riveting stuff. Most fans had probably never heard of these guys- in fact, most folks will most likely recognize only two Bengals, Ochocinco and Carson Palmer- but as their livelihoods and childhood dreams were on the line, you couldn’t help but feel for these young men.

SHOWTIME SUPER SIX

As I like to say, both Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward did ’the Chris Rock’ on Saturday by easily defeating the likes of Gusmyr Perdomo and Shelby Pudwill. In other words, they did what they were supposed to do in dispatching over-matched foes.

Now, they move forward with ’the Super Six’ and they face each other on November 21st at the Oracle in Oakland, California. It’s an intriguing match-up. Ward’s movement and athleticism will give Kessler fits, I’m sure, but Ward has never been up to this level before.

It’s just one of many anticipated fights of this super middleweight round-robin that was put together by Showtime.

Source: maxboxing.com

Is Mayweather giving up greatness for 'perfection'?

2009-09-14T23:54:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather did not pick a chump for his comeback fight after his one-year “retirement.”

Allow me to acknowledge that up front.

We all know Juan Manuel Marquez’s credentials. I don’t need to list them for readers of RingTV.com.

However, the hardcore boxing audience that visits this Web site also knows that Marquez has little-to-no shot at beating Mayweather on Saturday.

There are enough X-factors in Saturday’s fight (Mayweather’s layoff and rib injury; Marquez’s style and recent momentum) to make it an interesting matchup but not one that truly ignites fans.

There's not enough tension between fans because so few believe Marquez can win. Those who pick Mayweather know he will win. Those who pick Marquez hope he will win and pray he won't get embarrassed.

By accepting the challenge of the pound-for-pound-rated lightweight champ to fight him in a welterweight bout, Mayweather chose an opponent credible enough to build into an event but not dangerous enough to seriously threaten his perfect record.

In other words, Mayweather is doing what I think he has done for the past six years -- he’s playing it safe.

And to be honest, it’s hard to argue with his system. He has compiled a 39-0 record, earned a small fortune and gained a degree of crossover fame doing things his way.

And although I think he’s cheating himself out of a legacy that he and generations of boxing fans to come can be proud of, there are plenty of other boxing writers who consider him to be the decade’s finest boxer and the pound-for-pound best right now, despite the fact that he hasn’t fought since stopping Ricky Hatton in December of 2007.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports recently wrote that Manny Pacquaio, the current consensus choice for the pound-for-pound top spot, is “just keeping the (No. 1) seat warm for Mayweather.”

And more than a few fight fans believe Mayweather is an "all-time great,” as comedian/actor Eddie Murphy illustrated on the last episode of HBO’s 24/7.

As long as some fans and members of the media are willing to argue that he’s the best now, and one of the best of all time, I think Mayweather is more than content to continue fighting boxers he knows he can beat while avoiding those he believes might give him a serious challenge.

The magic of a perfect record is that the unbeaten fighter, or his fans, can always argue that he would find a way to defeat the most formidable challengers because he’s never lost. Few understand this fact more than Mayweather.

However, I wonder whether Mayweather realizes that while perfect records attract attention and distinction they don’t necessarily earn a fighter a loyal fan following.

I also wonder whether Mayweather and his supporters understand that question is not meant to insult him?

My belief is that Mayweather had (and still has) the potential to be great (and I don’t throw that word around, folks). By the end of 2001, I honestly thought that he was on his way to that rare status. At that time, he had defeated Genaro Hernandez, Diego Corrales and Jesus Chavez in impressive fashion. However, in 2002, he twice faced a worthy adversary in the form of rugged lightweight titleholder Jose Luis Castillo and barely escaped with his precious undefeated record intact.

From that point on, it seemed as if Mayweather didn’t want any more worthy adversaries.

I’m not saying he faced chumps post-Castillo (well, Henry Bruseles was a chump). Mayweather won titles at junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight but the fighters he beat to win those belts, the late Arturo Gatti, Carlos Baldomir and the 34-year-old version of Oscar De La Hoya, simply weren’t in his class.

I am saying that there were more-difficult fights available to him.

My theory is that had Mayweather fought at least two (but preferably three or four) of the following fighters from 2003 to 2006 -- Joel Casamayor, Acelino Freitas, Paul Spadafora and Leo Dorin at lightweight, Kostya Tszyu at junior welterweight, and Antonio Margarito at welterweight -- he could have put to rest the debate about his “greatness.”

Let me state for the record that I can envision Mayweather finding a way to defeat all six of the fighters I listed, but I think one or two of them would have caught him on a bad night and beat him.

Now I know that the thought of Mayweather with a 38-1 or 37-2 record is horrific for his small-but-obnoxiously vocal group of hardcore fans, but I think Mayweather would have a much bigger following today if had engaged in a few more difficult outings on his way to stardom.

(Can you imagine that? The sport’s pound-for-pound best fighter with a legion of loyal fans? Oh wait, we have that right now. His name is Manny Pacquiao. Sorry, Pretty Boys, I couldn’t resist.)

RISKY BUSINESS

I’m supposedly one Mayweather’s biggest “haters” -- if not numero uno, to borrow from the title of Saturday’s event -- but believe it or not, I understand his dilemma.

I think Mayweather would love to have universal respect as well as a dedicated fan base (what fighter doesn’t?). However, he’s sacrificed his entire life and dedicated the past 13 years to compiling his 39-0 record. To say he’s attached to that zero is a gross understatement.

And to say that a loss doesn’t matter or won’t effect his current standing is a gross inaccuracy. Losses matter in boxing, even to fighters who have already established hall-of-fame credentials. Recent history proves this.

The prime version of Wilfred Benitez was every bit as gifted and defensively adept as Mayweather. Like Mayweather now, the Puerto Rican wunderkind reached a point in his career at which he was unbeaten in 39 pro outings (38-0-1), and he did it in less than 5½ years. In that time, Benitez beat two future hall of famers, Antonio Cervantes and Carlos Palomino, for world titles at 140 pounds and welterweight. Then, in November of 1979, he fought another future-hall-of-famer, Sugar Ray Leonard, and lost for the first time.

Prior to his 15-round TKO to Leonard, Benitez, who beat Cervantes when he was 17, was talked about as arguably the most naturally talented boxer of all time. After that loss, Benitez basically became the fifth member of boxing’s version of The Beatles (Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns).

Benitez’s days as an elite fighter didn’t end the night he lost to Leonard. He jumped to junior middleweight and won his next six bouts, including a decision over tough contender Peter Ranzany, a chilling knockout of solid 154-pound titleholder Maurice Hope and a unanimous-decision title defense against Duran that was perhaps the most satisfying victory of his career.

Benitez lost his title in his next fight, a majority decision to Hearns, and went downhill from that point, going 9-6 in his last 15 bouts.

There’s no way Mayweather will allow himself to go out like that, and good for him for having that degree of self respect. However, that same pride might keep him from fighting the winner of Miguel Cotto-Pacquiao or Shane Mosley.

I don’t think there’s any shame in losing competitive bouts to a prime Leonard and Hearns, as Benitez did. But Mayweather’s ego won’t allow him to be considered an also-ran to the top fighters of his time, as the Puerto Rican stylist is viewed today.

That’s my major problem with Mayweather. He wants to be considered “the man” without taking any risks.

Mayweather knows he won’t get as much credit for beating Marquez as he would from a victory over Pacquiao, Cotto or Mosley, but he can live with it because his record will be extended to 40-0.

It’s all about perception.

Felix Trinidad was 40-0 at one point in his career, right after he nearly decapitated middleweight beltholder William Joppy to become a three-division titleholder in May of 2001.

At the time, I received numerous emails from fans -- and not just Puerto Ricans -- asking who I thought would win in a mythical middleweight matchup between Trinidad and Sugar Ray Robinson.

Seriously. I can’t make this stuff up. That’s the perception Trinidad had picked up with an impressive post-De La Hoya run that included brutal victories over U.S. Olympians David Reid and Fernando Vargas, and don’t think for one second that his unblemished record had nothing to do with it.

Four months after Trinidad destroyed Joppy, he challenged Bernard Hopkins and was soundly “exposed,” to use a popular message board buzz word, by the 3-to-1 underdog.

You can bet that e-mail queries of how Trinidad would have fared against Robinson ceased after Tito’s 12th-round TKO to Hopkins.

The Puerto Rican icon retired twice after that fight and went 2-2 in his last four bouts, dropping one-sided decisions to Winky Wright and Roy Jones Jr., forever losing his all-time great comparisons.

And although many American boxing writers dismiss him as one-dimensional and even overrated these days, Tito gets respect from this fight scribe because at least he dared to be great.

Trinidad’s fans get it, and they did not abandon him once the perception of his invincibility was stripped from him. They packed Madison Square Garden for his 2004 comeback fight with Ricardo Mayorga. They helped his showdown with Jones sell 500,000 pay-per-view buys.

However, Mayweather has repeatedly claimed, most recently on his Twitter page, that the rules are different for Latino fighters. He says they can lose and still have their fans, but that’s not so for American fighters.

Mayweather is right to an extent.

Erik Morales was 41-0 at one point in his career, just before his rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera. Morales had defeated the likes of Daniel Zaragoza, Junior Jones, Kevin Kelley, Wayne McCullough and of course Barrera in their classic first fight. However, the Tijuana tough guy’s reputation did not grow to legendary status until AFTER the rematch loss to his Mexican rival.

Morales couldn’t sell out venues like the MGM Grand Garden Arena or the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas while he was undefeated. His trilogies with both Barrera and Pacquiao are what propelled him to one of Mexcio‘s most-beloved fighters. It didn’t matter to El Terrible’s fans that he went 1-2 in both three-fight series, or that he lost to Zahir Raheem and David Diaz while going 1-5 in his last six bouts.

Mayweather would tell you that there’s a double standard in boxing, that he would lose all credibility if he ever lost to fighters of Diaz and Raheem’s caliber, and he’s probably right.

However, I don’t think he would lose his current status if he lost to Pacquiao, Cotto or Mosley, especially if he did so in a competitive and compelling manner.

I know Mayweather doesn’t believe that. He thinks I’d rip him. He’s wrong. And even if I did, I don’t believe the fans would abandon him.

Once more, I look to the members of boxing’s Fab Four for examples of how “great” fighters are supposed to behave. Leonard didn’t lose any popularity after his loss to Duran. Hearns didn’t lose any fans after he was stopped by Leonard and Hagler. They survived losing and became better fighters for it.

I think Mayweather would, too, but maybe he’s not cut from their mold. Then again, maybe he is.

It’s a shame we might never find out.

Source: ringtv.com

Destination: Beyond the tangibles in Mayweather-Marquez

2009-09-14T23:52:00.001-07:00

Whatever else you've thought about Saturday's fight, you should start here, the best reason not to pick Juan Manuel Marquez to win: Floyd Mayweather Jr. picked him as an opponent. Take that as both admiration for Mayweather's handicapping, and an unapologetic commentary on Mayweather's character.

If you're reading this, you care enough about the fight to know all the tangible reasons to pick against Marquez. Size, strength, reflexes, youth, defense, athleticism -- "the list goes on and on," as Money May would put it. None of these matters as much as Mayweather's willingness to put his undefeated record in jeopardy against this natural 126-pounder, though.

Saturday night at MGM Grand, Mayweather will end his retirement by fighting Marquez at something close to welterweight on HBO pay-per-view. The weight could be anything from 143 to 147, but so long as it is above 140, it will be too much to make me make the trip to Las Vegas. Plenty of other writers will be conserving their travel budgets for November, too. But few of them can boast an AMC Theater showing the closed-circuit feed within a mile of their homes, as I can.

That's where I'll be. Fifteen dollars seems the perfect price for "Number One/Numero Uno."

Nobody gives Marquez much of a chance to upset Mayweather, despite Marquez's fight-of-the-year, come-from-behind February knockout of Juan Diaz -- a bigger, stronger, younger, more athletic prizefighter with better reflexes.

Among the loud, unknowledgeable fans who recently unretired with Mayweather, the reasons for not giving Marquez a chance are several: Mayweather's victories against an overweight Ricky Hatton, an over-age Oscar De La Hoya and a hopeless Carlos Baldomir convinced them Mayweather was invincible. And the "Big Boy Mansion" helps, too!

Among sober, knowledgeable folks, though, things mostly reduce to the weight difference. Four years ago, Mayweather fought Sharmba Mitchell at 147 pounds. Four months later, Marquez fought Chris John at 125. Is 22 pounds a lot at the championship level? I don't know, is a 100-mph fastball much different from a 78-mph fastball at the major league level?

After his decision loss to Manny Pacquiao 18 months ago, Marquez demanded a rubber match. When that was not forthcoming, Marquez seemingly advised Golden Boy Promotions he'd fight Godzilla for the right purse. Since then, he has moved up somewhere between 13 and 17 pounds -- whatever the weight for Saturday will be -- and made some money. But the ultimate cost is not missed by his legendary trainer.

"Fighting against a boxer of Mayweather's class is a good showcase, but I would not call it an opportunity when the weight goes against [us]," Nacho Beristain told the Mexico City periodical Milenio back in early May. "But boxers get to a level at which they do not pay much attention to counsel, and I could not ask Juan Manuel not to accept [the fight]."

Worse still is where Marquez has added the weight -- his upper body. He now fights top heavy. Gone are the days of the balletic counterpuncher fighting left-heel-up as if from a La-Z-Boy. Beginning with his knockout win over Joel Casamayor -- a trickier fighter to solve than Mayweather -- Marquez has leaned well forward. And that's a bad position when your opponent's best punch is a right uppercut.

But fighters also gain weight on their chins more than their fists. Unlikely as Marquez is to hurt Mayweather early, Mayweather's none too likely to hurt Marquez before the halfway point. Especially when his punches come one at a time.

Which brings us to Marquez's only tangible advantage: He's a much better combination puncher. Marquez not only throws four-punch combinations but throws unusual bunches that often begin and end with uppercuts. Why does this matter? Because if you can start the fourth punch in a combination, you can land it. The trick is starting it.

But combination punching alone won't be tangible enough. That means few in MGM Grand, and perhaps no one in Marquez's corner itself, will believe Marquez can win when Saturday's fight starts. Heck, maybe even Marquez sees this as just a career payday against a slick defensive specialist -- a match destined to end as another dull, unanimous-decision victory for Mayweather.

But once Marquez is struck by Mayweather, that will change. Marquez's lunatic pride ensures it.

Which brings us to the intangibles. First, all pressure is on Mayweather. Or as Marquez aficionado Darryl Walker put it in an e-mail sometime ago: "How would you like to be going into a fight with a featherweight, as a welterweight, having all the pressure in the world on your shoulders, knowing your paycheck is going straight to the IRS?"

To that, Walker's fellow aficionado Kirk Christiano added the following: Marquez has never once doubted he is a prizefighter. Mayweather has retired twice.

"Being a fighter is a lot like being married -- the longer you are in it, the worse it gets," Christiano wrote when the fight was made. "Floyd wants the payday, but not the punches."

More intangibles? Marquez has been in firefights with prime champions lately. And most of all, while Mayweather might not be the greatest prizefighter Marquez has faced, Marquez will be the greatest prizefighter Mayweather has seen.

So long as this fight remains contested on tangibles, though, Mayweather will win the way everyone is predicting. But if it comes to intangibles ...

Mayweather gives away three of the first four rounds, tentatively figuring Marquez out. Mayweather applies those lessons and wins the next three rounds, at which point Marquez changes. Mayweather loses Rounds 8 and 9 and starts to worry. Mayweather imposes himself in the 10th and seems to have Marquez hurt. Mayweather hits the accelerator, but his body doesn't respond the way it used to. Marquez fights back ferociously. And as the bell rings to begin the final round, only intangibles remain.

In that case, I'll take Marquez: KO-12.

Source: cbssports.com

Bank: Floyd Mayweather Jr. owes $167,192 on car loan in default

2009-09-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

Just days before his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, Las Vegas boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. faces another potential distraction in the form of a lawsuit.

JP Morgan Chase Bank filed suit in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas on Wednesday against Mayweather, claiming he owes more than $167,000 on an auto loan that is in default.

The suit shows that in April 2007, Mayweather borrowed $415,695 to finance the purchase for $512,184 of a Mercedes Maybach 57S from dealer Fletcher Jones Imports in Las Vegas.

The contract called for an interest rate of 16 percent and 72 monthly payments of $9,077, which the lawsuit said Mayweather failed to make beginning in February 2008.

Court records indicate the bank repossessed the vehicle in January 2009, when the past-due balance had grown to $36,309 and the balance due was $363,000.

After the bank sold the Maybach for $196,000, JP Morgan Chase said that as of March, Mayweather still owed $167,192 on the contract, plus unspecified legal expenses.

Messages seeking comment on the lawsuit were left Monday with Mayweather's office and with his attorney in an unrelated case.

The suit was filed on behalf of JP Morgan Chase by attorney Caleb Langsdale with the Cooper Castle Law Firm. Langsdale said Monday he could not elaborate on the allegations.

The lawsuit follows an incident last month in which police searched a home belonging to Mayweather as part of an investigation of a shooting at a Las Vegas skating rink.

Police in a search warrant said they believed an associate of Mayweather was the shooter in the incident in which no one was injured. Detectives seized two handguns, ammunition and two bulletproof vests and said another car of Mayweather's, a Rolls-Royce, was at the home when it was searched.

Mayweather is coming out of retirement with plans to fight Marquez on Saturday at the MGM Grand resort in Las Vegas.

Source: lasvegassun.com

Will The Money Man Mayweather Entertain Us?

2009-09-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

With less than a week to go until the Mayweather-Marquez showdown, boxing fans worldwide have to be asking the same question that was asked when the fight was first announced months ago – Does Marquez have a legitimate chance against the de facto pound-for-pound king? It's a question that begs reflection because not only will Floyd have been away from the ring for nearly twenty-one months, but he will be facing a Mexican warrior who has proven that he knows and has what it takes to get the job done in big fights. In Marquez, Mayweather will arguably be tackling his toughest assignment since his second tangle with Jose Luis Castillo seven years ago. Make no mistake about it – this will be an interesting bout from a technical standpoint, maybe not as action-packed as the upcoming Cotto-Pacquiao scrap, but definitely more intriguing to fans with a keen eye for the finer aspects of in-fight strategy and adjustment. Few boxers of recent vintage make the types of necessary adjustments as seamlessly as Mayweather and Marquez, and even fewer have achieved their level of pugilistic proficiency. This is a fight that promises to deliver all of the tactical maneuvering of a chess match between two grandmasters, neither willing to tip his hand too early, or concede too much ground in the early stages. How it unfolds is left to the imagination, but the fact that this fight will deliver as promised is beyond question.

