By Amilcar Barnett: Boxers, even world champion boxers don’t often travel from Mexico to London to announce fights taking place in Las Vegas, but that is precisely what Juan Manuel ‘Dinamita’ (Dinamite) Marquez, the world lightweight champion did this week to announce his upcoming fight with the recently un-retired Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.
The fight will take place July 18 at the MGM Grand arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA and for Marquez, 35, a man whose career began at the age of 19 almost exactly 16 years ago, the fight is easily the biggest of his career.
His ability to gain a match with Mayweather, 32, and his trip to London, his first to the United Kingdom, speaks volumes about both the status the Mexico City boxer has now attained in the world of boxing, but also about the magnitude of this fight. Marquez is now universally regarded as one of the top two pound for pound fighters in the world and is facing Mayweather, a man who held the top spot when he retired from the sport nearly two years ago. The contrast between the two fighters at the press conference, at London’s Landmark Hotel, was evident and the demeanor of each symbolic of the paths that each boxers has taken to arrive to this point. For Mayweather, who has done major press conferences in the United Kingdom before, and who arrived with a large entourage that included his advisor, his uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather, and a large group of bodyguards and other staff, it was been there done that. ‘Money’ Mayweather’s “flashy and flamboyant” confidence was contrasted by Marquez’ coolness, both as Mayweather made confident statements from the podium and as he observed Mayweather spellbind the British press during a question and answer period.
The following morning, after a training session in London’s Regent Park, one that consisted principally of running and speed and endurance work, Marquez reflected on his brief time in London and on the challenges of the upcoming fight.
“I’m happy to be here in London for the first time” said Marquez after sitting down for breakfast in the Five Star Hotel’s large and impressive sunlit lobby. “Its beautiful, but I haven’t had time to get out with all the work and training that we are doing”.
Marquez, who, like Mayweather, followed his father into the sport, won his first world title as a featherweight and is one of only four Mexican boxers to win world titles in three weight divisions along with Marco Antonio Barrera, Érik Morales, and Julio César Chávez. However when asked who his favorite athlete is (past or present), Marquez doesn’t point to any of the great fighters of the past, instead naming Micheal Jordan.
And like the now retired professional basketball player, Marquez is a man driven and motivated by something greater that just a championship. In fact, his reason for moving up in weight yet again, this time up two divisions, from lightweight to welterweight, is one that is often cited by elite athletes, legacy.
“For me the important thing is being among the greats. The important thing is being part of the history of Mexican boxing. It’s the people who will decide where I rank in this group”.
When asked about fighting Mayweather, a man who retired as the recognized welterweight champion and pound for pound best in the world, Marquez states,
“I’ve always believed that to be somebody, if you want to be the best then you have to fight the best and the best is Floyd. When he retired he was the best pound for pound.”
“This is an important fight, a great opportunity, the opportunity of this fight on the 18th of July. I feel that this will confirm that I don’t like easy fights, that I like to take risks and I like to do things for my country”.
Marquez recognizes the difficulty of the fight, a fight that he wanted to have at the junior welterweight limit of 140, but he remains confident.
“It’s a difficult fight, but not impossible. Not impossible. Nothing is impossible. He who doesn’t take risks doesn’t win. So we are taking this [risk] and we are going to win.
The reigning lightweight world champion recognizes the challenges posed by taking on a bigger man, a man that many observers feel is also faster and stronger.
“I think that he is a strong fighter. He started his career at super featherweight and he is a strong fighter that has been growing physically, but I think that I can also do this and I am working hard in terms of my strength, in terms of my muscles, and we are working on speed as well. I do not see any advantages. I am going to do my work on the 18th of July. I’m also going to put my intelligence, my experience to work, my speed and all the other sport skills”.
When looking back on his past experience and at his most difficult past opponents Marquez gives respect to them all, but singles out a few,
“All my opponents have been difficult. To get to this level one must fight a number of difficult opponents. In terms of the most difficult, Marco Antonio Barrera, Pacquiao two times, Juarez I think. I’ve been fighting difficult fights my whole career to get to this level.
That being said, the unique challenge of fighting Mayweather is one that Marquez acknowledges,
“I have a great challenge. It’s a difficult challenge, a hard challenge on the 18th of July. I am always conscious of the fact that one must force himself, that one must work hard, that one must fight the best. I want to be the best and I have to fight the best so that the people see [that I am the best].”
“If you want something you’ve got go get it”
Marquez’ Mexico City is home to some 20 million plus inhabitants and has one of the largest and diverse presences of restaurants and markets in the world. The fighter enjoys his food and emphasizes that he always eats well during his training. However, for this fight, dieting to lose weight is not the principal challenge. Marquez has scored impressive knockouts in his last two fights and one of the more difficult challenges he will face will be that of maintaining his speed and power as he moves up two weight divisions to fight Mayweather. It is a something Marquez is conscious of and something he says he is preparing for.
“I think the most difficult thing about moving up in weight is moving up. You want to move up to be strong, not just to move up. It’s not about sitting down and eating and not doing anything else. Gaining weight and not doing anything else doesn’t make sense.”
“We’re working hard to move up, in terms of strength training, and I think this a fundamental part”.
Like Micheal Jordan, Marquez is also using his name in a business related to his day job as an athlete and the Mayweather fight represents another first for him. It is the first fight in which his newly formed promotional company, Marquez Promotions, will be working alongside Golden Boy. Starting a promotion company is something that many other elite boxers have done of recent, but Marquez is not doing it just to promote himself, nor to compete with the big promotional outfits. Marquez Promotions is something that he hopes will provide a platform for young up and coming fighters is Mexico City.
“This is the aim of starting the business, to help the young kids that are coming up, to help them in this sport. I think that this is fundamental… when you see people growing that you help them. Many times you’ve got the skills, you’ve got the class, but there is no one there to offer support”.
Support is something that Marquez may have lacked in the past when Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera overshadowed him in his homeland. In fact, it was not very long ago that he had to travel through the jungles of Indonesia to defend his world title for a modest purse rather than fight in his own hometown where there was not enough interest in him. However, now, like Jordan, Marquez is a household name in his country and has built a solid fan base at home and abroad. ‘Dinamite’ will surely have the support of his fans when he faces Mayweather, his toughest challenge yet. What remains to be seen is what type explosion will occur and the resulting fallout.
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