FIGHT WEEK BLOG: MARQUEZ PLANS TO LET IT FLOW
LAS VEGAS - Juan Manuel Marquez aims to shock the world Saturday night at the MGM Grand with a victory against yet unbeaten and heavily-favored Floyd "Money" Mayweather.
September 17, 2009 - by Chuck Johnson | Photos by Will Hart
The boxing champion already delivered shock waves to unsuspecting viewers of Mayweather-Marquez 24/7, sitting down after a hard workout and, in front of the cameras, proceeded to drink his own urine.
"It's going to be a very difficult fight,'' he said. "I am going to come in with a lot of speed like I have always done. But the plan is to bob and weave and bend and make him miss and then counter him and wait for the right moments and pick your shots."
Since the airing of the second episode of the four-part series, which concludes Friday night, many medical experts have said there's no nutritional value in guzzling one's own urine.
But Nacho Beristain, Marquez's trainer, insists the regimen, though unusual, is more than just an old wives' tale. "I'm totally 100% behind him because the same doctor that sees him, sees me as well,'' Beristain said Thursday.
"You've got to understand that an athlete like Juan is, his body is very healthy. His body is full of vitamins. His body is full of minerals. What he expels out is four times that of the vitamins and minerals. Obviously, it helps and works."
Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) says he began drinking his urine before his most recent five or six fights -- a span that also coincides with his rise up the ranks to his current perch as Mexico's No. 1 fighter.
The task he has Saturday night is to beat the champion many consider to be the world's No. 1 fighter, and Marquez can only imagine what the celebration will be like if he can pull off the upset against Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs).
"This is the most important of my life," he said. "It's a very dangerous fight for my career, too. But I've prepared myself very hard and I feel I'm ready to win. If that happens, a lot of Mexican people will be crazy, and me, too, because we've waited so long for this fight."
Originally slated for July 18, the scheduled 12-round welterweight fight billed as Number One-Numero Uno was postponed after Mayweather suffered a rib injury in training. The extra two months of preparation allowed Marquez, a lightweight, more time to comfortably add bulk to his frame.
"The postponement actually helped us to continue working on building muscle,'' he said. It's all muscle and I feel good. I feel strong."
The fight will be Mayweather's first in nearly two years but Marquez isn't taking his opponent's layoff as an advantage.
"That's not even in my mind," he says. " I'm preparing for the best Mayweather there is. And that's what we're working hard to achieve, working on the speed, the strategy inside the ring. We're looking forward to facing the best Mayweather."
Mayweather is noted as a great all-around fighter, offensively and defensively with a style all his own. But speed will be one of Marquez's biggest nemesis.
While both are effective counter-punchers, Marquez is confident he has enough speed, even with the added weight, to hang with Mayweather and apply constant pressure.
"It's going to be a very difficult fight,'' he said. "I am going to come in with a lot of speed like I have always done. But the plan is to bob and weave and bend and make him miss and then counter him and wait for the right moments and pick your shots."
Marquez expects to have a solid fan following Saturday night in conjunction with Mexican Independence Day, traditionally a big boxing weekend.
But with Mayweather coming into the fight as a 4-1 betting favorite, many find Marquez's chances of winning, like his choice nutritional drinks, hard to swallow.
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