Analysis: Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been boxing's finest fighter for the better part of the past eight years, even more so than Roy Jones Jr. The measure of his greatness is evidenced by his unblemished record across five weight classes, having faced eight world champions over that span. Floyd's detractors point to the fights there were not made over the years, and rightfully so, but that line of attack only has validity above 135 lbs., not at or below. Mayweather faced a virtual “Who's Who' at 130 and 135 lbs., while his resume north of 135 lbs. has been spotty at best. The simple fact of the matter is that aside from the limited but colorful Ricky Hatton and a past-his-primes Oscar De La Hoya, potential opponents for Mayweather have been neither compelling nor lucrative at 140 and 147 lbs. Margarito? Baldomir held the lineal 147 lb. title at the time and provided nearly the same monetary compensation. Cotto? Promoter Top Rank didn't seem keen on the idea of Miguel facing Floyd while the Puerto Rican titlist was still in the process of building his national profile. Mosley? Shane thumbed his nose at the prospect of facing Floyd when he was the lightweight champion and Mayweather was the prominent 130 lb. fighter in the world, and again turned down the opportunity to sign for the fight several years ago, falsely assuming that the bout would be on the table at a later date. After cashing in with Hatton and Oscar, Floyd assumed the driver's seat in terms of when, where and for how much future mega-bouts would take place, a reality that is just now beginning to dawn on Mosley and Golden Boy Promotions.

So arguments regarding money and legacy aside, exactly what can we expect from the 2009 version of Floyd 'Money' Mayweather when he steps in against the reigning lineal lightweight champ, Juan Manuel Marquez? Speed? Though noted for his speed, Floyd is best-served by his maneuverability and cat-like reflexes more than pure speed, so any concerns of a significant drop-off in speed might be misplaced. Stamina? This has never been a concern for Mayweather, as he typically stays in excellent shape between fights, reports indicating that even during his recent “retirement”, his weight never ventured far above 160 lbs. Sharpness? This could be an issue over the first half of the bout, but as the rounds progress, and this fight figures to go the distance, Floyd should regain nearly all of his timing and fluidity, even against a master craftsman like Marquez. Looking ahead to “bigger fish to fry”? Though there has been a groundswell of demand for a showdown with Manny Pacquiao, it's doubtful Mayweather will overlook the highly-accomplished Marquez next weekend. Manny making it past Cotto is not a given, so it's highly unlikely that Team Mayweather is counting on a Pacquiao bout in early 2010 as being “etched in stone”, anyway.

What can be said about Marquez that's not already known? Everyone knows about his long and distinguished career and standing as one of Mexico's truly elite champions of any era. What most boxing fans don't realize is the fact that it can be credibly stated that he has yet to suffer a legitimate and clear-cut defeat in his career. His first defeat was a questionable disqualification that occurred in Mexico City in his very first professional bout. The decision loss to then IBF featherweight champion, Freddie Norwood on the De La Hoya-Trinidad undercard was widely-panned as the worst decision of 1999. Marquez's unanimous decision loss at the hands of current WBA 126 lb. champ, Chris John, took place in Indonesia, and was considered by many in the boxing community to be nothing more than a hometown verdict aided by marginal low blow penalties in Rounds 10 and 11. Similarly, the vast majority of boxing writers seated at ringside, members of the Filipino press included, scored the second Pacquiao fight in favor of Marquez – even CompuBox numbers suggest that the 'Three Blind Mice' who served as judges that night got it wrong.

Unlikely knockout victories at 135 lbs. over Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz and lineal champion, Joel Casamayor, further established Marquez as a fighter capable of greatness at higher weights, but in calling out the retired Mayweather, did Juan Manuel perhaps bite off more than he could chew? The answer is a resounding “no!”, quite simply because truly great fighters look for the next big challenge, and in signing to face Mayweather at a catch weight of 144 lbs., Marquez is once again demonstrating a willingness to “push the envelope”, something past ring greats like Hearns, Duran, Benitez and Chavez were all noted for. Marquez is not expected to win this weekend, but to entertain the idea of a blow-out loss for the Mexican borders on lunacy. Mayweather, a counter-puncher extraordinaire, poses major stylistic problems for any fighter, and Marquez will be no exception. And this is what makes this fight so interesting. To be competitive with Floyd, Marquez will have to make adjustments almost every round, but to emerge victorious, he will have to take chances, and that plays into Mayweather's hands. When two natural counter-punchers meet, the aggressor usually turns out to be the fighter moving up in weight, and in this case, that's Marquez. And it says here that he will need a major trick or two hidden in his bag in order to push Floyd to the limit.

Prediction: A Mayweather victory is not hard to predict, but with the lengthy layoff introducing the ring rust factor and Marquez's propensity for assuming the role of counter-puncher coming into play, it's not a certainty that Floyd won't struggle over the first half of the fight. Marquez is highly-skilled and possesses the heart of a lion, so Mayweather will be in for a fight, but as the bout gets deeper into its latter stages, expect Floyd to find the range on his power punches just enough to push Marquez even further into defense mode. Oh, Marquez will have his moments in the fight, especially in the first six or seven rounds, but no other fighter since Mike McCallum makes round-to-round adjustments as well as Mayweather does – the same opportunities that were available against Barrera, Pacquiao, Diaz and Casamayor will be virtually non-existent against Floyd. The primary weapon that troubles Mayweather is the jab, and though Marquez employs a decent jab from time-to-time, it's not a weapon he typically hangs his hat on, and certainly isn't troublesome enough to present major obstacles to Floyd. Though it will take Mayweather several rounds to work his way into the fight and establish any sort of rhythm, Marquez is a “chess player”, and no one plays chess better than Floyd. In a fight a bit more entertaining than expected, it's Mayweather by UD, something like 8-4 in rounds.

Aftermath: Marquez, in “calling out” Mayweather, has to know that he playing with “house money”. A victory over Floyd would be quite shocking, quite frankly, while a semi-competitive showing could possibly enhance Marquez's box office and PPV appeal to the point where he'd become a major player in attracting big-money fights at 135 or possibly 140. The problem with that scenario is the fact that despite being loaded with talent and the potential to provide tons of fan-friendly match-ups, neither division really has the type of fighter with the broad-based appeal to provide Marquez with the sort of multi-million dollar payday he so richly deserves. The whole idea of this exercise with Mayweather is to “smoke out” Pacquiao, but that's akin to playing the Pittsburgh Steelers to get to the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers are good team, but...well, you get my point.

Many intriguing opponents are out there for Marquez, but like Mayweather and Pacquiao, he's earned the right to bypass the low-budget/high risk yet highly-anticipated “prove-it-to-me” bouts against guys like Humberto Soto, Joan Guzman or Timothy Bradly. Mayweather on the other hand, will most likely entertain the most lucrative offer available, as been his inclination for the past few years. It makes great business sense, but infuriates the average boxing fan, especially since a showdown with Paul 'The Punisher' Williams at 154 lbs. such an easy fight to make for obvious reasons. The irony lies in the fact that Pacquiao has never called Mayweather out, while Williams has publicly challenged Mayweather, Cotto, Mosley and every other notable talent from 147 to 160 lbs. Mayweather-Williams would evoke memories of Leonard-Hearns and would provide Floyd the opportunity to push his own envelope and prove that he's more than willing to face the sternest opposition available, just as Leonard did in the early 80s. Something tells me however, that after emerging victorious on Saturday night, Floyd will resume beating the drums for a 2010 face-off with Pacquiao, a disappointing prospect considering the fact that a “must see” match-up with Williams is just a call away.

Source: diamondboxing.com

Photos of Mayweather-Marquez Sept. 14 “Hollywood Workout”

2009-09-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Source: nowboxing.com

Mayweather – Marquez: The Fight We Want?

2009-09-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

When the announcement was made on the morning of the Manny Pacquiao – Ricky Hatton fight that Floyd Mayweather would be making a comeback and fight Juan Manuel Marquez in his return bout, a lot of mixed opinions and emotions from fight fans emerged.
Among those emotions was, “why is he picking Marquez as his comeback opponent?”
Certainly boxing fans were, and still are, relishing the possibility of a pound for pound showdown between Mayweather and Pacquiao. That bout would ultimately be preferred by most fans and certainly would be more profitable in terms of ticket sales and PPV purchases.

Many have questioned the entertainment value of this fight. No one will question the pure technical boxing skills of Mayweather and no one will diminish the credentials of Marquez. However, their respective fighting styles on paper don’t add up to a classic brawl ala Ali – Frazier or Leonard – Hearns. Who knows? At this time next week all of those people could be proven wrong.

Many feel this bout is a mismatch claiming that the naturally bigger Mayweather, last seen in the ring as a welterweight, will be too big for Marquez, the reigning lightweight champion of the world. This writer doesn’t subscribe to this theory, but many have expressed their opinions in this regard.

So Mayweather vs. Marquez: Is this a fight we want?

It’s a fight I never thought about or imagined happening until word got out that it was happening. The world certainly wasn’t awaiting this fight happening despite the accomplishments of both fighters.

However since it is happening, I must admit that I’m looking forward to it.
Sure, I’d prefer Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. However, if each win their next fights respectively, it would only make a Money vs. Pacman showdown that much bigger.
Entertainment value? We all hope this isn’t the counterpunching exhibition some of the critics have claimed it could be. Given Marquez’s all time great action fights against Pacquaio and more recently Juan Diaz, I’ll hold out hope this could be an interesting scrap.

And with the size difference between the two fighters, I’ve already written another column about what happened the last time a lightweight moved up to welterweight for a major fight: Manny Pacquaio beatdown Oscar De La Hoya for eight rounds forcing him to retire.

So to summarize all my thoughts on this weekend’s megafight: I’m glad Floyd’s back, I hope the winner of Mayweather – Marquez meets the winner of Miguel Cotto vs. Pacquiao, and I think it’ll be a tad more competitive than most people anticipate.
Is it the fight I wanted? Not really.

Is it a fight I accept? Absolutely…and I’m looking forward to it.

More Assorted Ponderings:
So Floyd Mayweather enjoys the limelight and often brags that he’s the best fighter of all time. But he’s got to be considered modest by Kanye West standards after he stormed the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards to protest country pop singer Taylor Swift beating out Beyonce for an award. It was one of the most pathetic public displays of someone seeking attention I’ve ever witnessed.

Juan Manuel Marquez drinking urine was interesting to say the least. However, my favorite 24/7 moment in the history of the series is still Floyd Mayweather Sr. going through the drive thru at Taco Bell.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. John Duddy? Bring it on! I love that match-up.

I don’t think Vitali Klitschko vs. Cristobal Arreola lasts more than 3 rounds. But it sure will be fun while it lasts!

I’ve used the word however and exclamation points way too much in this column. Aw well, deal with it.

Source: 8countnews.com

Battle of counter-punchers: MayweatherJr. VS Marquez

2009-09-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

After a postponement caused by the alleged unspecified and unverified rib injury of Floyd Mayweather Jr., the match between Juan Manuel Marquez versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. Shall take place on September 19. And without further ado, let’s look at each fighter closer and try to analyze how they match up against each other.

Juan Manuel Marquez is the unified WBA, WBO and Ring Magazine lineal lightweight world champion and currently ranked number 2, a hairline close to number 1, in many pundits' pound-for-pound ratings, for good reasons. Juan Manuel is the man who gave the number 1 ranked pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Manny Pacquiao, his two toughest fights. If styles make fights, Marquez' counter-punching versus Pacquiao's seek-and-destroy style are a match made in boxing heaven. Marquez, after being knocked down thrice in the first round, rallied to salvage a controversial draw, therein 1 judge admitted of committing a judging error in Marquez' favor, and on the second fight, lost by a hairline, one point controversial split decision for being knocked down in the third round. Aside from giving Manny Pacquiao the 2 hardest fights of his life, Juan Manuel have fought and beaten many very good quality oppositions, the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Rocky Juarez, Joel
Casamayor and recently, Juan Diaz. Marquez is one brilliant counter-puncher.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. on the other hand was considered the number 1 pound for pound best fighter in the world, winning 6 world titles, and 39 fights without a loss, before he decided to go into a false retirement two years ago. Floyd too has defeated many very good fighters, the likes of Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Coralles, Zab Judah, Carlos Baldomir and Ricky Hatton. Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s style is quite similar to that of Pernell Whitaker. Mayweather Jr. is very elusive, very hard to hit, very fast and very accurate counter-puncher. I have to say, none has ever looked good fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr.

This match-up is as cerebral as it gets, pitting two counter-punchers against each other. The fight would be very tactical for sure, and doubtfully be entertaining. The common notion about pitting two counter-punchers against each other would be this “He who attacks first loses the battle”. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there would be a lot of yawning in the audience when they’re watching this fight.

Juan Manuel Marquez is most effective when he waits for his opponents to come forward to initiate the attack. When a fighter throws a punch, like a jab for example, coming from a defensive position of using both arms held up in front to act like a defensive shield, he needs to abandon his front guard and convert that defending hand and arm into an extended reach and fist, to deliver the punch. In that split second, the attackers' mind would be focused on trying to connect that punch, more than to defend himself. With his guard open and his mind focused on his attack, this leaves the attacker a perfect target for a knowledgeable counter-puncher. A counter-puncher must have a good sense of timing, for he shall initiate his offense while his opponents are in the middle of executing their own offense. And brilliant timing is what Juan Manuel Marquez has. As they say, to beat a speedster, you need good timing. That was why a speedster like Pacquiao had so
much trouble with Marquez. Floyd on the other hand is a speedster himself. But unlike Pacquiao, Mayweather is a counter-puncher too!

Marquez' brilliant timing allows him to weave, slip and evade his opponent's punches by simply dipping his hips, moving his torso, or using his footwork, making his opponents miss. Marquez' opponents would then find themselves over-committing into their offense, leaving them wide open to Marquez' powerful combinations. I don’t see Mayweather committing those kinds of mistake against Juan Manuel Marquez though for the same reason that Mayweather too is a counter-puncher.

Something I've noticed about Marquez' technique is his ability to create angles wherein he can exploit by simply twisting his body to evade a punch, which also positions him to sneak a looping over-hand right that would pass through his opponents' left hand guard, outside his opponents’ field of vision. What usually get you are the punches you couldn’t see coming. And Marquez has a lot of those in his arsenal. And in case his opponent was able to block, parry or evade that looping over-hand right, Marquez usually follows that up with another looping left hook or a sneaky upper cut. I’m not sure if Marquez would be able to employ that technique effectively against Mayweathers’ footwork and shoulder roll technique.

If you are a conventional fighter using both forearms and fist straight up, parallel in front, as a defensive posture, Marquez’ looping over-hand right combined with looping left hook and/or sneaky upper cut will surely penetrate that kind of defense. Because the over-hand rights are coming from above crashing down at your left face, and as you react due to that blow, you won’t even see the follow up looping left hook coming from the open space between your forearm and your shoulder on your right side, and/or the sneaky upper-cut passing between your elbows to the chin. The defensive position of parallel arms and fist placed in front, can guard against jabs and straights but would have difficulty guarding against looping punches. But against the shoulder-roll defense of Mayweather, I can just see Floyd Jr. using his shoulder to block and roll with that over-hand right of Marquez while his left forearm is guarding against an upper-cut at the same time
his right forearm and fist guard against an incoming looping left hook. That’s a riddle Marquez needs to figure out in this fight. How to break the “shoulder-roll defense”. 39 attempts tried to break that defense but none has succeeded. I’m eager to find out what would Coach Nacho come up with against this technique. I would also would wanna know what the Mayweather’s camp has in their sleeves to counter Marquez’ techniques!

Another thing that I’ve noticed with Marquez especially in his last three fights at lightweight, the higher he goes up in weight, the more power comes out of his punches. Marquez’ punches packs some power because he has good fundamentals. He knows how to use proper kinesthetic and leverage, to let the energy coming from his legs travel to his torso and flow towards his arms, punctuated to his punching fist. Unlike Juan Diaz’ volume punches that looks speedy but lacks power because the energy of his punches are just coming from his shoulders. And with this fact, Marquez was able to knock out two very tough opponents who were never been knocked out before, in the persons of Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz. Many people have also observed Marquez’ diminishing speed as he gains weight and power. He got hit more often than usual when he fought Casamayor and Diaz, which could spell trouble for Marquez against Floyd who has very fast hands. But unlike
Marquez’ counter-punching style, Mayweather rarely throws combinations. Floyd’s counter attacks usually consist of fast single or one-two “pot-shot” counter-punches. Juan Manuel on the other hand rarely throws single punch counters, but two, three or even four combination counter-punches.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. most effective offensive technique would be the counter lead right hand that he delivers after evading his opponents’ initial attack. Not so many fighters use the lead right hand as an opening attack, simply because it leaves you wide open for counters. But just like Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather Jr’s speed allows him to throw effective lead right straight without getting countered. Connecting a lead right straight and getting away with it, simply tells your opponent “I’m faster than you! You can’t catch me.” And in this fight, I’m sure a brilliant trainer like Nacho Beristain would have a game plan to watch out for these tactics.

Mayweathers’ most effective defensive tactic on the other hand would be “the clinch”. As his opponent goes forward and tries to deliver combinations at Floyd Jr., he would tie up his opponent to disrupt the rhythm and momentum of his attacker. This would prompt the referee to step in and break the fighters’ apart. This gives Floyd Mayweather Jr. a fresh start to wait for his opponents attacks and deliver his own counter attacks. In this fight, I don’t see Floyd Mayweather Jr. initiating the attacks. He will patiently wait for Marquez’ first move, for him to execute his counter punches. Mayweather’s clinching defense has been criticized by boxing writers as it is not a “fan friendly” style. This is one of the reasons why nobody has ever looked good against Floyd Jr. because the clinching defense frustrate his opponents. It would be interesting how Floyd Mayweather Jr. would catch Marquez into his clinches because Juan Manuel Marquez
doesn’t usually rush forward to execute his offense, but rather Marquez is effective delivering his offense going backwards.

