Giovanni Marquez is enjoying the benefits of ‘playing at home’. However, this does not mean that he takes these types of fights less seriously than others.
Marquez also hopes to continue on the path to contender status with his father.
The undefeated Marquez will face Jason Limon on Friday night at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Marquez’s hometown of Houston, Texas. The eight-round fight, which will be fought in the maximum weight limit of 142 pounds, will be preceded by two quarterfinal fights of The OTX Tournament, a tournament of eight junior middleweight fighters, in which two fights were already decided in April.
All three fights will be broadcast live on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
Marquez (9-0, 5 knockouts) has faced modest opposition so far early in his career. In his last fight on March 29, Marquez defeated former featherweight and junior lightweight Jayson Velez by unanimous decision. In his previous fight on December 1, Marquez defeated Joshua David Rivera by decision after six one-sided rounds.
Tomorrow, Marquez will be faced by Limon (8-1-1, 2 KO), who has won his last four fights since suffering his only defeat as a professional in October 2022. On Friday, Marquez will fight for the seventh time in or around Houston. and while he enjoys the benefits of fighting in his hometown, he will be in top shape.
“A lot of motivation for this fight,” Marquez told The Ring on Tuesday. “The motivation is high because I have many family members and friends who will be at the fight. I have to fight a great fight. Of course, OTX will be in my hometown. So that’s a bigger motivation in itself.
“My opponent has a solid track record. This will be an captivating matchup Houston vs. San Antonio (where Limon is from). There is a lot of emotion and, again, more motivation.
“I learned from my last fight (against Velez). There is always room for improvement. I had to be more patient. This fight (with Limon) is eight rounds, so I have to operate my jabs and distance more often. At times during my last fight, I was reckless. I need to relax and stay focused. True professionals do this.”
Marquez primarily trained in the Houston area, with the exception of three weeks in Las Vegas, where he sparred with WBC lightweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson.
Marquez, 23, is coached by his father Raul, former junior middleweight world champion and 1992 U.S. Olympian Raul Marquez, who provided color commentary for Showtime and now does so for DAZN.
In a time when father-son relationships rarely work in boxing, especially when it comes to the coach-boxer animated, Marquez is grateful that his father is his coach. He also stated that it brought them closer both in and out of the ring.
“I’m really content to have my dad on my side,” said Marquez, whose manager is David McWater. “He is a former Olympian and a great champion. He understands every aspect of the (boxing) business as a coach and former fighter. One of the things about my father is that he is open. I listen to him and he listens to me.
“I think I have more self-confidence because when he tells me something, I listen, I put it into practice and then I see the result. We do talk a little about boxing outside the gym, but it’s more about other fights or his commentary on the fights he’s called for Showtime and now DAZN. I realized that there will always be boxing in our family. There’s no way around it. This is our life. That’s our father-son animated.”
Marquez hopes to achieve a lot this year. He hopes to prevail and cement his position with a dominant win on Friday night. He hopes to stay lively and is ready for whatever comes his way this year.
“My short-term goal is to win on (Friday). I hope to have another eight-round fight later this year, but I’m open to any opportunity that comes along. I will take advantage of these opportunities.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk recommends that Dmitry Bivol “run away” from Artur Beterbiev, not let him punch and stay away from the ropes next Saturday in the undisputed featherlight heavyweight championship fight in Riyad.
Former WBC 175-pound champion Gvozdyk was the favorite going into his fight against Beterbiev five years ago on October 18, 2019, but was knocked out in the tenth round.
Gwozdyk was leading 87–83 and 86–85 on two judges’ scorecards, and the third one was 87–83 by the break in the tenth period. Gvozdyk showed that Beterbiev can be attacked for a long time, but his strength does not require much to turn the tide of the fight.
Bivol (23-0, 12 KO) is more mobile and has a better combination punch than Gvozdyk did back then, but he’s not as mighty and mighty in the uppercut. For this fight, Bivol must give up striking combinations because it would expose him to Beterbiev’s counterattack. It is like a shark that hunts its prey for food to reach it and wants to land.
“He is very shrewd, has good footwork and has a very good and precise jab,” said Oleksandr Gvozdyk Round eight of boxingspeaking about Dmitry Bivol. “They are two different styles of fighters. Beterbiev is a brawler; it is coming and it is inexorable. He is very mighty and also very shrewd. People underestimate his boxing skills.
“Yes, because of his style, he just comes in and blows everyone away,” Gvozdyk said when asked if people underestimate Beterbiev’s technical skills. People think that’s all he can do, but he can also box.
Beterbiev is mainly engaged in boxing, but his strength is so great that it results in knocking out opponents. He has massive hands and even his thrusts have power. Bivol will, of course, box and try to stay away from Beterbiev throughout the fight. It won’t be uncomplicated.
“He was an amateur world champion where you can’t really operate your power for everyone. There are a lot of technical guys there. You are narrow to three rounds,” Gwozdyk said.
“Of course you prepare to avoid his punches. You must not block near the ropes, because it becomes really risky there,” Gwozdyk said about Beterbiev. “When he starts throwing punches at you [guard]you still feel them, and it’s not uncomplicated to fight this guy.”
