He?s too old. The fight is coming too late in his career, too high in weight. Working with a controversial strength and conditioning coach only provides further distractions. He?s too big and will be too slow on fight night. He?s never going to be as popular as countrymen Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.
Juan Manuel Marquez is less than two days away from his long awaited third crack at longtime rival and current pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. It seems the industry at large is waiting for the moment where he finally cracks and loses his patience.
If you ask the legendary Mexican, the only thing lost is the attempt to find new reason why he can?t emerge victorious when the opening bell rings for their pay-per-view headliner at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
?I have to go into the fight with the mentality that I have to win each round and if the opportunity comes I go for the knockout,? Marquez emphatically states with a newfound swagger, if not a hint of defiance. ?I am not going to hesitate if the opportunity is there.?
The opportunity has yet to be there for the former three-division champion and future Hall of Famer. In fact quite the opposite, as he?s been put on his ass four times over their two-fight set.
What has been on the table is victory, which he believes should?ve been his twice over in their previous two encounters. Run a poll among any group of media members within reach, and the results will suggest that he?s not out of line in thinking his 0-1-1 mark against Pacquiao could just as easily be 2-0.
One thing Marquez doesn?t need, however, is another moral victory. He has two of those in the bank, and uses the media scorecards as proof of demand for their third and most likely final fight together.
?That?s why we are doing this third fight,? Marquez (53-5-1, 39KO) explains. The first two were very close and this fight should end all doubt. We are not the only ones saying we won the fights. There are a lot of fans and media out there saying the same thing- that we won those two fights.?
Those sentiments are echoed by his trainer Ignacio ?Nacho? Beristain. Nobody knows Marquez better than the Hall of Fame cornerman, who has trained him ever since the first time he stepped foot in a boxing ring at the age of 13.
Two-and-a-half decades later, it?s only natural for standout trainer to step in cadence with his longtime student.
?Without question, we have prepared ourselves to win this fight again,? Beristain insists, emphasizing their belief that they?ve already twice defeated Pacquiao. ?They can say what they want. (Freddie Roach) is a great trainer and (Pacquiao) is a great fighter. If they feel they won the first two fights so be it ? we feel the same way and that?s the way you should go into a fight.?