If Marquez sets up his counter-punches by creating angles with his effective body positioning, Mayweather on the other hand, sets up his counter-punches with his fast foot work. Floyd Jr. waits for his opponents to attack, and when they do, Floyd Mayweather Jr. would usually bounce out of range or side steps to either side. And in that position, Mayweather can take a wide open, single punch or a two punches combination. Then when his opponents try to counter his counter punches, Floyd Mayweather Jr. would be again out of range. With these facts, it would be very interesting how their styles would match-up. I can see Marquez inching his way to Mayweather strategizing his attacks. Juan Manuel would use feints to lure Floyd Mayweather Jr. make the first attack so that Marquez could deliver his counters. I could also see Floyd Mayweather Jr. circling around Juan Manuel Marquez, executing his own feints to let Marquez make the first move. In this
counter-puncher versus counter-puncher, “the master of feints will win the tactical battle.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not like to fight on the inside. When he finds himself lured into an inside fighting brawl, he either clinches and allow the referee to give him a fresh position at a distance, or he circles away out of trouble. Floyd Jr. is allergic to punches rained down on him. The tricky part is, how can you trap a fast Floyd Jr. and rain punches on him? The answer to that question is: “You must be faster than him.” Can Marquez develop that kind of speed? Juan Manuel Marquez is comfortable fighting on the inside as well on the outside. Juan Manuel’s torso weaving and hip dipping evasive defense to position for counters are very well suited to fight fire with fire. If Marquez could lure Floyd Jr. to get into this inside fighting brawl, I believe it could work to Marquez’ advantage.

I don’t know how a two years lay-off would affect the timing and accuracy of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Then again, “ring rust” do exist! Muhammad Ali, after a 3 years lay-off, lost to Joe Frasier and admitted to the public that he’s not the same. Ali does not hit as hard anymore and he’s not as fast as he used to. Mike Tyson, after being in prison for three years was never the same as well. Although his power is still there, but is timing was a bit off and his reflexes are a bit slower. As I’ve mentioned previously, timing and accuracy are key components to an effective counter-puncher. Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s may still have his speed and may still have his power, but “ring rust” could mess up his reflex and timing, which may give him trouble against a sharp, brilliant fighter as Juan Manuel Marquez. But if a gym rat like Floyd Mayweather Jr. keeps his composure by staying sharp during his two years lay-off, it could mean big trouble for Juan
Manuel Marquez. A bigger, faster, younger and skillful Floyd Mayweather Jr., with his obvious advantages, can knock-out a smaller, older, lighter and equally skillful Juan Manuel Marquez.

Another important factor to consider is that; it is easier to go up in weight rather than go down. Remember, this match will take place on 144lbs catch weight. Which means it would be four pounds lower than the usual 147lbs. Marquez could bulk up from his usual 130lbs to make a weight closer to 144lbs and gain strength and power, but risk losing speed. On the other hand, the way I look at Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s physique, he seems to have less than 5% body fat during his “off-season” weight of 159lbs. Which means, that Floyd Jr.’s mass consist mostly of lean muscles. Now, to get down from 159lbs to 144lbs, Floyd Mayweather Jr. would need to burn not only fat, but his own muscle weight as well! We all knew what happened when Roy Jones Jr. came down from 200lbs heavyweight to fight again at light heavyweight, effectively burning his own muscle mass, right? The effect was catastrophic! Burning your own muscles to lose weight could diminish strength
and power. I wonder how the weight factor would play out during fight night. By the time both fighters step into that ring, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is expected to weigh more than ten pounds bigger than Juan Manuel Marquez.

The odds are definitely stacked against Marquez in this fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., as Juan Manuel is coming up two weight divisions higher to fight a bigger, stronger, faster, younger, and unbeaten opponent. The key to victory for Juan Manuel Marquez in this fight is his “warrior’s spirit”. Manny Pacquiao may have put him down four times, but he keeps on getting up and recovered well to put on his best performances. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Marquez score an upset win via KO after a “come from behind” victory in the later part of this fight, just like what he did against Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz. As I’ve said before, Marquez gains power as he moves up in weight, which gives him a big “punchers’ chance” given his accurate counter-punching skills. I believe the longer this fight progresses, it would favor Mayweather Jr. to win via ugly and boring unanimous decision.

I intend to sip strong coffee when I watch this fight to keep me from falling asleep.

Source: 8countnews.com

Why Floyd Mayweather - Juan Manuel Marquez Matters

2009-09-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

What originated in February as an apparent attempt by Juan Manuel Marquez to humiliate Manny Pacquiao into a third bout -- an attempt that most everyone laughed off at the time as quixotic in several different ways -- is finally here. It started when Marquez called out Floyd Mayweather, Jr. after beating Juan Diaz, saying that Mayweather, not Pacquiao, was the best fighter on the planet, and as of today he's less than a week from getting his wish.

The Sept. 19 pay-per-view battle is viewed by most now, as when first conceived, as a mismatch. Marquez was at his best at featherweight, and has been pushing his upper limits as lightweight champion; Mayweather has fought capably as high as junior middleweight. When Marquez has to put on nine more pounds than he's ever carried into the ring against Mayweather, Marquez' current #2 pound-for-pound ranking on most lists isn't enough in the eyes of many to make Mayweather-Marquez into anything more than a tune-up for Mayweather's return to boxing after two years off, yet another low risk/high reward/"sucker born every minute" kind of fight for the former pound-for-pound king.

But dig a little deeper. This fight ultimately ends up being a good deal more than that. Even with all its disappointed-head-shaking elements, its outcome has tremendous consequences for each man, and, to a lesser degree, for boxing itself.

At Stake For Both

Pacquiao is almost unanimously the top fighter on the planet now, of any size. But you can make the case that the winner of Mayweather-Marquez deserves the pound-for-pound #1 slot. I wouldn't make the case for Mayweather, personally, but it goes as follows: Mayweather was the #1 man before he "retired" in 2008, having last fought in 2007. Beating the #2 man on the planet right now, Marquez, would propel him into the #1 spot again. I disagree; I see little that Mayweather would have accomplished by beating a man who's completely unproven at his weight to neutralize everything Pacquiao has done in his career and in the two years since Mayweather last fought. But there will be people who put Mayweather #1. If Marquez wins? I can make that case, actually. Marquez has a draw and disputed loss to Pacquiao, plus over two years his resume outside the individual match-ups is stacks up well against Pacquiao's -- wins over Diaz, Joel Casamayor for the lightweight championship, Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez. If he beats Mayweather, he will have beaten a fighter better than anyone Pacquiao ever has.

It may not be academic for long, because the winner of Mayweather-Marquez would be in strong position to fight the winner of the November Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight. That would settle things, especially since, were Cotto to beat Pacquiao, he, too, would be in line for pound-for-pound #1 consideration. But there's more at stake for both men than popular opinion; there are the giant stacks of money. Mayweather-Pacquiao, in particular, would end up being the biggest fight in going on, well, decades. Decades. Two men with legit claims to being the top fighter in the world -- and the top fighter of 00s -- you're kidding, right? Nothing comparable has happened since Julio Cesar Chavez-Pernell Whitaker, in 1993. Pacquiao-Marquez III is the fight I want to see more than any other -- both were crazy classics, and I'm a huge Marquez fan who thinks he deserves another chance -- and you'd have to think a Marquez coming off a win over Mayweather would be a much bigger star than before, which would make Pacquiao-Marquez III a blockbuster, albeit a smaller one than Pacquiao-Mayweather. It would also mean a great deal to Marquez personally to get that rematch, as it's arguably the only reason he's fighting Mayweather to begin with. Mayweather-Cotto is the fight I wanted to see second-most before Mayweather retired; Marquez-Cotto would be a major Mexican-Puerto Rican showdown, always good for the box office.

At Stake For Mayweather, Specifically

No more than five minutes go by in any Mayweather interview, public appearance or reality television show without him mentioning how much money he makes. Mayweather fancies himself a mega-pay-per-view attraction, whereas skeptics note that he's only done big pay-per-view numbers against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, because of Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. He's definitely the "A-side" in this Marquez fight, so if it does well, or if it does poorly, he'll take the credit and/or blame. Rival promoter Bob Arum predicts the fight will do poorly because people have now seen Mayweather on the big stage a few times and they now know he doesn't fight to entertain; he fights with an abundance of caution so as to keep his perfect record intact. Indeed, ticket sales remain somewhat underwhelming. Furthermore, there's the disinterest from some fans because of the perceived mismatch and the fact that this is a match-up between natural counterpunchers, not always a recipe for a good fight. On the other hand, there's no American-born fighter right now who's half the star Mayweather is, so his name alone will bring people out. And Golden Boy Promotions insists that this will be the biggest fight of the year, just you watch.

I do think there are two factors that could water down Mayweather's culpability in either a dramatically high or dramatically low pay-per-view buy rate, both of which I'll touch on more in a moment. The first is that the bout is being shown in select movie theaters around the country. I'm not sure how much it'll affect pay-per-view buys, but you figure, 170 theaters, $12.50 - $15 a ticket versus $55 for watching it at home, it'll have some impact. Some have speculated that the movie theater idea is a deliberate attempt to cast doubt on expected low pay-per-view numbers. The second is that Mayweather-Marquez is a pay-per-view that, for once, has a very nice undercard. I have heard from some people who were resistant to buying Mayweather-Marquez because they were skeptical of the main event that the undercard would push them over the edge. But either way, the bigger the pay-per-view numbers for Mayweather-Marquez, the better argument he'll have for a larger chunk of the purse against Pacquiao.

You know what else? Marquez is probably the best opponent of Mayweather's life. Who else would it be -- Jose Luis Castillo, maybe? Oscar De La Hoya, even the aged version he fought? If only Mayweather and Marquez were remotely the same size, beating him would mean so much more. Still, it's another sure-fire Hall of Famer on his resume.

At Stake For Marquez, Specifically

It is only in recent years, as he has become more of a warrior and less of a technician, that Marquez -- for all his greatness -- has begun to win over Mexican fans. Even then, there does still seem to be some reluctance to embrace him. But I can't even kind of imagine what kind of star Marquez would become with Mexican fans if he beats Mayweather. I've seen Mexican fighters go from popular to massive on the strength of one win, such as when Antonio Margarito defeated Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last year. That Marquez is the underdog fighting a former U.S. Olympian? Man, that would be a sweet win in Mexico. I've tried to research some Mexican boxing history, searching for a win that would be comparable. Most of the best Mexican boxing wins came, though, in relatively evenly-matched bouts. I'm not saying Marquez beating Mayweather would be the biggest win by a Mexican boxer ever -- I honestly can't think of anything quite like it, so there'd be some apples and oranges here -- but it would have to count amongst them.

Marquez would become beloved by more than just Mexicans, too. Lots of people despise Mayweather. I'm sure a good number of people who will be tuning in will be doing so to see Mayweather beaten. He'd be a hero to Mayweather haters worldwide.

At Stake For Boxing

In ways both real and perceived, Mayweather-Marquez is a test case for a few things in the boxing world.

It's going head to head with a UFC event, and mark my words, if Mayweather-Marquez does worse PPV numbers than UFC 103, the mixed martial arts world will crow from here to eternity. But you won't catch me crowing if Mayweather-Marquez beats UFC 103. I recognize that neither UFC 103 nor Mayweather-Marquez is either sport putting its best foot forward; there are fans of each sport that are unenthused by either event. It is my suspicion based on some anecdotal evidence that those in the middle will gravitate toward Mayweather-Marquez because of Marquez' name, but I could be wrong. All that you'll hear me say if Mayweather-Marquez "wins" the night is this: It is evidence that people who say boxing is dead because MMA is ascendant aren't right. It won't prove that boxing as a whole "beat" MMA as a whole or anything. Just that reports of boxing's death are greatly exaggerated, is all, because if boxing's R.I.P., then any MMA event should beat any boxing event, right?

Should Mayweather-Marquez sell better because of a good undercard as opposed to a bad undercard, I do think we'll end up seeing more of that kind of thing. Again, I maintain that a strong undercard builds brand loyalty, builds up young fighters, sets up future fights, etc. more than it might translate into specific numbers. But Mayweather, to his credit, did something interesting here: He agreed to take a smaller flat payment for the fight so that better undercard fights could be made in exchange for a bigger portion of back-end pay-per-view sales. If boxers can be convinced that this is a good way to make money, you bet your ass it'll happen again. And that'll be good for the health of the sport as a whole. Time and again, I've said that MMA undercards are better than boxing's, and that the overall feel of watching/attending an "event" is one of the main attractors for MMA fans. Boxing should have learned that lesson a long time ago, but if what it takes is raw cash to grasp something that's a little more nuanced, so be it.

Finally, Golden Boy has rolled out a variety of ambitious marketing techniques for this fight, such as the movie theater idea. This is an area where boxing also has, frankly, sucked. There are excellent motivators behind Golden Boy's push. One, Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer wants to get young viewers' eyes on this fight. It's crucial for the future of the sport to build future boxing fans, obviously, but it's also a demographic favorable to advertisers. Two, and related, is that Schaefer sees big-name sponsors as boxing's pathway back to the Holy Grail, network television. Schaefer's obsession with sponsors has been called silly by some, but I see the logic. My only worry is this: If Schaeffer has spent a ton of capital with those sponsors, convincing them that Mayweather-Marquez will pay off for them... and then it doesn't, because of the aforementioned lack of fan affection for this fight that results in poor PPV sales, or because the fight sucks and nobody wants to watch the next big boxing match... well, I think there would be some justifiable second-guessing that Schaefer bet on the wrong horse. But if he's right? Let's just say I really, really, really want him to be right.

Source: queensberry-rules.com

GOLDEN BOY BACKING MARQUEZ

2009-09-13T21:05:00.001-07:00

Oscar De La Hoya has tipped Juan Manuel Marquez to claim a shock victory over Floyd Mayweather Jnr when the pair clash in Las Vegas next Saturday.

De La Hoya, who lost to Mayweather in 2007 in the highest-grossing fight in history, believes Marquez can bridge the gap in size as the Mexican steps up to welterweight for the first time.

And the Golden Boy says Marquez's superior jab will take Mayweather by surprise as the American climbs into the ring for the first time since taking Ricky Hatton apart in 10 rounds almost two years ago.

"I just have this feeling that Marquez is going to pull this one off," he said. "I went down to Mexico and saw him train with my own eyes. I saw how much he bulked up; I saw how much strength he has gained; I saw how seriously he's taking this fight.

"I'm convinced he will win this fight. He's looking sharp, he's looking fast and he's looking strong."

Mayweather is looking to regain his mantle as best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet from Manny Pacquiao - who could await the winner of this match-up - and De La Hoya has full respect for his former foe.

"Floyd Mayweather is an excellent boxer and he's the best fighter on the planet, no doubt about it," he added. "But styles make fights and I'm sure Marquez has dissected Mayweather's style.

"Marquez has an excellent jab and he is going to use triple, quadruple jabs. He's a smart fighter, and it's a matter of throwing those jabs and feigning those jabs. This is the fight of his life...and he knows it."

Source: sportinglife.com

Episode 3 Mayweather vs Marquez 24/7

2009-09-13T02:40:00.000-07:00

De La Hoya, Floyd Sr. Break Down Mayweather vs Marquez

2009-09-12T02:09:00.000-07:00

Richard Schaefer: We have a tremendous showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez, a little more than a week to go. The fight is at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It will be shown on HBO Pay-Per-View, as we all know. Today's call is very special because I know while Oscar was down in Mexico, he was giving me a report on how he felt Marquez's training was going. We, of course, have also seen that on 24/7 where we witnessed some rather unusual training techniques, which reminds me of those secret potions. And then of course I was in Las Vegas where I saw Mayweather. He is as always in great shape. He is very committed to the sport and there is one man who has been around Mayweather from the entire camp and during the off times. That is none other than Leonard Ellerbe, his friend, advisor, and CEO of Mayweather Promotions. I'd like to turn it over to Leonard now who will be introducing Floyd and Oscar.

Leonard Ellerbe: We're truly excited, we're about one week away. Camp has been tremendous. Floyd is ready to go. We've had great work during the camp. And it's truly going to be a great fight for the fans next Saturday. The Mayweathers have the biggest name in the sport; it rings everywhere. Obviously, there is one person who put that name on the map. He is one of the most sought after trainers in the game today, a truly, truly great teacher in my eyes and a great student of the game. All the great skills that you've seen from his son, whether it be the skill level, his ability to think, the work ethic or his great boxing ability, it all came from one person. It is with great pleasure that I introduce, none other than that man himself, Floyd Mayweather Senior, aka Big Floyd.

Floyd Mayweather Sr: This is Floyd Mayweather Sr, the world's greatest, the one that's truly second to none. And like I said before, come next Saturday, you better be ready. That's all I got to say.

Richard Schaefer: Well one man who has beaten Marquez, has seen his preparation, and who knows a great deal about the sport of boxing, is the ten time world champion in six different weight classes and president of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya.

Oscar De La Hoya: I just have this feeling that Marquez is going to pull this one off. I went down to Mexico and saw him train with my own eyes. I saw how much he bulked up; I saw how much strength he has gained. I saw how seriously he's taking this fight, and I'm convinced he will win this fight. He's looking sharp, he's looking fast, he's looking strong. Floyd Mayweather is the best fighter on the planet, and Juan knows that. He knows he's up for a big challenge, but he's ready and he knows that he has to put his life on the line and he's willing to do that. So it's going to be one tremendous fighter against another tremendous fighter. And so I think - I just have this feeling after watching Marquez, he's going to pull it off.

Q: Hey guys, this question is for Oscar. I'm glad to hear your voice, it sounds like Shaq didn't hurt you too bad. I understand what you're saying about Marquez, I'm sure he's in the shape of his life as they always are. But you know, easier said than done, fighting somebody like Floyd Mayweather. You fought him, you know how difficult it is. How is Marquez - you say your convinced he's going to do it, but how? How is he going to catch up to him? That's the main question, you weren't able to do it, so how will Marquez do it?

Oscar De La Hoya: When you said how difficult it was for me, I mean that's exactly my point. It wasn't difficult. The first half of the fight wasn't difficult, but I'm the one that stopped fighting. I'm the one that didn't keep using that jab. I'm the one whose screws were coming loose on my shoulders and my back and I was falling apart. I mean yes, Floyd Mayweather is an excellent boxer and he's the best fighter on the planet, no doubt about it. But Marquez, I mean styles make fights and I'm sure Marquez is - has- dissected Mayweather's style and it's not going to be an easy task but I'm just giving you my personal opinion that I have a feeling, being in there with Floyd and watching Marquez train, I just have this feeling he's going to win.