Bivol won’t let Beterbiev grab him by the ropes, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get hit strenuous in the middle of the ring. Beterbiev doesn’t need to trap his opponents to hit substantial shots. Many of his knockouts take place inside the ring.
“He knows how to fight guys like that,” Gvozdyk said about Beterbiev knowing how to deal with mobile fighters who operate footwork. So I think it will be a really challenging task for Bivol.
“It’s challenging [to prevent Beterbiev from trapping you against the ropes]. When you’re fighting this type of guy, you’re constantly revving your engine and it really burns you out. In addition to the technical and tactical part, to be able to fight Beterbiev, you need to take care of your fitness very well,” said Gvozdyk.
It will be challenging for Bivol to move the entire fight to escape Beterbiev, because he will catch him with compact punches. Even when Bivol turns to run away, he will be hit by arrows. Unlike other power-hitting players, Beterbiev doesn’t weigh himself down with his shots. Throws compact, powerful shots that deal high damage.
“Don’t let him hit you and take advantage of you [backside] challenging,” said Gvozdyk on what advice he has for Bivol in defeating Beterbiev. “Run away, because it’s not worth resisting the ropes against him,” Gwozdyk said.
This will require Bivol to emphasize landing single punches and jabs to prevent Beterbiev from constantly hitting him with his punches. Movement is vital to Bivol, but he won’t win a fight if he doesn’t stand and fight at times.
The judges will not automatically award rounds to Bivol based on three minutes of movement and zero punch scoring against Beterbiev. This works for some fighters when they play for the A team and compete in their hometowns, but Saturday’s competition in Riyad is neutral for both sides.
LAS VEGAS — Team Barrios is still eager to fight Manny Pacquiao when they “take care of things” on November 15 when they face Abel Ramos.
Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos fight for the WBC welterweight world title in one of the biggest combat sports events of the year – Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Bob Santos, Barrios’ trainer, recently told World Boxing News that they are in camp and focusing on Ramos.
“There’s nothing better than Netflix,” Santos told us.
With approximately 275 million subscribers worldwide, the possible reach of the Tyson vs Paul event on Netflix could make it one of the most watched boxing events of all time.
Ramos has been in the ring with Maurice Hooker, Regis Prograis, Ivan Baranchyk, Jamal James and Yordenis Ugas, but since losing to the Cuban boxer in 2020, he has only two wins in four fights.
Barrios and Ramos are one fight out of four so far, alongside the highly anticipated rematch of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.
Ramos is quite a surprise opponent for Barrios, as both Santos and Manny Pacquiao’s representative, Sean Gibbons, have been talking to World Boxing News all summer about a substantial fight between them later in the year, possibly even at a Premier Boxing Champions event.
“[The Pacquiao fight] for some reason it couldn’t come to fruition,” Santos told us. “We were in the middle of negotiations. I know Pacquiao wanted to fight. We wanted to fight. This would have been a great world title fight, but they just couldn’t get it together in time.
“This opportunity came up with Netflix and Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson,” Santos added. “And this is not just a boxing event, but one of the biggest events. The numbers will be crazy. Everyone loves Mike Tyson and everyone wants to support him in many ways. Of course there is publicity, especially with Jake Paul. This event – it is huge.”
Even though Barrios will fight in the middle of next month, his team would still be content with a fight against Pacquiao. So they know they have to “take care of business” and maintain the championship.
It was this WBC world title that Pacquiao reportedly motivated the Filipino legend to return to the ring and attempt to break his own record as the division’s oldest champion.
“The only reason why Pacquiao [would] Of course, to come back at this stage is to make history and it would have to be a world title,” Santos told us.
“So if we don’t take care of business and keep the world championship, obviously this fight will fail.
“So first we have to focus 100% on Abel Ramos,” concluded Santos.
CHRIS Eubank Jr currently mixes on the fringes of the world boxing scene, but he used to mix things up in a different arena. The boxer from Brighton, who will face Kamil Szeremeta on October 12, revealed video showing he was an enforcer in a gang.
“You just have to deal with it. You’re a child, you don’t know better. That’s one of the reasons I moved to Las Vegas, to get away from this scene, this lifestyle,” Eubank Jr. said.
Although Chris has now managed to escape his father’s shadow and gang life to pursue a career on his own, as quickly as things change, some things remain the same. The location, venue and pay packages may be different for the 33-3 (24 KO) pro, but the competitive spirit and desire for the scrap are still there.
“I liked the competition. I love challenges. I’ve got a guy in front of me trying to eliminate me, and I’m trying to eliminate him. And who will get there first? Who will strike the first blow? It’s always been just sexy to me. And that just turned me on. I don’t know why.
When it comes to street laws, the only way to prepare is to be ready, alert and trained for a fight. Born fighters often grow up in extreme poverty, where violence is the only universal language, and in the case of boxing, it is also a way out of the hood. Grainy footage of Chris taking part in an illegal war circulated years ago and now shows what his life has evolved from.
“I don’t know how it happened, but I was a street kid. I was a man of the road who went home every evening to a million-pound mansion. It doesn’t make sense,” Eubank Jr. mused.
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