Training Camp Once Again Hits Full Speed For Rafael Marquez

Added on Sep 28, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

It appears that the injured thumb of two division world champion Rafael Marquez has completely healed as he was recently cleared to begin sparring in preparation for his upcoming fight against WBO Featherweight Champion Juan Manuel Lopez.

The two were originally slated to fight in September before Marquez (39-5, 35 KOs) sustained the injury that ultimately pushed the bout back to its November 6 date. As with the original date, the MGM Grand Garden Arena will play host to the championship affair. It will be the first time that Marquez has fought on the Vegas Strip since his 2004 TKO victory over Mauricio Pastrana.

Marquez, who fights out of Mexico City, got his first taste of a world title nearly eight years into his stellar career when he wrestled away the IBF Bantamweight title from Tim Austin in 2003 with an eighth round TKO.

Most recently he’s taken part in the thrilling four fight series with fellow Mexican warrior, Israel Vazquez, whom he went 2-2 with. Marquez defeated Vazquez during their first encounter in 2007 in the seventh round earning his second world title (WBC Bantamweight) in as many weight classes. Their second and third fights were respectively named the 2007 and 2008 fight of the year.

If he manages to claim Lopez’ WBO Featherweight crown it will mark the first time in history that two brothers have won championships in three or more weight classes. Rafael’s older brother, the great Juan Manuel Marquez, is only the fourth Mexican fighter to achieve the milestone. Marquez is looking to become the fifth, and his training with Hall of Fame fighter and former world champion Daniel Zaragoza is clearly an indication of that.

Marquez recently stated, “the injury is totally healed. This will be the best preparation of my career. I will work very hard so I defeat Juanma when we meet because I know he will also be in top shape. We are going to give the fans the fight they deserve, which will be nothing less than the fight of the year.

“I am working on my strength training right know and sparring against bigger guys. As the training moves a long I will be working on my speed and I will put it all together by the time we fight. I know that I need to be at my best to defeat Juanma and I will be,” he added.

Marquez, who is eight years older than Lopez, will enter the ring with a slight size disadvantage where he is two inches shorter than Lopez who has will also hold a slight reach advantage when the two square off.

What he lacks in size he’ll be looking to make up for in experience. So far in his career, Marquez has notched a total of seven wins over four different world champions. He’s looking to add the hard hitting Lopez to that list.

Truth be told, there wouldn’t be any reason for Marquez to hang his head in shame if he lost to the bigger, stronger and younger Lopez. Time catches up to every fighter, it’s inevitable.

If he does in fact come up short on that November night in Las Vegas, it won’t be because he wasn’t prepared.