Q: Well one other question here Oscar, what - how difficult is it to come back from a layoff like Floyd has had? It might refresh him but yet, you know you're going to be rusty. What is the main trouble he's going to run into with the lay off that long?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well it depends on how active you've stayed if you've been away doing nothing, than you're going to be rusty. But if you've been in the gym doing something, than you're going to maybe have trouble adjusting at first, or maybe you'll need a few rounds to adjust. But you know being the professional that Mayweather Junior is, I'm sure it's going to be no problem for him to adjust. But, at the same time, you know that Marquez is coming at you right from the get go, right from the start - I just feel that Mayweather's going to have to be playing catch up in the fight.

Floyd Mayweather Sr: Little Floyd, his timing is on. Not only is his timing on, I'm back now and he's not only with his timing, he's got his jab working now which is something he hasn't been working with before. Now he has his jab working over time. So I'm pretty sure that Marquez is going to get more than he's looking for. Marquez is going to come in there to put up a good fight, a great fight, but if Marquez can get past the jab, which is going to be hard to do, if he can get past that, then he can make the fight hard or he can make the fight easy. Little Floyd's the one that's jabbing.

Q: Hi, Oscar, you alluded to when you fought Floyd about how you did well early in the fight and then you kind of fell apart. Can you speak to the idea that Floyd's incredibly fast, yet there are plenty of examples in boxing history where guys who are much faster were neutralized simply by a jab. Do you think Marquez can do that?

Oscar De La Hoya: Yes. Obviously when I fought Floyd my jab was the key. You know I have a great jab and when I used it, I was unstoppable. That was my key to victory.

When I stopped using it that's when Floyd was able to win the fight.

Marquez has an excellent jab. Marquez is going to use the triple, the quadruple jabs. This is the fight of his life. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and he knows it. And he has to go extra times to win this fight. He's a smart counter puncher; he's a smart fighter, and it's a matter of throwing those jabs and feigning those jabs, and not only throwing the jab but putting three, four, five punches right behind that jab. That's going to be the key.

Q: Yes, and when you took a lay off, you had a long lay off before you fought Vargas, I think it was almost two years, and you came back and put on a pretty good performance, and you knocked him out in the tenth or eleventh round. Do you see a parallel with that, perhaps if you're still in your physical prime than maybe the lay off doesn't mean as much as opposed to being an older guy?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well yes, if you're staying active, like I said, and doing something in between fights then these lay offs really doesn't go against you.

I have to say that Floyd has an excellent work ethic and he knows how to train. He knows how to stay active, he knows how to take care of his body.

Q: Oscar obviously you set your own - made your own history in this game. Where do you think Floyd Mayweather should lie among the great fighters of the past 35-40 years? If you want, to go back to Roberto Duran, when he was a great lightweight forward, because I hate to talk about the guys I never saw fight, so let's just say going back to the 70's with the Durans, the Leonards, the Hearns and guys like that. Where do you think Floyd should be placed?

Oscar De La Hoya: Let me put it this way, the only way Floyd is going to be talked about among the best, he has to keep fighting the best, and he has to knock out some of the best, starting with Juan Manuel Marquez. He has to make a statement. He has to do something that no one has ever done, ever in Marquez's career, and that's knock him out. The you can say, "Oh boy, here we go. We're watching a great fighter in the making and there's no doubt about it." But he has to knock out Marquez. He has to make a statement because Marquez fought Pacquiao twice and Marquez, in my mind, beat him. But Pacquiao couldn't knock him out. If Mayweather can make that statement knock out Marquez and go after him, that's - you know, "Hello world, here I am. I'm the greatest!"

Q. Big Floyd, what do you think about what Oscar just said, and where would place your son among the greats?

Floyd Mayweather Sr: Well I would have to disagree with Oscar. I think Little Floyd can go in there and give Marquez a good whooping, I mean a real good whooping. I think it has nothing to do with the legacy because if it had something to do with legacy, a lot of guys wouldn't get in the record book. So I think it ain't so much that Little Floyd needs to come out and do a good job and make a statement and let the people know that he's here and he has to be dealt with. I don't think he has to knock him out. I think what you're saying about how Little Floyd got to make a statement, whether Little Floyd knocks him out or not, that would be a statement. If Little Floyd beat him, I mean unmercifully, that would be a statement. A statement is a statement.

Q: There's been, conflicting stories about the sparring session that Little Floyd had with Lamont Peterson. Were you at that sparring session and if so can you talk about what happened?

Floyd Mayweather Sr: Yes, Peterson, he worked good with him. But the whole thing is Peterson is useful, but Little Floyd got the best of it. Little Floyd is hitting with the big shot stuff and he buckled a few times, but Peterson, he's not a bad fighter at all. And he fought hard, he did what he can do, and that's that. But I can't take nothing away from Peterson, he's a good fighter.

Q: Leonard, I spent some time talking to Floyd about his image and how he just seems to have such a negative image in the media and among some sports fans as being someone who is not as dedicated to his craft as other boxers. Or as someone who's all flash and no substance, and who seems to generate a lot of negative publicity. In your mind why is that? What can he do to change his image?

Leonard Ellerbe: Obviously, that's been a challenge within the media. There's certain members of the media who have said a lot of negative things about him in the past, but Floyd's goal is just to continue to go out there and do the things that he does best, and that's be the best fighter in the world, continue to be a family man, to be the best role model he can for his kids, and to continue to give back to his community like he's been doing. And those are just the positive things that he's focused on. All the negative criticism out there, that hasn't been a focus at all because people - they talked badly about Jesus Christ. So when you're on top, those are the kind of things that happen, that people talk about you, they want to see you fail. And like I said, all we are about is just trying to be positive and do the right things.

Q: This question is for Floyd Senior, we've talked several times about training your son and training other fighters. Do you think that having this family unity back is going to help your son in the ring? He's going to have you in his corner, he's going to have his uncle in his corner, it seems like a lot of the distraction from the past is gone. How much will the family unity help this?

Floyd Mayweather Sr: Family unity is - anytime any family gets together it's going to be stronger. So I think that's a positive.

Q: Floyd, why do you think your son is such a magnet for negative publicity?

Floyd Mayweather Sr: Well you know these days, you ain't got to do much to make the public mad at you, you ain't got to do much. Little Floyd, he's flamboyant in his own way, that's his life, that's the way he choose to do it. My son's flamboyant in his own way, he likes to drive his Mercedes and Maybachs and Ferraris; that's the kind of stuff he likes to do. That's my son, that's the way he is, and a lot of people don't like it. I mean that's one of the things right there, understand that people don't like it. I mean that's just the way the world is, that's the way America is. You can't change the whole world. People have their own opinion. But understand people are going to people - people are going to be who they are. You've got people that are going to be bad, people who are going to be good and people who are going to be all right, you know?

Q: I talked to Floyd recently about his status as pound for pound best, and how he doesn't believe that he's getting credit. He believes that when he fights somebody it's not a big deal, but when somebody else fights him it is a big deal, and the person he was speaking of, specifically was Pacquiao. And I couldn't ask for two better people to address this than Floyd Senior and Oscar. Floyd Senior, you were in the corner both times that he fought Oscar and he also fought Hatton. He believes that he beat the better Oscar, he also believes he beat the better Hatton. Can you address those two issues?

Floyd Mayweather Sr: My son fought 'em both and beat them both before Pacquiao had the chance. I'm going to say that Pacquiao, he probably did beat the best Hatton. I'm just saying Hatton - he's a good fighter, he's a good fighter but he was limited. And when Pacquiao fought Oscar...Oscar - I truly believe that you know as a fighter I don't want to need to tell Oscar and I'm working with my son right now so I don't want to even answer that question. I think Oscar worked a great fight and I think my son was also very good.

Q: Okay Oscar, same question, Floyd believes that when he fought you were at a more comfortable weight. You were at 154 pounds, you were fresher.He also believes that you were more drained physically against Pacquiao and also a little bit exposed. Can you address the two Oscars that fought those two different fighters and is he right or wrong?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well yes, just to set the record straight, when I fought Floyd I was in my weight class. I felt strong. Obviously that fight was a good fight for me, I'm fighting the best pound for pound fighter in the world in Floyd. And I was doing great, I was in the fight. Obviously because of physical pains and aches here and there, I couldn't do what I wanted to do. But I was still in the fight and when I faced Pacquiao I lost the fight before I got into the ring. I made the mistake of coming in below the weight limit. I made 141 pounds a month before the fight which was a huge mistake on my part. There's nobody to blame. But even when I fought Floyd, we did 2.4 million homes. When I fought Pacquiao we did 1.2 million homes, so it's a whole different ball game with Floyd. When Floyd's involved in a fight, you're going to get a big event and this is what you have now, a mega world event. And then, you have Floyd along with the best fighter in Mexico, when you have all the Mexican fans supporting their hero, just the way they did with Chavez back in the 80s, you're going to get a tremendous fight, a tremendous event.

Q: Does Floyd have a legitimate argument in that he feels that he should have retired when he did retire as the pound for pound best? Or does Pacquiao, because he beat you and Hatton in more convincing fashion, have an argument?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well Floyd Junior does have an argument saying that he hung up the gloves because he felt that he had accomplished everything he wanted to accomplish.

He felt that he left the sport as the best and now he wants to come back and fight again and still, nobody's beaten him, he's still undefeated. He's still Floyd Mayweather Junior. It's just like reading a book and you're on the tenth chapter, and you close the book to take a nap. Then you open it once again when you wake up. And you start where you left off. It's a continuation here and I think, come September 19, you're going to see the best Floyd and you're going to see the best Marquez.

Floyd Mayweather Sr: Yes I believe Little Floyd is the pound for pound best. To date, somebody like Manuel Pacquiao and them kind of guys, I definitely think Little Floyd is the pound for pound best right now, even with the two year layoff, I still think that it's a good call. I think Little Floyd took his little layoff, I think the guy has a better chance. To me Pacquiao is - I wouldn't call Pacquiao a good fighter at all. I wouldn't, I mean that's my opinion because I see too many things he does, speed means nothing if you don't know where to put speed. If you don't know exactly where to put the punches, they don't mean anything. So you know he's got speed, he's fast, but he's got no skills with it, so it don't mean nothing. He's not an Oscar De La Hoya; he's not a Floyd Mayweather or any fighter like that.

Q: Richard, about this fight going to be shown in the theaters, how would we go about finding out in which theaters the fight is playing?

Richard Schaefer: The information is available if you look on NCM Fathom. They have a list online which lists the movie theaters that are participating in this, for the first time in over 20 years, movie distribution.

Q: For the fight will they be using Grant or Reyes gloves, and does it even matter?

Oscar De La Hoya: Well I know Marquez would prefer Reyes. As far as I know, both fighters will be using Reyes gloves.

Leonard Ellerbe: Correction on that Oscar, Floyd will be wearing Grant, but it will come down to who the best fighter is on particular night. Both fighters will be in great shape and the gloves won't make a difference.

Mayweather vs. Marquez: "Number One/Numero Uno," is promoted by Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Boxing Promotions and is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T, Quaker State, Dewalt Tools, Affliction Clothing and Southwest Airlines. The explosive evening of boxing will take place Saturday, Sept. 19 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev.

Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $600, $300 and $150, not including applicable service charges, are on sale now and limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person with a total ticket limit of 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets previously purchased for the July 18 date will be honored.

Source: boxingscene.com

Mayweather vs Marquez - Boxing's Huge Fight History steeped in Mexican Independence Day Tradition!

2009-09-12T02:03:00.000-07:00

Mexico City, Mexico (September 11) - On September 16, 1810 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a well-respected Mexican priest, rang a bell at his small church calling Mexican fighters to arms. This began the Independence War against Spain; thereafter marking September 16 as El Grito de Independencia (Mexican Independence Day). This year, on September 19, three days after Mexicans around the world celebrate Mexican Independence Day, a bell will ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to start a 12-round battle between six-time world champion in five weight divisions Floyd "Money" Mayweather and five-time world champion in three weight divisions Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez. The bout will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m./6 p.m. PT.

For years, Mexican fighters have battled in the ring on Mexican Independence Day weekend, following in the two-century old footsteps of their ancestors. This year is no exception. Marquez, the number one Mexican fighter in the world and number two pound-for-pound, finds great motivation and pride in representing his country in the most important fight of his career on a day entrenched in Mexican and boxing tradition.

"It is an honor to fight on Mexican Independence Day weekend," said Marquez. "To be given the chance to fight on this important day in the history of my country for the third time in my career, is something I do not take lightly. I understand the magnitude of this fight, but I don't feel pressure; I feel motivation. On September 19, I'm going to be one hundred percent focused and make my country proud."

Almost exactly a year ago, Marquez further cemented his already hallowed place among great Mexican fighters when he became the first man to knock out Joel Casamayor, earning Marquez his fifth world title.

"I have trained many great Mexican fighters," said Marquez' trainer Nacho Beristain. "There is something about fighting on Mexican Independence Day that drives him to reach higher and try harder. The fact that Juan Manuel is fighting the biggest fight of his career on Mexican Independence Day is something that is a truly an advantage because it gives him the extra push to succeed. I know he will be ready and will be victorious on September 19."

Beristain knows a thing or two about training Mexican fighters, having a roster of current and former Mexican greats that includes Rafael Marquez (Juan Manuel's brother), Daniel Zaragoza, Humberto Gonzalez and Ricardo Lopez. He also trains Vicente Escobedo, who will fight Michael Katsidis on the Mayweather vs. Marquez televised undercard.

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar de la Hoya spent many of his 45 professional bouts fighting on Mexican Independence Day. Now as a promoter, he is looking to Marquez to carry on the tradition he once upheld.

"Mexican Independence Day weekend is rich in boxing history," said De La Hoya. "It is a date that I fought on many times in my career, and I am thrilled to pass the torch to Juan Manuel and see him carry it to victory and continue this great tradition."

"Mayweather is in for one tough fight on September 19," De La Hoya continued. "Marquez will have the whole country of Mexico behind him and that is a lot of pressure on Mayweather."

When the bell rings on September 19, Juan Manuel Marquez will carry the hopes of his fellow countrymen into combat as he seeks Mexican Independence Day glory against Floyd Mayweather just as his forefathers did almost two hundred years ago.

MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY FIGHT APPENDIX

Other Mexican fighters who have fought during Independence Day weekend are some of the most respected champions in the sport's modern era. They include Julio Cesar Chavez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, all three of whom won world titles and established themselves as pound-for-pound greats.

Chavez, a Mexican legend and perhaps the most important figure in Mexican boxing history, fought professionally from 1980-2005. In 1984, Chavez won his first world championship on Mexican Independence Day weekend, stopping fellow countryman Mario Martinez. That began a tradition in Chavez' career that peaked in the early 90's when he fought on Independence Day for five consecutive years against the likes of such fighters as Pernell Whitaker and Meldrick Taylor.

"I feel proud to have been part of fights that gave fans such great memories while celebrating Mexico's Independence, such as my fight against Meldrick Taylor," said Chavez. "That night, I was filled with great pride knowing that all of my people were watching and that the fight was taking place as part of the celebration of Mexican Independence Day."

Barrera, who is one of Mexico's most popular fighters, is best known for his legendary trilogy against Morales and his tremendous victory over then-undefeated and heavily favored Prince Naseem Hamed in 2001. Barrera fought on Independence Day weekend three times against Robbie Peden, Ricardo Rocky Juarez and Jesse Magana.

"It was an honor for me to fight on this weekend because I knew that all Mexican fans were watching very closely," Mexico City's Barrera said. "It has always been an important date that belongs to the most important Mexican fighters."

Morales is also one of the most important fighters in the history of Mexican boxing. With his unique style and brilliant performances, he was able to both win the love of Mexican fans and maintain the respect of his adversaries. Morales had one fight on Independence Day Weekend, a thrilling fourth-round TKO of Junior Jones that took place in a bull ring in Morales' hometown of Tijuana.

"Even though I only fought once on this weekend, I always knew that it would be a fight that would be remembered because it took place on such an important date," Morales said. "It remains a strong connection between the sport and Mexican history. There will always a hard-fought battle that fans won't forget when a Mexican fights during the celebration of Mexican Independence."

Gabriel Ruelas, a native of Yerbabuena, Jalisco, Mexico, was another important Mexican World Champion who fought on Independence Day Weekend.

"It was an honor for me to fight during the celebration of Mexico's Independence and I will always remember it as an important moment in my career during which I hope I was a worthy representative of Mexican boxing," Ruelas said.

Erubey Carmona, a native of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, is credited with starting the tradition of Mexican fighters representing their country on this weekend. His epic battle against Mando Ramos took place during the celebration in 1972.

"For me it was very special and so important to fight on September 15 in 1972," Carmona said. "I remember shouting for joy after I beat Ramos and captured a world title in front of all the Mexicans fans in the Los Angeles Coliseum. That win wasn't just for me; it was for Mexico as well."

Source: doghouseboxing.com

Bob Arum - Fans don't want to watch Floyd

2009-09-12T01:52:00.000-07:00

The hidden side of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

2009-09-12T01:51:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS – The midday sun is searing. Shade is all but impossible to find. The temperature inches toward 110 degrees and the heat radiating from the concrete is visible to the naked eye.

A reed-thin man with a scraggly salt-and-pepper beard filled with burrs shuffles slowly across a busy street, not particularly concerned about the traffic. He has been sweating, and with the wind blowing, the dust sticks to his face.

He makes his way toward a large black truck parked alongside a road in one of the city’s poorest areas. It’s obvious that, even if he doesn’t have a clue who’s inside the truck, he knows what it represents.

The man, who said his name is Zeke, said he is not sure if he’s hotter, hungrier or thirstier. Clearly, though, he could use a meal. He’s about 6-foot tall but doesn’t look like he weighs 150 pounds, unless you count the 20-pound sack draped over his shoulder.

He is among the first of the 100 or so homeless people who seem to appear out of nowhere to reach the truck. The door on the back of the truck loudly clatters up and an athletic young man bounds effortlessly into the back.

Zeke sees him and sticks his hand out. Floyd Mayweather Jr., one of the most controversial figures in boxing, bends down and hands him a bag with a sandwich, a piece of fruit and some chips as well as a bottle of water.

Zeke throws the fruit and the chips into the bag he drags along with him but devours the sandwich in seconds. He gulps down the water and heads to the line again.

He gets back to the front, but Mayweather recognizes him, smiles and declines to offer him a second lunch at that point.

“Let’s make sure we have enough for everyone, then I’ll take care of you,” Mayweather says softly. “I won’t forget you.”

