Rafael Marquez speculates on upcoming Juan Manuel Lopez bout
Few guys in the pros today can attest to the kind of action Rafael Marquez has seen in the ring.
Though it’s true he’s only gone the distance twice in 44 professional fights, he’s managed to score 35 knockouts in 39 victories, indicating the brutal, rock-em-sock-em quality of his fights. Put simply: there’s never a fight in which Marquez isn’t putting
everything into it.
Marquez recently hooked up with boxing.fanhouse.com for an exclusive interview about his upcoming bout with Juan Manuel Lopez. In Lopez he will face an undefeated fighter arguably at the apogee of his prime. If it’s up to Marquez, though, it won’t be youth
that triumphs; it will be grit and old school effort, intelligence and die-hard mentality.
"This is one of the biggest fights you will ever see in the lower weight divisions,” Marquez said of the upcoming bout.” He’s not joking. “We both have a lot to prove and the fans are going to enjoy it. This could actually go either way. We're both so
powerful that it could end earlier than late because of our power.”
As it stands, Marquez has a knock out rate of 80 per cent. Lopez, who has fought significantly less but at a much higher frequency, currently knocks out a stunning 90 per cent of opponents, according to boxrec.com.
Marquez touched on the fact that the fight will pit a Puerto Rican against a Mexican, writing another volume of the clash between the two nationalities. “It's very important being Puerto Rico versus Mexico. It's probably the most important fight of my career.
I haven't fought too many Puerto Ricans at the level that I'm fighting this fight. This guy is very intelligent and he knows what he's doing in the ring. It's so important that I don't leave any stones unturned because I know how important this fight is."
In Lopez, Marquez will fight a boxer who’s fought four times in the last 13 months. At his level, that’s hard to come by in the pros, but it indicates his attitude and alacrity to compete outside of the often polluting politics of the sport.
And as for speculations that Marquez is all but washed up as a fighter, especially after four classic bouts with Israel Vazquez, Marquez indicated clearly that he believes age is really only a factor if one doesn’t take care of themselves, or lives an unhealthy
life.
Tags: