By Sam Gregory: Juan Manuel Marquez comes from a strong boxing pedigree. His brother, Rafael Marquez, is a former world champion who has won world titles at the bantamweight and super bantamweight divisions. Marquez had an amateur record of 35-1 that included two Golden Glove tournament wins. He made his professional debut at the age of 19 on May 29th, 1993 and lost his first bout by way of disqualification to Javier Duran.
Juan Manuel Marquez
Juan Manuel Marquez boxing news
Hatton-Pacquiao Fight Off: Ricky Looking At De La Hoya & Mayweather
By Jim Dower: In news that will probably be upsetting to Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton has opted to move on to another fight instead of settling for less than a 50-50 split with Manny for their previously talked about fight on May 2nd. The apparently reached a sticking point in their negotiations after Pacquiao asked for a 60-40 purse split and Hatton wasn’t willing to agree to giving Manny the larger share.
If The Pacquiao Fight Doesn’t Work Out, Should Hatton fight Judah or Marquez?
By Jim Dower: With Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) facing a deadline of Wednesday to change his mind and take the original 50-50 purse split which had been previously verbally agreed upon by both fighters, Ricky Hatton (45-1. 32 KOs) may be facing the unhappy situation of having to choose another fighter for his scheduled May 2nd fight date. According to news reports around the boxing world, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, will be pulling the plug on the fight and not letting it go forward unless Pacquiao takes the original 50-50 purse split deal.
Diaz-Marquez: The Punching Machine vs. Dinamita
By Manuel Perez: Former lightweight champion Juan Diaz (34-1, 17 KOs) will be making a step up in competition by facing Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) on February 28th at the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas. Diaz, 25, is looking to rack up his biggest win of his career against the 35-year-old Marquez, but in order for Diaz to do that, he’s going to have to look a lot better than he’s looked in his last two fights, one of which resulted in a 12-round split decision loss to Nate Campbell in March 2008.
Time Tunnel: John vs. Marquez
By Manuel Perez: In one of the worst decisions in recent memory, WBA super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (44-2-1, 33 KOs) ventured to Indonesia and fought undefeated Chris John (36-0-1, 22 KOs), losing by a 12-round unanimous decision in John’s backyard. The final judges’ scores 116-110, 117-111 and 116-112, appeared to have no relevance to the actual fight that took place on that night. In fact, not only were they off, but off by a mile.
Diaz vs. Marquez on February 28th
By Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) will take on former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion (34-1, 17 KOs) on February 28th at the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas. There will be no title at stake, other than Marquez’s lightly regarded IBO title. However, the fight, one of the better ones in ages, will match two of the best lightweights in the division in Marquez and Diaz.
Will Pacquiao Ever Fight Marquez Again?
By Manuel Perez: Now that Manny Pacquiao has a huge mega-fight with Oscar De La Hoya coming up, and possibly another big money fight following that one against Ricky Hatton, I doubt more and more that Pacquiao will ever risk facing Juan Manual Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) again. Twice they’ve gone at it, with the first fight resulting in a draw and the second a close 12-round split decision win for Pacquiao in March. As much as I like Pacquiao as a fighter, I think he’s been extremely fortunate to have escaped losing to Marquez on both occasions. And because of this, I think Pacquiao is going to steer around Marquez for the remainder of his career, making sure that he stays well clear of him to avoid facing a potential embarrassing loss.
Pacquiao wants to be paid well for a bout against Marquez, and apparently he believes that Marquez simply wants too much money to make the fight possible. However, other than fights against De La Hoya or Hatton, Marquez is the only other fighter near the same size as Pacquiao that can bring in big money. Of course, Pacquiao can always continue fighting opponents bigger than him if he does well against De La Hoya, and stay in the welterweight division.
Does Pacquiao Now Need Marquez More Than He Needs Him?
By Alex McMillan: There were some interesting comments both in the immediate aftermath and at the press conference of Juan Manuel Marquez’ superb eleventh round KO of former lightweight linchpin Joel Casamayor last Saturday night; a career highlight in a career simply crammed with highlights. Firstly from the fighter himself, who declared that where Floyd Mayweather had previously been the pound for pound king, he himself was now rightful heir to the throne, and secondly from his promotion team ‘Golden Boy’, led of course by Oscar de la Hoya, whose CEO Richard Schaefer made it clear that Manny Pacquiao at this stage ‘wants nothing to do with Marquez’, who it seems will be forced to look instead at other prominent lightweight challenges, of which, granted, there are many.
The pound for pound mantle has become boxing’s unquestionable holy grail, a title that eludes belts and governing bodies in a sport – or perhaps the term business is more accurate – heavily saturated with both. In recent years it’s been nigh-on impossible to argue the mantle away from Mayweather, try though some might; since his retirement (for as long as it lasts) the door has been opened, and pretenders to the crown aplenty.
Marquez Stops Casamayor
By Jason Kim: Six months after being on the receiving end of a very controversial loss to Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez got back on the winning track against veteran Joel Casamayor (36-4-1, 22 KOs), defeating him by a 11th round TKO on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marquez, 35, who was moving up from the super featherweight division to take on Casamayor, dropped him twice in the 11th round. After the second knockdown, referee Tony Weeks stepped in and stopped the fight at 2:55 as Casamayor laid bleeding from his both his right eye and nose on the canvas. The fight was very close at the time of the stoppage, however, and I had the fight Casamayor slightly ahead at the time the fight was stopped. Marquez fought well in the first half of the fight, doing particularly well in rounds two, five, six, and ten, but the rest of the rounds appeared to have won by the taller, slicker counter punching Casamayor.
Indeed, at the time of the stoppage Casamayor had been fighting well and appeared to be possibly heading to a victory. After appearing to lose rounds seven through nine, Marquez rallied in the 10th round, landing several big right hands that clearly bothered Casamayor. Although the Cuban fighter shook his head as if to indicate the punches didn’t bother him, it looked to have done just that. Casamayor was bothered by a large cut over his right eye and a bloody nose, both of which appeared to occur at the same time in round five.
De la Hoya Interested In Mayweather Rematch, Comments on Pacquiao, Casamayor-Marquez Bouts
By Eric Thomas: In an interview yesterday with Brian Kenny from the Sportscenter, Oscar de la Hoya commented on various things, from a second fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., how he’ll choose to fight Manny Pacquiao in their December 6th fight and his thoughts on the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Joel Casamayor bout on Saturday night. When asked about a second bout with Mayweather, De La Hoya said, “If I could have that rematch, how different that fight would be. When I fought Floyd, it was easier when I was throwing the jab, but for some reason I stopped throwing it. If we did it again in the near future, it would be a whole different story, that’s for sure…I hear he needs money.”
In commenting on Pacquiao, De La Hoya had this to say, “I have to be smart, be rangy, and just have to make sure I have my hands up when he [Pacquiao] comes inside.”