Disappointed, Zeke shuffles away. He asks a nearby observer to stand in line for him and at least get him another bottle of water.

“That’ll kill you,” he says motioning toward the fiery orange sun.

Zeke hangs around for the half hour or so it takes for Mayweather and his cohorts to hand the lunches to those who stand in line. When the line is clear, Mayweather scans the area and spots Zeke. He shouts and then tosses him another bag of food and a bottle of water.

A few hours earlier, standing in his office, Mayweather explained why he would risk spending so much time in the strength-sapping sun with a bout that will land him an eight-figure payday nearing rapidly.

This is a regular routine and, fight or no fight, Mayweather is out on a weekly basis to feed the homeless. He heard from a friend about the large homeless population in Clark County and the appalling conditions the men and women live in. Mayweather was dismayed when he observed them himself.

He told his manager, Leonard Ellerbe, he needed to do something immediately.

“I’ve been blessed by God,” Mayweather said. “No doubt about it. God gave me this talent and I’ve been able to build a better life for myself and my family. The people out there, the ones we’re going to see, they haven’t been so lucky. They need someone to give them a break, but no one wants to bother with them. People forget about them and pretend like they don’t exist. I guess they think if they act like there is no problem it will go away. But it won’t. Someone needs to help, so I do my part.”

Ready for return

The unbeaten welterweight, who was a virtual unanimous choice as the best boxer in the world prior to his sudden retirement in June 2008, will return to the ring on Sept. 19 when he meets Juan Manuel Marquez in an HBO Pay-Per-View bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Mayweather remains one of the sport’s most polarizing figures. He flaunts his money – the jewelry he wears on his wrist and around his neck costs more than many of his fans’ homes – and he’s reviled by many who dislike his outlandish spending, loose tongue and exceptionally high opinion of himself that he’s so quick to share.

He’s only recently reconciled with his father after nearly a decade of public dispute. His former promoter, Bob Arum, makes no effort to conceal his disdain for him. In an interview with Fanhouse.com, Arum blasted Mayweather’s fighting style and said “People know Mayweather now. They know the son of a gun doesn’t fight. He fights scared. … Outside the ring, yeah, he shoots up cars and he does other things like that and he entertains. But in the ring, he’s not an entertaining fighter.”

Arum was referring to an incident last month in which shots were fired at a local roller-skating rink. Mayweather’s 2008 Rolls Royce was at the scene and police later searched his home. Though police say Mayweather is not a suspect, they removed two handguns (one of which was a Smith & Wesson), a holster, three magazines containing live rounds and a bulletproof vest.

Ellerbe said the guns were registered to two of Mayweather’s bodyguards. Despite Mayweather’s denial of having any involvement, the incident has contributed to the perception many hold of him as a hoodlum.

But Ellerbe, who is also his best friend, said Mayweather is far from that.

“There’s the entertainer, the public figure, but the Floyd Mayweather I know is a kind and caring and thoughtful person,” Ellerbe said. “You hear all this stuff, but we all know where it’s coming from. It’s jealousy. Any time anything happens, they want to blame Floyd. It’s ridiculous.”

Mayweather clearly doesn’t care for the negative perceptions of him, but he also refuses to attempt to polish his image in a bid to curry favor.

He’ll tell you vehemently that he is no hoodlum, no petty criminal, no bad guy, but neither will he change who he is just for the sake of impressing middle-aged white men in suits. As a way of explanation, he makes no bones about his affinity for visits to Las Vegas’ topless clubs.

“There are guys at HBO [and] they tell me I shouldn’t go to the strip clubs,” Mayweather said. “Why not? I’m an adult. I’m not married. I’m not committing any crimes. And you know what? I have been in strip clubs and I’ve seen a lot of the same men in there who talk about me and who tell me not to go in there. They’re in there and they want to tell me I shouldn’t go? At least I’m honest about what I do.”

Source: sports.yahoo.com/

De La Hoya tips Marquez to upset Mayweather in Vegas

2009-09-12T01:38:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Boxing great Oscar De La Hoya believes Floyd Mayweather Jr. will lose his unbeaten record when he takes on Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in a hotly anticipated welterweight fight in Las Vegas next week.

Mayweather has won all 39 of his career bouts, including 25 by knockout, but the American will be making his first appearance in the ring for almost two years.

"I just have this feeling that Marquez is going to pull this one off," De La Hoya, arguably the biggest name in contemporary boxing, said in a conference call ahead of the September 19 clash over 12 rounds at the MGM Grand.

"I went down to Mexico and saw him train with my own eyes. I saw how much he bulked up; I saw how much strength he has gained; I saw how seriously he's taking this fight.

"I'm convinced he will win this fight. He's looking sharp, he's looking fast and he's looking strong."

Marquez, a Mexico City native who has a 50-4-1 record with 37 knockouts, has beefed up through a brutal training regime highlighted by lifting boulders up a mountain slope.

Although most boxing pundits back Mayweather to win because of his superior strength, speed and defense, De La Hoya predicts the Mexican's jab will be a telling factor.

"Floyd Mayweather is an excellent boxer and he's the best fighter on the planet, no doubt about it," the 10-time world champion said. "But styles make fights and I'm sure Marquez has dissected Mayweather's style.

SMART FIGHTER

"Marquez has an excellent jab and he is going to use triple, quadruple jabs. He's a smart fighter, and it's a matter of throwing those jabs and feigning those jabs. This is the fight of his life ... and he knows it."

De La Hoya is well versed in Mayweather's strengths, having lost the WBC super-welterweight title to him on a split decision in May 2007, the highest-grossing fight in boxing history.

However, he believes the American could be troubled by Marquez in the early rounds on his belated return to the ring.

Mayweather has not fought since his 10th round stoppage of Britain's Ricky Hatton in a WBC welterweight title bout in December 2007.

"Being the professional that Mayweather Junior is, I'm sure it's going to be no problem for him to adjust," said De La Hoya, a world champion in six different weight classes who posted a win-loss record of 39-6 including 30 knockouts.

"At the same time, you know Marquez is coming at you right from the get-go, right from the start. I just feel Mayweather's going to have to be playing catch-up in the fight."

Mayweather, 32, is an undefeated five-division world champion while Marquez, 36, is a five-time world champion.

Source: reuters.com

All the pressure is on Mayweather

2009-09-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Locker room philosopher Charles Barkley once said pressure is for tires. That wise-guy bit of wisdom is worth remembering as anticipation and speculation combine and begin to register a surprising buzz in the build-up for Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s comeback on Sept. 19 against Juan Manuel Marquez at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

In a fight predicted to be one-sided, intrigue is there because of what it means to Mayweather, the overwhelming favorite. For him, the stakes are huge, maybe never bigger.

It’s not if Mayweather wins. It’s how he wins.

If he loses, well, his career will be a blowout for everybody who thinks he is just a bunch of hot air anyway.

Within the how, there is the business meter, the pay-per-view numbers that will determine whether Mayweather can stand alone as an attraction with enough leverage to reasonably ask for the lion’s share of the profit margin in a projected moneymaker against Manny Pacquiao.

It all adds up to the kind of pressure that turns a few into legends and most into tires. Mayweather, defensive in the ring and often out of it, has shown an ability to forge it into a legacy, which he often talks about almost as if it is a birthright.

To wit: Against Ricky Hatton, he delivered terrific stoppage that silenced a crowd of rude Brits who had booed the Star-Spangled Banner. It was beautiful. A fighter I had never liked had won me over, at least for the moment. But proof always rests in the next punch and that burden has never been heavier.

A crushing loss to Pacquiao only confirmed suspicions that Hatton, although entertaining, was overrated. Mayweather beat De La Hoya in a narrow decision in 2007, but De La Hoya’s next two fights – a bruising, telling decision over Steve Forbes and eighth-round surrender to Pacquiao in December – and subsequent retirement seemed to say he was finished.

Against Marquez, Mayweather faces a seasoned, full-time fighter, whose two has a draw and loss to Pacquiao in two fights that he could have easily won. Against Mayweather, he is the underdog, a heavy one, mostly because the former featherweight and lightweight champion has never fought as a welter and presumably won’t be one on Sept. 19. The reported catch-weight is 144 pounds. Marquez predicted in a conference call nearly two weeks ago that he will be at 142 pounds. On the same call, however, Mayweather again would not confirm the reported catch weight.

“Not weighting no 143,’’ said Mayweather, who dismissed reports of the catch weight as rumors. “It’s a welterweight fight. I weigh whatever a welterweight weighs.’’

Apparently, that means Mayweather will weigh whatever he wants. Or maybe it means the biggest weigh-in flap since Jose Luis Castillo. Whatever it leads to, it is just another example of Mayweather’s ability to keep opponents and media guessing, which – truth is – part of the intrigue in the countdown to Marquez.

But there is no guess about what the unbeaten Mayweather has to do against Marquez. To back up his boasts and his resurrected claim on the pound-for-pound perch, he has to do what nobody else has in 54 fights: Knock out Marquez.

“He has to keep fighting the best and knock out out some of the best, starting with Juan Manuel Marquez,’’ De La Hoya, Marquez’ promoter, said Thursday in a conference call. “He has to make a statement.’’

It would be a statement without saying anything at all, which for Mayweather would say everything.

NOTES, QUOTES, ODDSERVATIONS

· After watching HBO’s 24/7, I don’t want to know what’s in that Marquez water bottle. Memo to the Nevada State Athletic Commission: If Marquez is asked to take the traditional drug test, make sure the cup gets to the lab before he drinks the contents.

· De La Hoya’s side-show decision over Shaquille O’Neal on fantasy TV was actually entertaining and left me wondering if Pacquiao taught De La Hoya how a little man can beat a bigger one.

· More O’Neal: With the Ali Shuffle, he showed more footwork during a few rounds in the ring than he did throughout last season with the Phoenix Suns. Maybe, the Cleveland Cavaliers should hire Freddie Roach as O’Neal’s personal bench coach. It looks as if only Roach could get O’Neal to move his feet fast enough to defend against the pick-and-roll, which knocked the Suns into mediocrity and could keep LeBron James from claiming his first NBA championship ring.

Source: 15rounds.com

Does any-Juan know Marquez?

2009-09-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

UFC supremo Dana White has taken another swing at the sweet science.
White has already made his feelings clear about Floyd Mayweather Jnr's comeback taking place on the same night as UFC 103.

And now he has followed it up by mocking Mayweather's opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez.

White said: "Boxing is doing it to you again. They're giving you the fight that you don't want.

"Nobody asked for this fight with Mayweather and ... what's his name? What's his name?

"Nobody even knows who he's fighting.

"Yet on that same night, September 19, you guys can all tune in and watch not one but five great UFC fights.

"And we're charging $10 less than what Mayweather wants you to pay to see him run around in circles, lay on the ropes, move around and not fight."

Mayweather, 32, is banking on a bumper pay-per-view audience when he fights for the first time since December 2007.

And Money insists White can rant and rave all he likes — because he simply doesn't give a damn.

The unbeaten American said: "I'm not worried about what White has to say.

"I mean, White says what he says — it don't matter. I'm not thinking about him."

Garcia puts Mayweather in good hands

2009-09-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS – Rafael Garcia grins widely, a smile that seems to say, “Something good is going to happen soon,” and pats his flat belly. He runs his fingers through his full head of hair and leans in toward a visitor to the boxing gym.

“How old,” he asks, stretching the boundaries of his grin, “do you think I am?”

Without waiting for an answer, he says, “I’ve been doing this longer than most of the people here were born. Or before a lot of their parents were born.”

The Mayweather Boxing Club is a beehive of activity on this late summer afternoon. Its star attraction, unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., has yet to arrive for his workout that will help prepare him for his Sept. 19 comeback fight down the street at the MGM Grand Garden Arena against Juan Manuel Marquez.

There are aspiring fighters hitting the bags, a couple of men skipping rope. Roger Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle and lead trainer, is gesturing animatedly to a woman on a treadmill, apparently trying to demonstrate the proper technique for a three-punch combination.

Assistants for Floyd Jr. scurry around, preparing the place for his imminent arrival.

Garcia pulls up a chair and glances around. He’s 81 and he’s been involved in boxing in one form or another for 69 years.

He first walked into a gym nearly seven decades ago in Puebla, Mexico, when he tired of going several blocks out of his way in an effort to avoid a bully while headed to school. He learned to box and hasn’t stopped since. He was 5-0 as a bantamweight until his mother begged him to quit. He acquiesced, but the lure of the gym was too strong. He assumed the name Guadalupe Limon, fought and won twice more and then gave up his fighting career for good.

That led him into the corner, though, and into a lifetime of working with some of the biggest names in the game’s history. He has made the long walk to the ring with legends like Mayweather and Hall of Famers Roberto Duran and Alexis Arguello, as well as dozens of other champions, and hasn’t lost an ounce of passion for either the sport or his job.

He has worked for Mayweather for about the last 10 years, concentrating on wrapping his hands, taking care of his cuts and offering advice culled from his vast experience.

Mayweather’s hands are brittle and he was having frequent problems with them for much of his career. He heard about Garcia’s wizardry as a hand wrapper and made a call.

“My hands were bothering me and when a fighter doesn’t have confidence in his hands,” Mayweather says, shaking his head and not needing to finish the sentence. “I finally had to find the best wrapper out there. And that is Rafael Garcia. I won’t let anyone else touch my hands.”

Garcia is recognizable for the Kangol caps he wears that are adorned with pins from places he has traveled. He has seen the world, the big cities, the small cities, the major markets and the out-of-the-way places few have heard of.

He has worked for boxers who didn’t have the talent to stay out of their own way and he has assisted generational talents.

In all of those years, though, as a fighter, manager, trainer and cut man, he has never met anyone quite like Mayweather.

Garcia declines to name the best fighter he has ever seen because he says comparing fighters in different generations is next to impossible. He has no doubt that Mayweather is the most gifted fighter of the current generation and he’s even more sure that he’s never seen anyone who works as hard as Mayweather does.

“There’s no one close to him and I’m telling you the honest truth,” Garcia said. “Every day, and I mean every single day, he works as hard as he can possibly work. I’ve never seen anything like it. People come to the gym all the time and they want to see him and talk to him and take a picture. And Floyd, he loves the fans. People don’t know how good he is to the people. He’s a good man and he has time for everyone.

“But when he’s working, he is only concentrating on that. The gym is where he does his work and when he gets to the gym, he puts every bit of himself completely into what he is doing.”

Garcia was recommended to Mayweather by promoter Bob Arum. Arum had once sent Garcia to Southern California to work with the late noted orthopedic surgeon Tony Daly. Daly explained the structure of the hand to Garcia and inspected his wrapping technique.

Garcia only had to wrap one hand and Daly was satisfied.

“He said, ‘Perfect. If you wrap all the hands like that, no one is going to have any problems,’ ” Garcia said.

There are few boxers who haven’t had pain in their hands. It’s an occupational hazard when you spend much of the year clubbing someone upside the head.

Garcia, though, said many problems are exacerbated by poorly wrapped hands. The most common mistake trainers make when wrapping a fighter’s hand, Garcia said, is that they wrap it too tightly.

“It gets purple and then there is no circulation,” he says. “That’s when there are problems.”

The Nevada Athletic Commission thinks so highly of Garcia’s abilities it asked him to put on a clinic to demonstrate the proper technique.

He’s far more than a man who just knows how to put tape and gauze on a fighter’s hand, but at 81, he’s thrilled just to be involved in the game and around a boxer who he believes is one of the best who has ever lived.

“I just love coming out every day and being here to see this, because this is history I’m watching,” Garcia said. “People always want to know, ‘Rafael, who is the best?’ It’s so hard to say. Different times, different styles. Floyd is the best now, without a doubt. I have respect for Marquez and his trainer, [Nacho] Beristain, is one of the best.

“Floyd is just different. Watching him fight is just like watching the guys like Duran and Arguello. That’s the kind of level he’s at.”

Source: sports.yahoo.com

Mayweather vs Marquez: Who Will Really Look Like They Lost Something On 9/19?

2009-09-10T17:11:00.001-07:00

By Quinton Emerson: Much of the talk about this fight has to do with Floyd Mayweather Jr. having lost something since his last fight. Now I admit that’s a possibility, but it’s unlikely. When great fighters lose ability it’s not just because of age. Not taking care of their bodies and bad habits also contribute to that. And as we all know Floyd is a gym rat so that’s not an issue.

What seems to be lost in all this is the fact that Juan Manuel Marquez is 36 years old. Just from watching him on the HBO Mayweather-Marquez 24/7, he comes across as desperate ageing fighter. Why else would he eat raw quail eggs or drink his own urine? Marquez has never been a gifted fighter like a Pacquiao or Mayweather. Marquez is a good fighter that works hard. His biggest strength is his ability to adjust but I question that.
The reason he has to make those adjustments is because of his flaws. In the first fight with Pacquiao, he adjusted after being cut and knocked down three times with the same punch. Now this is not meant to discredit Marquez but rather level out the argument about losing something.

Roy Jones just proved against Jeff Lacy that talent stays past your prime. How much and how long depends on the fighter.

The bottom line is that Floyd is a great fighter. Marquez is a good fighter that comes up short in his biggest moments like Oscar De La Hoya. If Floyd is his old self he might actually stop Marquez. If he’s 70% of his old self he’ll win on points. Either way he wins.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Is Marquez Really Pissing Away Vitamins?

2009-09-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you were sickened- or perhaps, more than just a bit amused- when on the latest edition of '24/7' that features Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez; to see the Mexican sharp-shooter guzzle his own urine. The belief being that what better way to replenish your own system of lost vitamins and other nutrients, than to put back what you just discarded?

Everyone had a good laugh over this and the expected jokes have been made. But the question is, for as unorthodox as this method is, does it actually have merit?

Does drinking your own piss have it's benefits?

I asked Dr. Margaret Goodman, who for years was a fixture at all the major fights in Las Vegas, where she served as ringside physician and was the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. When I broached the subject to her on Tuesday afternoon, Goodman, who practices neurology in Las Vegas, said she would consult with Dr. Flip Homansky.

About 20 minutes after I called her, she buzzed me back. She said," He agrees with me, he says that it used to be a big thing among athletes- and I don't want to make it into any racial thing- but he had heard it was more from Latino athletes, years and years ago and it's kind of like an old wives tale. There isn't anything really wrong with it because as long as it's not really sitting around getting full of bacteria, just like anything else, it's pretty sterile. So it's not going to cause you any kind of infectious problem."

So the lesson is, if you're going to drink your own wizz, it better be new and fresh. This isn't wine, it shouldn't be aged.

" We both kind of agree that it's not good for a boxer that's training. It's going to predispose him to more dehydration because your urine tends to be more concentrated than, obviously, water and so if anything it's going to cause dehydration and contribute to that. If he's really training hard- and I know he does- it wouldn't really be beneficial.

" Is it harmful? No, probably not."

Alex Ariza, best known for being the strength and conditioning coach for Manny Pacquiao and a host of other boxers at the Wild Card Boxing Club agrees with Goodman, that while it's not necessarily damaging to the body, there's really no benefit to it.

" No, actually there's not unfortunately," said Ariza, who studied exercise physiology at San Diego State." Most vitamins are water soluble and whatever the body doesn't absorb in normal everyday supplement intake is usually passed through your urine. So once it's been discarded, there's no real sense in recycling it once your body has already let you know that they don't need it."

But he says perhaps that it can serve to help a fighter psychologically.

" It might be a placebo affect, making him mentally tough, knowing that he drank his own urine. I really don't know. Or maybe for shock value. But as far as getting anything out of it? No. There's some other agents in there that can kill fungus's and things like that. But as far as anything that's going to increase your endurance or resistance...I just don't know what the purpose of it is."

Well, it has served it's purpose in one regard- people are talking about it and it has created a bit of a buzz in the lead-up to the September 19Th fight. This column right here, is an example of that.

Now, I'm not exactly Jack Lalanne or Victor Conte, but isn't the best way to get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals is to just eat a healthy and balanced diet or just take a regimen of pills?

" Duh!!!," answered the Doc, while laughing.

Source: maxboxing.com

In this corner, Floyd Mayweather …It takes nearly 15 minutes for the cutman to wrap Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s hands, layer after layer of gauze, tape loo

2009-09-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

It takes nearly 15 minutes for the cutman to wrap Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s hands, layer after layer of gauze, tape looped in between each finger, extra padding on the knuckles, more supportive laps around his thin wrists. This is, after all, what it boils down to: the fists, right? The fighter is waiting to climb into the ring behind him in his Las Vegas gym, a swarm of media fluttering cameras and poking mic booms at him while the cutman works. The press has been all over him for about an hour now in this ritual pre-fight press conference—Mayweather Jr. is set to return to the ring after 20 months, taking on Juan Marquez at the MGM on September 19. But midway through the wrist-wrapping, after hundreds of questions by media from Vegas, ESPN, the Philippines, Mexico, HBO, the UK, wherever—Mayweather Jr. lets out a big, weary yawn: He’s bored.

Mayweather Jr. arrived here at China Town, an unlikely place for a red, white and blue-themed boxing gym and USA-vs.-Mexico fight, driving what looks like a Brink’s armored truck painted black. The media had been treated to a cookout in the parking lot an hour and a half before, at noon, in Las Vegas, under a tent, and was a sweaty, ready bunch by the time he arrived. His free-jawed uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, had been holding forth over hamburgers—“You don’t know shit about boxing!”—and when Floyd Jr. stepped down from the more peculiar than badass truck, reporters swallowed him up. He’s a little man— fighting welterweight at 5-7, 147 pounds now, beefed up—and as he walked toward the tent wearing jeans and a T-shirt, he still seemed small, like a boy. He posed with the cake, holding his index finger up quietly, “No. 1,” walked into the gym, changed into his shorts and gave them what they wanted: face time, quotes. “I feel strong, I’m in tip-top shape.” “There’s going to be blood, sweat and tears.”

Several times, he referred to himself in third person: “When Floyd Mayweather is in a fight ... he’s going to go out there and give it all he can,” as if he’s discussing a fighting machine that has left his control, an entertainment machine.

One wonders if part of being an entertainment machine today, a sports star, means somehow, some way, working in a side story on guns at a roller-skating rink, or tales of a Rolls Royce. It certainly means appearing on Dancing With the Stars. It may mean going toe-to-toe with Vegas’ own UFC President Dana White, in a bout over the better sport: UFC vs. boxing. It also means talking up a U.S. vs. Mexico fight scheduled for Mexican Independence day weekend. And it means explaining family and trainer rows—his dad is back in his corner after working with Ricky Hatton, whom Mayweather defeated in his last fight in 2007.

There’s so much more than one battle going on here for Mayweather Jr., and for boxing fans. Showmanship and boxing have always been united, but the nature of the show shifts, and at some point, objectively, the boxer is less boxer than multitasking reality star. It’s not quite WWF, but when you see the show going on here—his father commanding a competing press huddle 10 feet from his, his uncle’s shouts rising above the hum—it has a feeling of the stock drama built into a reality show, and it seems uncertain who Mayweather Jr.’s opponent really is.
In July, Mayweather Jr., who once expressed interest in pro wrestling, told CBS sports that the UFC was created for white fighters because “in boxing, we know who’s dominating. Black fighters and Hispanic fighters is dominating in this sport. ... And this is not a racial statement, but there’s no white fighters in boxing that’s dominating, so they had to go to something else and start something new.”
UFC just happens to have a competing fight airing on the 19th; White says he’s fine going head-to-head with Mayweather’s HBO pay-per-view match: “He’s not a superstar,” White said on ESPN Radio. “Floyd doesn’t sell. Floyd plus another great fighter sells ...”

Floyd followed up with reporters, saying “You know, what UFC got to do, that’s their business. This is about me and Marquez pay-per-view, and we’re not competing against no one else.”

In late August, Mayweather Jr. was named in another type of fight, when his Rolls Royce was allegedly seen at the scene of a shooting at Crystal Palace Skating Center. No one was injured. Metro searched Mayweather Jr.’s Vegas home and confiscated two guns, but did not say whether they were related to the shooting; it remains unclear what involvement, if any, Mayweather Jr. had in the shooting.

So there’s Mayweather Jr. vs. the press, vs. his own family and associates, vs. Mexico, Marquez, the law, white people, the UFC. But what you get, finally, as this three-hour press conference wilts and everyone makes a little room, when his uncle and his dad and his cutman and his PR rep let him climb into the ropes, and reporters on all four sides shut up and lean, is a little man in the ring, his two fists wrapped tight. He starts dancing a bit, shuffling, nobody there to hit yet, eyes casting out the bored glaze and finding a determined focus on the empty space two feet in front of him. Earlier he referred to himself as “a defensive genius,” which is what I’m thinking about when he starts shadow-boxing.

Source: lasvegasweekly.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr - For Love Or Money

2009-09-09T23:07:00.001-07:00

Boxing's Big Night: Mayweather vs Marquez

2009-09-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

Number Juan?

2009-09-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

You can't teach your granny or Juan Manuel Marquez to suck eggs!

The Mexican marvel, nicknamed Dinamita, has devised his own brand of rocket fuel for the upcoming battle of lightning reflexes, razor sharp wits and thudding fists against Floyd Mayweather Jr... but, oh boy, it ain't pretty!

Marquez is making Rocky Balboa look tame, because he's swallowing raw eggs by the dozen, and to wash it down, he's nipping to the loo to collect and drink his own urine!

Juan Manuel ruefully concedes the pee formula is not a pale ale vintage bouquet, but insists, without taking the mickey, it's worked a treat for the last half-dozen fights, and he swears by the vitamin content. He's also been getting some lungfuls of enriched fresh air in a hyperbaric chamber.

Marquez, who's now had almost half a year to get ready, due to Mayweather's ticklish rib injury, has been training for the fight of his life.

A trained accountant, who's accomplished at crunching numbers as well as cracking chins, he's well aware of the odds, the adverse stats and clutch of clucking critics who have sagely written him off as being too old and too lightweight to stand a chance against an undefeated five division champion.

He's already torn up that weighty script as part of his training regime.

High altitude

Most Mexican fighters who really mean business go training at the bleak Otomi High altitude training centre in the craggy mountains broodingly perched over Toluca. But to get into to peak condition Marquez has gone to the peak district above them, another thousand metres above three thousand five hundred metres above sea level Mexico City. He's run up to and passed by extinct volcanoes at the rarefied higher level of Nevado De Toluca.

Back in the unremitting head-swimming oven like heat of the Romanza gym, in the gritty barrio of Iztacalco, Marquez takes time out to chat before a 90-minute training session. It's a workshop and sweatshop which has turned out burnished anvil-fisted fighters the likes of his hard hitting brother Rafael, the peerless and undefeated Ricardo 'Finito' Lopez, Daniel Zaragoza and Gilberto Roman.

The Marquez of today is no longer a svelte natural featherweight. He's a powerful 144lbs, which is the catchweight limit the bout will be fought at. He's sporting forearms, biceps and shoulders which would be the envy of Popeye, and they pack hellish wallops as protectively-padded trainers and the welted midriffs of exposed sparring partners bear witness to.

However, he is under no illusions about the magnitude of the test ahead. He stressed: "This is the most important fight of my career. It's against the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, who has a superb defense, is very astute and is undefeated.

"I've been active and busy fighting. I've also had almost five months to get ready for this fight, appropriately tempering the level of my training because of the postponement, but Floyd's spent more than a year and a half out of the ring.

"That said, I know Floyd Mayweather is always in superb condition, and I'm ready for the very best Floyd there is.

"There's no specific set strategy. Rather I'll tailor what I do, round by round to overcome his style. I'm going to use, speed, intelligence, savvy, counter punching and every bit of experience I've accumulated during my career to defeat him. I have to employ all of these things to open up routes of opportunity because he's a very complete boxer.

"It's extremely important to grasp this and to have an appreciation of the task ahead in order to win. I'm also going to pressure him, but in an intelligent way. I've been working hard on my speed, which is obviously an important factor. Not a punch will be wasted."

Copy Castillo
Many boxing doyens are convinced that compatriot Jose Luis Castillo did more than enough to defeat Mayweather in the first fight they had. Castillo is an out-and-out attacking fighter, while the Marquez style is counter-punching and designed for greater ring longevity.

Unabashed, his wily manager Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain has been closely studying it, to see if any snippet or nugget can be gleaned from the way Castillo successfully harassed Floyd out of his comfort zone and into a telephone booth, a private corner of hell.

At 36 years old, and with almost as many accumulated KO's to his credit as Mayweather has had fights, Juan Manuel is smart enough to know that his multi-talented opponent could never be considered a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

But he is also honest enough to admit he's still hankering after a third showdown with Manny Pacquiao, who's slated to fight Miguel Cotto next.

He explained it by saying: "My mindset is on September 19, but I also know the fans want me to take on Manny Pacquiao for a third time. In my heart I also want this. I'm using it as an extra motivating factor right now."

And silver tongued Golden Boy Productions owner Oscar De La Hoya, who recently dropped in on Juan, has said when he wins this fight: "He'll be calling the shots."

While sparring against Marquez, welterweight Abraham Alejandro Barrera from Monterrey - who has KO'd all 13 of his opponents - tries to arch one shoulder and then roll both of them to mimic Floyd's intricate defensive techniques.

His reward is a hard-angled right hook into the mid section of his ribs and a thundering straight left on to the side of his battered head guard.

Imitation almost provided him with the sincerest form of flattening.

However, Juan Manuel Marquez is under no illusions that it'll be as easy when he faces Floyd Mayweather Jr in the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. His only message to Mayweather is a brief and stark: "I'm ready and I'm prepared."

Source: skysports.com

Marquez steals show from Mayweather on "24/7"

2009-09-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

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

Team Peterson Exclusive on Mayweather Sparring Tale

2009-09-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

The gym rats in Las Vegas are buzzing. Not about the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez. And not about the November clash between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. Two weeks after it happened, the local gym rats and numerous Las Vegas insiders are still chatting, without rest, about the sparring session between Mayweather and undefeated junior welterweight Lamont Peterson.

With many of these gym stories, there is a lot truth and also a lot of fabrication. The recent story going around, about Mayweather working Peterson over until he quit, was one of those stories with a lot of fabrication. A trainer for one of Mayweather's current sparring partners sent a recent gym report to Doug Fischer, the editor for RingTV.com. In that report, the trainer disclosed his fighter's account of the Mayweather-Peterson sparring session.

“FLOYD IS MORE THAN READY FOR MARQUEZ. HIS HAND SPEED, REFLEXES, CONDITIONING, TIMING AND RHYTHM ARE ALL THERE. MY FIGHTER TOLD ME THAT LAMONT PETERSON SHOWED UP AT FLOYD’S GYM TWO WEEKS AGO TRYING TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF. AFTER VERBALLY ABUSING EACH OTHER FOR 30 MINUTES WHILE PUTTING ON THEIR HANDWRAPS, THEY WENT EIGHT 4-MINUTE ROUNDS WITH 15 SECONDS REST, WHICH WAS A SPARRING SESSION WORTH PAYING FOR ACCORDING TO MY FIGHTER. AFTER EIGHT ROUNDS, LAMONT COULDN'T GO NO MORE BECAUSE OF FATIGUE. THAT’S WHEN FLOYD REALLY STARTED TAUNTING HIM SAYING TO HIM ‘ANOTHER ROUND, ANOTHER ROUND!’ WHEN LAMONT REFUSED TO GO ANOTHER ROUND, THAT’S WHEN THE VERBAL ABUSE WENT TO RECORD LEVELS IN THE MAYWEATHER CAMP. NAME CALLING AND VERBAL ABUSE CONTINUED TO BE DIRECTED AT LAMONT FOR ANOTHER 10 MINUTES.”

There were many who were impressed after reading that bit of information. I was impressed until I spoke with a well-known insider in Las Vegas, who told me - "You heard what? That's not true. I know several guys who were there and Lamont Peterson worked Mayweather over." After making several more calls to my contacts in Vegas, it became embarrassing to even repeat the above story.

Then I began to dig.

I got a hold of one individual who was actually there. He completely backed the version of the story where Peterson handled his business and sent shockwaves in the Mayweather gym. Due to a friendly relationship with the Mayweather team, the person asked to remain anonymous.

"Lamont did his thing. If anybody got their ass kicked - it was Floyd. Lamont went to town on the boy. Make no mistake, it was competitive and exciting to watch."

Then I dug some more.

The hunt led me to Team Peterson member Jeff Miller. He was present for the sparring and backed the story of my sources. After showing him a copy of the story floating around the net, with Mayweather making Lamont quit, he advised me to contact Peterson's trainer/manager Barry Hunter.

I then made my way to Hunter. Coincidentally, Hunter had heard about the story Monday night through his wife - and I didn't blame him for being animated at times during our conversation. He couldn't believe that so many people were running with the story - without speaking to both sides.

The two days of sparring took place by chance. Lamont, Hunter and their entourage were in town for Anthony Peterson's fight at the Hard Rock. They were looking to get in some sparring work. A mutual friend, former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, made a suggestion to head over to the Mayweather Gym. Rahman made the call and got them the green light.

Hunter was more than ready to set the record straight.

"That's bullsh*t. There were several people in the gym. If you are going to put the story out there, at least tell the truth. We weren’t even going to speak about it. I had a few people ask me about it and I said 'I plead the fifth.' The first day was real hostile. They went to war the first day. Lamont had 18-ounce gloves on and Floyd had on 14-ounce gloves. They went 8 to 10 4-minute rounds with 15 to 30 second rests. The first day was relatively even, the second day Lamont did his thing," Hunter told BoxingScene.com

"Keep in mind, Lamont was out of shape with 18-ounce gloves on. I have to tell you, it was unbelievable to watch. I wish I had a tape to show you. They thought after the first day we weren't coming back but we went right back. The second day, Lamont was off the chain. It was raw, uncut and things they said to each other you certainly wouldn’t say in a church. They, meaning the uncle and father, thought that was the best work that Floyd ever got. The combinations, the skill, it was unbelievable to watch those two.

“Lamont did not go there to make a name for himself. Lamont is not a stranger to sparring former and current world champions. I'll keep the names a secret but it wasn't the first time he went into someone's backyard and put it on. I can't take nothing away from Floyd, he can fight. What got him is this. The average person Floyd spars can't hold a candle to him. But Lamont is a world champion like Floyd, not some sparring partner. And I think it caught Floyd off-guard. If they ever show a tape of that, his reign of terror will be over."

I asked Hunter about one version of the story where Peterson, prior to the start of the last round of their second day of sparring, went after Mayweather with a vengeance. That incident did take place but contrary to some of the stories, it was Hunter who stopped the sparring after the situation began to intensify.

"We said 'one more round,’ and they said 'one more round. ' Floyd went to go drink some water and Lamont went right to him and hit him. He didn't want no breaks. Lamont went into his bang of tricks in that round. I remember there was one punch he threw where it looked like a pitcher was winding up to throw a ball, and he threw a bodyshot. Then it was getting a bit heated,” Hunter said.

“Lamont is one of the toughest men I've ever known in my life. He took off his head gear and wanted to fight without head gear. They went in the middle of the ring, face to face, talking back and forth. I went in and got him and I took him out because now it was beyond fighting. I stopped it and that's the truth."

Peterson will get his big chance at the spotlight when he challenges WBO junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley on December 5. I’ve spoken to a few on my respected colleagues about Bradley-Peterson. The predictions are literally split down the middle - an early indicator of a great fight.

Source: boxingscene.com

Dougie's Mid-week Mayweather-Marquez Mailbag

2009-09-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

GETTING HYPED FOR MAYWEATHER-MARQUEZ

Hey Doug,
Great article on the upcoming Mayweather-Marquez PPV. I was originally not excited about it, but the closer it is getting the more I am sure I will be getting it. For me, the welterweight limit was ludicrous at first, but now I really want to see if "Needs Money" has suffered from inactivity. JMM is not someone to take lightly, he knows how to win and I think he will carry his power up to welter. Not sure about the speed or if he will be able to get enough offense against PBF, who WILL NOT give him many opportunities to counter. Oh well, between this site and the 24/7 I am stoked for the showdown.

I have a question on the P4P rankings, why the hell is Nonito Donaire so high on the list? Before his KO of the Raging Bull, he fought only C-listers at best or just straight up cans. He hasn't done that much since, either. I don't see him being that elite and would put alot of fighters ahead of him, why not JuanMa or Artie Abraham? or at least put Cotto ahead of him, he's fought and beat elite fighters for the last few years, I can't think of many fighters with a better record for level of opposition that Cotto.

Just would like your perspective, I think he's good, just not THAT good. He needs a real test IMO before even thinking about P4P, much less ahead of Cotto, Caballero and P-Will.

Keep up the good work, especially with the Fight Night Club shows at Club Nokia. -- Hector from Orlando

Thanks. I’m enjoying the Fight Night Club experience and I’m happy to hear that so many fans are too.

I think Donaire got a big push up the pound-for-pound ladder because of the status Darchinyan earned AFTER he was KTFO by the Filipino Flash. Darch Vader’s victories over Dmitry Kirillov, Cristian Mijares, and Jorge Arce in a five-month span put him in everyone’s top P4P 10. The thinking (I think) was that Donaire’s had a dominant win over Darchinyan, and he’s crazy talented with a buttload of potential (as he showed in wiping out Raul Martinez), so he should be placed higher than the Armenian assassin. I don’t subscribe to that that logic, but a lot of people do.

Back when I used to put out a semi-regular P4P list on MaxBoxing, I recall causing an uproar by ranking Diego Corrales over Floyd Mayweather in mid-2005. Fans (and some media members) protested, telling me that I COULDN’T rank Corrales over Mayweather because of the one-sided loss Chico had suffered to Floyd 4½ years earlier. I simply told them that was then, this is now. At the time Corrales had consecutive wins over Joel Casamayor, a then-undefeated Acelino Freitas, and Jose Luis Castillo in that incredible slugfest that was their first encounter. Meanwhile Mayweather was feasting on ‘Chop Chop’ Corley, Henry Bruseles and Arturo Gatti (a great warrior but not in Casamayor or Castillo’s class).

Personally, I don’t think Caballero or Donaire should be in the P4P top 10.

I’m glad that an article I wrote is able to help (along with a well-produced documentary series) elicit anticipation of what is a perplexing matchup. I sincerely hope the fight doesn’t disappoint us both. But I think that Marquez’s mettle will make it a compelling bout even if Mayweather elects to play it safe once the bell rings. We’ll see if the added weight JMM is carrying detracts from his stamina. I think Marquez’s best rounds of the bout could come late, as it did versus the crafty Casamayor.

TEN QUESTIONS

Just read your article on the important questions surrounding the Maywether-Marquez fight. I thought you broke everything down perfectly and with an impartial view, though I'm sure you will get some email claiming otherwise. I agree that the Jones-Trindad comparisons don't stick for all of the reasons you stated and the fact that I just can't envision Floyd standing directly in front of Marquez and letting him tee-off. For the life of me though I can't read this fight. I scoff at those who see this as a total squash, yet believing that styles make fights, I think this would be a bad match-up for Marquez at say 140, much less 144-147. History tells us to expect the unexpected (Holmes-Spinks, De La Hoya-Pacquiao, Hagler-Leonard) but in those instances the significantly bigger men were clearly on the decline and none where as close to their prime as Floyd is now. Try as I might, I can't recall an elite/arguably top fighter in the sport coming out on the short end with such a physical advantage. -- Tom G.

Agreed. There’s no doubt that Mayweather must be considered a prohibitive favorite over Marquez, which is why an upset would be so significant for the Mexican technician. He’s going against a master boxer who has the edge in age, size, and speed.

In my opinion, a victory over Mayweather would clearly propel Marquez beyond his Mexican featherweight contemporaries -- Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales -- and put him in the company of Salvador Sanchez and Julio Cesar Chavez.

Thanks for the kind words on the Ten Crucial Questions column. It’s received a lot of complimentary feedback but you better believe that I’ve also received more than a few emails from fans who think that article just further demonstrated my bias against Mayweather and general lack of boxing knowledge.

What can you do?

ROOTING FOR JMM

Great article on the upcoming Mayweather vs. Marquez showdown. The questions you provided are unquestionably big factors. I'm rooting for Marquez, I been a fan of his even before he was recognized and truly respected. I hate the post-lightweight Mayweather. At least he fought everybody back at 130-135, which made his arrogance somewhat tolerable.

Your article actually made me think of what would had happened if Marquez vs. Mayweather fought at 130 pounds, when Mayweather was possibly at his best and when Marquez was one of the great featherweights. I still believe Mayweather would had been the favorite, but the odds would had been close. I know something about that mythical match that I am not sure about the upcoming one: Marquez would had given Mayweather hell, and it would had been a fantastic fight! -- Uly

I disagree with your theory on a 130-pound mythical matchup between Mayweather and Marquez for two reasons:

1. I think the 130-pound version of Mayweather is MUCH better than the welterweight version. He didn’t just have phenomenal speed and reflexes at junior lightweight, he has above-average power and much higher punch output than he does now.

2. Marquez was almost TOO sharp (apologies to Mark Johnson) at featherweight; and his patience, poise and attention to the finer points of boxing often sucked the entertainment value out of his fights. His decisions against Victor Polo and Orlando Salido are a perfect illustrations of this. Even his stoppages of the rugged likes of Robbie Peden and Marcos Licona were so technically proficient that they lacked intensity.

And though Mayweather let his hands go more often at 130 pounds than he does now, when got in the ring with a fighter who could take his heat he fell back on his father’s defensive teachings and often put on mind-numbingly boring 12-round clinics. His bouts with Carlos Rios and Goyo Vargas are examples of this. So I seriously doubt that a 130-pound Mayweather-Marquez showdown would have been a “fantastic fight”.

The heavier Mayweather is sharp as ever, but not as mobile or busy as the lighter-weight version, which gives Marquez a chance to get his licks in. And the recent version of Marquez is more offensive minded and less defensive, which I believe will help make their welterweight fight fun to watch (at least in spots).

Thanks for the nice words about the column.

HAND SPEED

Dear Doug,
I was enjoying your article before reading the ridiculous comment the comment “Pacquiao . . . is at least as fast as Mayweather.” I am no Mayweather fan or apologist. He throws too few punches for my taste. Moreover, I love Pacquiao’s style and toughness. His fights are always entertaining. He is fast and powerful. I also think he is good enough, and probably likely, to beat Mayweather should they meet because of his work ethic. However, objective observers and especially experts would never make the mistaken claim that Pacquiao is as fast or faster than Mayweather. The comment strains credulity and makes you appear a novice. Not even Freddy Roach would make that claim. Please try to regain the confidence of yours truly and many other fans by recanting. Blessings. -- Roger

Roger, I’ve been around world-class professional boxers for almost 20 years and I’ve covered the sport for close to 15, so I think I know when a fighter has uncommon hand speed. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao have it. Who’s faster? I don’t know. The only way to find out is if they fight. However, I think their speed is comparable and that opinion comes from having watched both men ply their craft up close for many years. That’s what I believe and that what I’m sticking with and I really don’t care if I have your confidence or not.

Blessings.

HAND SPEED II

Doug,
Do you think Nacho is bulls____ing everyone by saying his guy is slow? Why would he say that publicly? Also, I think the urine thing was fake too. I have to say, I thought Floyd would dominate because of reach but when u watch both train, Marquez has a lot of pop when he hits the bags and Mayweather doesn't. Also, Mayweather spends a lot of time crying about his hands (he should talk to Malignaggi). If Marquez isn't slowed by weight, I think Floyd will have his heart checked like never before. -- Michael

We will see.

I think the layoff helped Mayweather’s chronically sore hands heal to an extent.

I don’t know if that piss-drinking routine of Marquez’s is fake or not but I wish I didn’t see him do that. That was just gross. HBO should have put that scene in the description for the second installment of this 24/7 series: “Floyd Mayweather reunites with his father, while Juan Manuel Marquez drinks his own urine (seriously, folks, be warned: the dude actually guzzles his own piss).”

Berstain is full of s__t but he didn’t publicly state that his fighter is slow. That’s just gym hearsay that he’s thinks Marquez is too slow to compete with Mayweather. Publicly, he says that JMM’s speed is on point. I don’t believe that but we’ll find out soon enough.

PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE?

Dougie, come on man! Your personal feelings towards Floyd Mayweather the man are influencing your opinions on Mayweather the fighter and it's getting ridiculous! According to you 'Money' took ''the path of least resistance'' after the Castillo fights. How, by fighting Oscar De La Hoya at the weight class of De La Hoya’s choice, 154, and outclassing him over the final 4 rounds? Or maybe by beating Carlos Baldomir, the linear welterweight champion? Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are by far the best two fighters of the decade, but to listen to you you'd think Floyd been protected like Amir Khan.

Speaking of Khan, it seems like you guys in America are much more impressed with him than people here in the UK. Most people I speak to view Khan as an example of what a top promoter and matchmaker can do for you! Since getting brutally stretched inside a minute by Breidis Prescott the guy hasn't been in with anyone resembling a puncher at either 135 or 140, but has cherry picked a title and according to the WBA is a world champion! Thank God for 'The Ring' title! What do you think Doug, is calling him Amere Con overly harsh? -- Ben, UK

I’d say you’re bias against Khan and Warren are influencing your opinions on the 22-year-old junior welter titleholder. I think Khan is one of the more naturally gifted young fighters I’ve ever seen train and I believe he proved something by nearly shutting out Andreas Kotelnik. Nobody else has done that, including Junior Witter and Marcos Maidana.

I never said Mayweather was “protected”. I think he was very careful about who he got in the ring with following those tough fights with Castillo in 2002. The version of De La Hoya Mayweather faced was THE RING’s fifth-rated junior middleweight at the time. He wasn’t fighting the pound-for-pound version that Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley fought in ‘99 and 2000, so calm down. Mayweather narrowly outpointed a faded veteran. And why even bring up Baldomir? I don’t care if he was the linear heavyweight champ, he SUCKED! That no-power-havin’ plodder was a Zab Judah creation. Period.

JMM CAME FROM BEHIND VS. DIAZ?

This is from your 10 questions story:

"Marquez was coming off a performance (his come-for-behind KO of Juan Diaz)"

You sure you seen this fight? To be honest it was a boxing lesson but not as mean as Roy Jones vs Lacy. -- Philip

Are YOU sure you watched the fight? I was ringside, buster. I don’t care what you or anyone else think you perceived, Marquez -- who I have the UTMOST respect for -- got hammered in the first four rounds versus Diaz. Yes, he did his share of damage in the early rounds, too, but this was not a boxing clinic like McGirt over Brown or Whitaker over Chavez. JMM took some serious lumps and was shook down to his heels on more than one occasion.

EAST COAST VS. WEST COAST, HOLLA!

Hey Dougie,
Few random thoughts for you:

I am torn between ordering the upcoming PPVs (Pac-Cotto or M v. M), I would appreciate if you could drop a few pearls of wisdom on the subject. I can probably only afford one of them - and I don't see a reason not to favor Pac-Cotto over the M&M's. Yeah the undercard will be worse - but not THAT much worse. Juarez never excited me, and the outcome of the rematch is needed, but it's not compelling. It will probably be another very close affair, and possibly a more boring one. And I hate the idea of giving even one penny of mine to Mayweather, no matter how much I would love for him to lose and how much respect I have for Marquez.

First, watching that V-Klit clip with your article made my head hurt - so I can't imagine what poor Corey Sanders must have felt after the fight. Ditto Danny Williams. That's first class brain damage right there!

Finally, Dan Rafael was recently asked about a possible beef with you - which he denied. I wouldn't say I am his #1 fan, but I do ultimately think he is a positive force in our small world of boxing, so I don't want to say negative about him, either. However, I thought it would be great if you guys did start at least a fake old school East Coast v. West Coast beef. You are even a little bit like 2Pac, and Dan certainly has some things in common with Biggie. And then you can meet in the ring for the ultimate showdown! I guess I am anticipating a great boxing season that's coming up - I even want the writers to fight. -- B., NYC

Um yeah, you need to settle down a bit, B. We’ve got plenty of quality matchups this fall and winter (Cotto-Pacquiao, Abraham-Taylor, etc.). Nobody needs to see Dougie Fresh vs. the Notorious D.A.N square off in the ring. All kidding aside, I like Dan and I respect his work. He’s a press row deadline writer, one of the best -- if the the best -- reporters in the sport, and very knowledgeable about the top prospects and world-class boxers on the international scene. Like you said, he’s good for the sport. Honestly, I don’t know where any rumor of our not getting along came from but I can assure you that I have no beef with ANY fellow boxing writer. Seriously. Ask around.

Just thinking about what Klitschko did to Williams makes my head hurt. And I actually picked Danny to win that one. (Damn!)

It doesn’t sound like your THAT torn between the Mayweather-Marquez and Cotto-Pacquiao PPV shows. It sounds like you’re leaning (heavily) towards the Cotto-PacMan showdown for a variety of reasons. That’s cool. You might want to tune in kind of late to bypass that Fight of the Year candidate (can you feel the sarcasm?) between Daniel Santos and Yuri Foreman, but I doubt the main event will disappoint.

To be honest I have NO IDEA what to expect with Mayweather-Marquez, which makes the matchup fascinating in a way. I’ll have butterflies before they come out for the first round, not because I’m expecting fireworks, but because I don’t know what’s going to transpire.

I FOUND YOU DOUGIE FRESH!

Dougie,
I'm a longtime reader of your work. I had no idea that you were with Ring Magazine. I found out only by chance. I am a huge boxing fan. Floyd Mayweather is my fav, although I agree with most of your posts about his lack of opposition. I really want to see him in there against the top guys so he can prove his greatness. Personally, I feel that he would do well against all of them (maybe not beat all of them). Well, I have never written to you until now but I really enjoy reading your work. You give good insight. Also, where can I find past fights for my favorite fighters on DVD? Thanks in advance and keep up the good work. -- Lonnie, Cincinnati, OH

Thanks for writing in, Lonnie. It’s always nice to get emails of fans from my beloved Buckeye State. I’m glad you found me.

Believe it or not I agree with you that Mayweather would probably beat most of the fighters who present dangerous challenges to him (Pacquiao, Cotto, Mosley, and Margarito before the TJ Tornado was busted). That’s the most frustrating thing about Floyd.

I’m going to write about this in more detail in my Thursday column, so thanks for bringing up the subject.

Source: ringtv.com

Mayweather-Marquez: Will the Long Layoff Affect Floyd?

2009-09-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will have been out of boxing for two years by the time he steps in the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19th. Two years may not sound like a lot to a normal person, but in the sport of boxing, that’s almost a lifetime. Boxing is a sport where a fighter needs to be in constant training against top level opposition to retrain their abilities.

If they set the sport aside for a long period of time, more of than not, they’re never quite the same fighter they were before they left. They might be able to get some of it back, but it’s usually only a percentage. In Mayweather’s case, he should be happy if he can get 85% back from what he had before.
The reason is because Mayweather has been living the good life in Las Vegas, spending money that most of us could only dream about. Boxing has not been a part of Mayweather’s life in the past two years. He hasn’t taken any punishment, which is a good thing, but he also hasn’t had the training and combat to keep his skills at an optimal level, either.

This may end up biting him in the backside on September 19th, because he will be facing Juan Manuel Marquez, one of the best fighters in boxing. Marquez really wants this fight because he, as of yet, has been denied big money fights in his career because of his lack of a big name.

If Marquez beats Mayweather, he will be in position to fight Manny Pacquiao in a fight that would make Marquez millions of dollars while at the same time help establish him as one of the big money fighters in the sport. It’s unfortunate that he’s had to wait this long for it to happen, but better late than never, I suppose.

Mayweather is a real question mark. No one really has any idea what he has left at this point in his career with the time away from boxing. And there’s also the question of how well Mayweather will do against a fighter as talented as Marquez. Mayweather hasn’t faced anyone like Marquez in years. Seriously, Mayweather has had a string of easy opponents since he fought Jose Luis Castillo in 2002.

Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Carlos Baldomir and Zab Judah weren’t good enough to give Mayweather any real problems. De La Hoya was an old 34, a part time fighter with a questionable win over Felix Sturm and defeats by Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins at the time that Mayweather fought De La Hoya.

Hatton was an unproven fighter, who looked more like a club fighter to some than the real deal. Besides that, Hatton was a light welterweight and had no business fighting Mayweather. Baldomir and Judah were both limited and not competitive.

Marquez, however, brings a lot of talent to this fight with Mayweather and is one of the best fighters in the lightweight division at this time. It’s too bad that Mayweather had to pick someone much smaller than him to fight, because Marquez is better suited against other lightweights and super featherweights rather than a welterweight like Mayweather.

Source: boxingnews24.com

Floyd Mayweather Jr's Return - Famous Trainers React

2009-09-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

Roger Mayweather- "Well I know one thing about layoffs and I know about fighters. If a fighter got skills - the greatest fighters in the world where people don't even know had layoffs. What did you think Sugar Ray Leonard had? He had a five and a half year layoff. He had two eye detached retina surgeries, right. But he still beat the greatest middleweight. He beat Marvin Hagler when he was laid off five and a half years. When Sugar Ray Robinson was laid off three years, that's the greatest fighter on the globe. Muhammad Ali was laid off three years.

"So Floyd ain't going to be the only guy that's been laid off in boxing. Most of the great guys - great fighters have something in common. They were all laid off anyway. All of them who were good, what they called great, they all had layoffs and they all still had spectacular performance when they fought. So guy keeps asking about how you laid off, when you laid off. Fights are won by skill. That's all there is to it."

Angelo Dundee-

"There is nothing more intricate than fighters. They are all different. You never know what effect a layoff is going to have. Ray Leonard, I knew he was always staying in shape, like basketball, other sports, he was very athletic so the layoff didn't bother him in the Hagler fight. He was in great physical condition...but being in the ring, it's a different feel. Being in shape is not enough for a fighter. Being in the gym is not enough. You need to be in the action. There is no substitute for a fight. Marquez has been a little busier than him (Mayweather), and the question mark is going to make this fight a good attraction."

"Ray used to do a variety of things to stay in shape. Ali was a whole different physical effort and Foreman didn't train in gym. He did roadwork and calisthenics, that's where he put in most of his work. All fighters are different...Foreman knew how to train for a guy his age. When you get older, you can't put in the effort like you did when you were a kid. You need to leave something in the tank. Will he overdo it in training? So there are many question marks in a comeback."

"Fighters come back for the glow. There is the spotlight, and there is the dark, and there is no in between. You miss the glow. That feeling is the ultimate feeling."

"Mayweather is just that great of a fighter. He's smart, slick, and knows how to use the ring. He's going to have a tough fight on his hands, but he should be able to overcome. You take what you got and you utilize it. When the bell rings, you're going to see who the best fighter is. Floyd will have to beat a good Marquez."

Emanuel Steward-

"Fighters come back because they still have a lot of fights still left in them. They don't realize it. Many have been doing it since they were eight, nine, ten years old, and they miss it. Fighters like Floyd Mayweather and Muhammad Ali have a tremendous love for boxing which they don't realize until they walk away."

"I think Floyd's going to look spectacular on September 19. Historically, guys of his caliber; crafty, skilled fighters, they come back good. Some guys, when they quit boxing, they are partying, but when Ali came back he was unbelievably sharp and looked splendid...The Leonard's, Ali's, I would put Floyd in that class, they never lost the love of the sport. They are different types of fighters that never left the sport spiritually or physically."

"Floyd is a brilliant boxing mind, just like Ali. The top fighters, they don't have a lack of confidence. Layoffs do some fighters good...the time away heals the body up."

Freddie Roach-

"Sometimes a break can be good for a fighter. Time can make you hungrier and give you a spark. But it can affect you in positive and negative ways...Mentally, it is a factor. You're away from the sport and enjoying life, and its not conducive to a boxer's life...A gym is a gym and a fight is a fight, and you can say you'll get ready with sparring partners, but there is no place like a fight. You'll just never know until fight night."

Buddy McGirt-

"I don't think the layoff is going to affect Mayweather. He's a natural fighter. He's picked a real tough guy to come back against, but I don't think he will have any problem on fight night...He was staying busy, and sometimes you need the break to get away, and to get it together...I think is going to be a very good fight. Marquez is a very good fighter. He's a warrior"

Source: doghouseboxing.com

Floyd Mayweather will have measure of Marquez

2009-09-09T07:04:00.001-07:00

IN arguably the biggest fight of the year, Floyd Mayweather comes out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19.

Many believe Marquez, who is in the pound-for-pound top three, will have the measure of the Pretty Boy as he has been more active.

Mayweather has not fought since defeating Ricky Hatton almost two years ago, but for me he is the firm favourite and will take a unanimous decision over the Mexican warrior.

Marquez (50-4 37KOs) and Mayweather (39-0 25KOs) have held 10 world titles between them and ooze class.

However, Marquez believes his dogged determination will see him through.

“Well, the strategy is what you have use to counter the speed, the youth and the bigger fighters is the strategy that I’ve always used in my fights and it will be again here,” said the 36-year-old.

“A lot of intelligence and a lot of the skill is what has brought me to where I’m at today.

“It’s a very hard fight, but mentally I’m preparing myself to win and I feel I can beat Mayweather.”

He added: “Winning will be the gift of my life. The best gift of my life. I’m preparing myself and I’m putting all the ingredients together so I can beat Mayweather.

“I’m getting ready for the best Mayweather ever. I’m not thinking about his retirement. I’m getting ready for the best guy possible – the best fighter in the world.”

Mayweather agrees with the last part of his opponent’s statement, but believes he has the measure of any boxer between lightweight and middleweight.

He said: “I know in my heart that Marquez is going to be at his best. He always comes out and performs to the best of his ability.

“I’m going down in history as one of the best, one of the best of all time, if not the best.

“I’m just happy to be back in the sport of boxing. My team is ready, I’m ready. I’m just going to go out there and perform.”

Mayweather, 32, added: “I am just happy to say that I’m going down as a Hall of Famer and it’s extremely important for me to go out there to perform well and dominate.

“If Marquez gets beat in 12 rounds or he gets knocked out, they are still going to love him in his country because he had the chance to face the best. They will say: ‘You lost but you lost to the best.”

Mayweather will win, and probably on points, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he took Marquez out around the ninth round.

Source: dailypost.co.uk

Will Mayweather’s O go?

2009-09-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Who you ask is Juan Manuel Marquez. Only Floyd Mayweather’s next opponent.
And who pray tell is Floyd Mayweather? Only the boxer who retired last June as pound-for-pound the best fighter on the planet.

Mayweather and Marquez will meet September 19 in Las Vegas in a welterweight non-title bout.

It will be Mayweather’s first fight since he defeated Ricky Hatton in December of 2007.
Marquez will move up two weight classes from lightweight to fight Mayweather for one thing only – the purse.
“I’m still the biggest draw in boxing,” boasts Mayweather.
That statement, no idle boast, is true in and out of the ring.
Last year Mayweather, according to reports, raked in some eight million dollars without even entering the ring.

As if to show that there is life after boxing (or while resting from boxing) Mayweather has appeared on the television series”Dancing with the Stars” and also on Wrestle mania where he came up against Big Show.

But all those excursions out of the ring showed was how much Mayweather missed being inside it.
“I guess I just missed boxing,” he said after announcing he was coming out of retirement.
Mayweather is unbeaten in 39 fights (25 knockouts) and the risk is that the more he fights the more he is likely to find that someone somewhere is waiting to hand him that first defeat.
Is Marquez that someone? Only time will tell. He has stopped 37 of his opponents but has only fought twice as a lightweight.
Mayweather himself is cognisant of how little pressure there is on his opponents.

“When you go out there with an undefeated record, there is no pressure on these fighters because they have nothing to lose,” he said.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 18 but was rescheduled after Mayweather suffered a rib injury during training.
Mayweather has been champion in five divisions and his biggest wins have been over Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya whose Golden Boy Promotions organization will be promoting the Mayweather/Marque fight.

Should Mayweather get past Marquez a possible match up against Manny Pacquiao looms. Indeed there are some who feel that the Marquez fight is nothing more than a tune up ahead of a showdown with Pacquiao.

Whether Mayweather/ Marquez could result in a boxing classic likely to be voted “Fight of the Year” remains to be seen.
Certainly Mayweather’s decision to come out of retirement has sparked huge interest in boxing and the betting money is certainly on Mayweather.
Mayweather will definitely have the advantage in size and experience. He’s also as savvy a boxer as there is in the fight game.
Juan Manuel Marquez is pound-for-pound one of the best. The problem is that Mayweather is not one of the best, he is the best.

Source: stabroeknews.com

Did Marquez err by putting on bulk?

2009-09-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

So much of the talk about the upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Juan Manuel Marquez fight has been about the size disparity. Marquez, of course, got much of his best work done at featherweight and has never fought above lightweight. Mayweather fights at welterweight.

Marquez and his trainer, the renowned Nacho Beristain, have sought to bulk up Marquez so he can approximate Mayweather’s greater size. In contemporary boxing, this is what you do. You get as big as your opponent is if you can, and hope you don’t lose anything in the process.

“There's always concern when you're bulking up in weight and working and training that you're going to lose a little bit of speed,” Beristain said during a recent press conference.

“But no, on the contrary I'm very happy to say that Juan at this point in training has been acquiring much more speed than in fights in the past. Everything's come together. So we're looking very, very good. I'm very happy to see how things are coming along.”

Take as seriously as you wish Beristain’s counterintuitive claim that Marquez is getting faster with the extra weight. The fact is modern training techniques and a greater understanding of nutrition than was available in the past have indeed enabled athletes of all stripe to get bigger and stronger without sacrificing a great deal of quickness or agility.

Marquez’s nemesis, Manny Pacquiao, is a perfect illustration of this. So are 300-pound defensive lineman who can run like gazelles.

Still, one is forgiven for wondering if getting big just to match your opponent’s size is always the best strategy. Doesn’t it make more sense to fight at whatever weight is the best weight for you and let everything else fall into place?

“When you have a guy moving up a weight class or two, you know weight isn’t an issue, so I would just concentrate on execution and strategy in the gym,” Naazim Richardson, trainer of Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Steve Cunningham told Ring TV.com.

“You let him come in at the weight where he’s most comfortable. I wouldn’t try to bulk him up. It‘s different with guys like Michael Spinks when he was going up to work with those bigger guys,” Richardson said. “But at the lower weight classes it’s all about reflexes and speed anyway.”

Back when weight training was still verboten for fighters and steak was the recommended prefight meal, that’s what guys did, no matter how big the opponent was.

When Sugar Ray Robinson beat Jake LaMotta for the middleweight title, he weighed 155 pounds to LaMotta’s 160. When Robinson beat up Joey Maxim for 13 rounds before succumbing to the heat, he gave away 16 pounds.

Sam Langford fought everyone from welterweights on up to heavyweights and never “bulked up.” Same with Mickey Walker and Harry Greb and even little Joe Gans.

How did Billy Conn bulk up for Joe Louis before nearly beating Louis for the heavyweight title? By showing up to the weigh-in with weights in his pockets.

Conn was several pounds lighter than his announced weight of 174 (to Louis’ 199 ½) but the promoters believed the fight wouldn’t sell if the public knew Conn wasn’t much more than a middleweight.

Sure, you can argue that a heavier Conn might have beaten Louis. It’s just as likely that more weight would have made him an easier target for “The Brown Bomber.”

Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward told RingTV.com that you can tell what a fighter’s best weight is from his bone structure, and that he would have Marquez come in against Mayweather around 136 pounds, just a pound over the lightweight limit.

“I would not by any means have him bulk up,” Steward said. “I don’t think he needs to go up that high. He just doesn’t have to dry out like he normally would.”

Steward cited the case of Thomas Hearns, the wonderful 1980s puncher and multi-division titleholder who, along with Steward, made the Kronk Gym in Detroit a national boxing icon.

“Tommy won titles at 147 and 154 and then beat Dennis Andres for a title at 175. Then he went back down to 160 and won the title from (Juan) Roldan,” Steward recalled. “And he never lifted any weights or took any special weight gainers. He never did any bulking up.

“I’ve never went in for all these weights and special diets,” Steward continued. “You should eat whatever you’ve always been eating and doing whatever you’ve always been doing. We’ve gotten too caught up in this diet and weights stuff. Whatever you’ve been eating, keep eating it.”

With the fight against Mayweather less than two weeks away, Marquez does indeed look bigger than he ever has, though for all we know this is due to no more than what is a very interesting diet (see below) and a weight training program that involves heaving small boulders off a big hill.

But many of Mayweather’s opponents have been as strong or stronger than he is. He doesn’t care about that. What frustrates him is speed that is comparable to his own. At 135 pounds and under, Marquez had that. He may find out on Sept. 19 that in his quest to get big, he sacrificed his best chance for a victory.

Some random observations from last week:

As the second episode of Mayweather-Marquez demonstrated, HBO’s 24/7 series is the best thing to happen to boxing since some pervert got the idea to put round card girls in thongs. Still, I could have done without watching Mayweather get a pedicure. …

Whether or not he knows it, if Marquez beats Mayweather, he will give birth to a whole generation of raw-quail-egg-eating, urine-sipping health fanatics. And that’s not all. Think of what the resultant explosion in mouthwash sales could do for the economy. …

So Mayweather promises to make his match with Marquez “exciting.” OK. And Roy Jones will fight the winner of Vitali Klitschko-Chris Arreola. Some guys are exciting, some are great. Few are both. Settle for the latter, Floyd, and stop trying to sell us the former. The last time you were exciting, Joe Cortez still had a hairline. …

Speaking of Klitschko-Arreola, reports coming from Arreola’s camp have been mostly negative. He’s missed days, he’s too chubby still, he’s not Eastern European, etc. Doesn’t matter. If the fight only goes three rounds, they’ll be the toughest rounds Vitali will have gone since Lennox Lewis almost took his eye out. I give Arreola a heck of a chance. …

Bad news from over the weekend: Brahim Asloum is retiring. (Insert sound of crickets here). …

An early prediction for the Shane Mosley-Joshua Clottey fight, which reportedly is a done deal: Clottey builds an early lead but throws 11 punches over the last five rounds and screams robbery when Mosley gets the decision. …

Note to Kelly Pavlik: If you have a chance to score a big payday and an infected finger keeps screwing it up, you lop the offending digit the hell off. You can count a million dollars with nine fingers as well as you can with 10.

Source: ringtv.com

Mayweather has edge vs Marquez—Manny

2009-09-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

MANILA, Philippines - He won’t be at ringside but Manny Pacquiao has a hint of things to come when Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez lock horns on Sept. 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“Magandang laban ‘yan (That’ll be a good fight),” said Pacquiao of the upcoming clash where the winner might end up facing the Filipino pound-for-pound champion sometime next year.

Mayweather, the ex-pound-for-pound champion, is coming out of retirement to face Marquez at a catchweight of 144 lbs, and try to re-establish himself as the best fighter out there.

Mayweather, who hasn’t fought since he knocked out Ricky Hatton on Dec. 8, 2007, will rely on his speed and his great ability to run away from trouble against the counter-punching Mexican.

Pacquiao agrees that Mayweather has the upperhand.

“Lamang siya (He has the edge),” said Pacquiao who should be back home from a whirlwind press tour in the US and Puerto Rico by the time Mayweather and Marquez trade blows.

Mayweather, undefeated in 39 fights when he decided to retire almost 20 months ago, is favored in a way that Marquez is trying do everything or anything as he trains for the fight.

Boxing websites were plastered with reports yesterday that Marquez, whose draw with Pacquiao in 2004 was as controversial as his loss to the Pinoy icon last year, has admitted to drinking his own urine.

“I think that this has helped me a lot. I’ve done it for the last five or six fights with good results. I also drink my own urine because that’s where a lot of proteins and vitamins are,” he told HBO’s 24/7.

“(They’re) part of your vitamin intake, and why not drink them again instead of wasting them,” said Marquez, whose already on a “constant diet” of 25 raw quail eggs a day.

Pacquiao should begin his eight-week training for the Nov. 14 showdown with Miguel Cotto on Sept. 21, up in chilly Baguio City and under the watchful eyes of his trainer, Freddie Roach.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Mayweather Vs Marquez – Breaking down the fight... for Money.

2009-09-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Weight - Marquez is coming up 2 weight divisions for this fight.
- Both fighters have started at lower weight divisions and have come up in weight over the years.
- Mayweather’s average weight for his last five fights is 147.2 lb (66.9 kg).
- Marquez’s average weight for his last five fights is 131.5 lb (59.8 kg).

Marquez is coming up significantly in weight to face the naturally larger Mayweather. However, considering Floyd’s style, it is unlikely that Floyd will use his size advantage to bully Marquez. Even at welterweight, Floyds punching power is not very significant (Hatton knocked himself out by leaping into a perfectly timed Mayweather left hook) and he hurts people through a culmination of speedy punches. It is also common knowledge that for a good part of Floyd’s career, he has been riddled with hand problems..

It will be interesting to see how Marquez’s body deals with the sudden increase in weight and if he will have the speed and stamina to gather points against the slick Mayweather. A notable point about Marquez is that he is an extremely crafty fighter that is quick to think in the ring. In previous fights he has shown a lot of heart and an amazing adaptable nature to come back and break down formidable opponents. Marquez does have a lot of natural ability but it is ring smarts that has got him this far, the weight shouldn’t be as big a factor as some say it will be.

Floyd’s Inactivity (Ring Rust)

- It will be just under 2 years since Floyd’s last fight against Ricky Hatton.
- History has proven that ring rust is not a big factor for all fighters:
-Kostya Tszyu had a 2 year break before KO Sharmba Mitchell in 3.
-Sugar Ray Leonard had a 3 year break before coming back to scrape the win against Marvin Hagler (Controversial).
-Vitality Klitschko just came back from a 4 year retirement to stop Samuel Peters in 8.
-Floyd seems to have stayed in a reasonable condition during his retirement (and throughout his career)
Floyd is only 32 years old
- It is unlikely that he would have to have spent too much of his training camp getting into peak condition again.
Floyd has had the same if not similar defensive style throughout his whole career; it is unlikely that he will change his style for this fight.
- Pretty boy Floyd, it's not just a nick name, the man hardly gets hit with anything significant and a loss of ability due to worsening brain damage is not a factor.

Ring rust is a pretty general term but the factors that really contribute to it are time away from the ring, how the fighter treats his body in between fights and other factors involving brain damage. With these factors considered, unless something is a wry in his preparations, it should be the same Floyd that fought Hatton entering the ring, come fight night.

Training

- Floyd’s trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather, was arrested by police for beating and choking one of his female fighters to the point of near unconsciousness.

- The fight has been delayed due to an injury involving Floyd’s rib cartilage.

It is anyone’s guess how this incident with Roger may affect Floyd’s preparations, but Floyd is no stranger to family drama involving his father/uncle, during fight preparation and it never seemed to affect him before. There are some concerns that Floyd was inclined to go into the fight slightly under prepared, with a rib injury, so that the fight could be held on Mexican Independence Day and to distance the fight from the November Pacquiao Vs Cotto Fight. Most rumours from camps however, state that preparations for both Marquez and Mayweather are going well.

The Tip

Rounds – The fight will go the distance (very confident).

(Around 1.57 odds)

Why?

Floyd usually KOs his opponents with an accumulation of punches. The boxers that have been knocked out by him in the past have either jumped into a perfectly timed counter punch (Hatton), cannot handle his speed (Gatti) or cannot adapt to his style (Corrales). Marquez is a crafty veteran who takes his time; he won’t be leaping in with his head up any time soon. His ability to handle speedy fighters has been proven, most notably against Manny Pacquiao. Being the thinking fighter, Marquez is more than likely to adapt to any style that Floyd brings on the night.

I can’t see Marquez knocking out Mayweather even though Marquez also has a terrific knockout record. Mayweather is a cautious fighter that has had the same defensive style throughout his whole career and no matter how much ring rust or under preparation, I don’t doubt Mayweather’s ability to keep himself safe throughout the fight. Marquez is also coming up in weight and with most fighters that go up in weight; they usually lose some of their knockout ability against bigger fighters.

The Winner – Mayweather (not terribly confident)

Why?

I see this fight as not whether Marquez can win, but can Mayweather lose? Mayweather’s style and natural ability are almost impossible to beat. This combined with his selection of opponents in the past have made him a pretty boring fighter to watch in the past. A 100% prepared Mayweather will beat a 100% prepared Marquez any day of the week. However, the X factors of this fight; possible ring rust, Mayweather’s state of mind and preparation distractions may mean that he may not come into the fight 100%. Even with these factors going against Mayweather, I still think his ability will pull him through with a tough but deserved win.

Considering the odds right now, the best bets would be:

1. A Mayweather win on Points (Around 1.90 odds)

Or

2. A small bet on a win for Marquez (Around 4.00 odds) – Do what the Aussies do and back the underdog. You will have a good time rooting for the guy that’s not the dislikeable Mayweather and a small bet will give you a good return on an upset that many can see happening.

Source: astsideboxing.com

Episode 2: Mayweather vs Marquez 24/7

2009-09-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

Mayweather vs Marquez 24/7 Episode 2