Translation: Juan Manuel Marquez Talks Training Camp, Strategy, & Weight

Original video interview can be found here:

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/videohub/video/clipDeportes?id=1666331&cc=3888

Enjoy.


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Sanchez: We’ve gotten back in communication with Juan Manuel Marquez to discuss his training camp, his next fight against Manny Pacquiao, so Juan Manuel, how are you? How was your routine today, and what do you expect in the upcoming days?

JMM: What’s up Jorge? Well, right now we’re training really well, very strong. We’re practically finalizing the stage for power, and about to start the stage for speed, so the preparation is going very well, we’re happy with the preparation. Now we’re thinking ahead to December 8th, which we know is going to be a difficult fight, a hard fight, but we’re going with the mentality that we can win.

Osuna: Juan Manuel, I was with Manny Pacquiao this past Tuesday for his training at the Wildcard, and he says that aggressiveness is what he’s looking for the most for this fight. Does that enable you to counter-punch better, or is it also important for you to be more aggressive against Pacquiao?

JMM: You know, that’s an important point in this fight, aggressiveness. He says he’s going to use more aggressiveness. For me, it facilitates when a fighter goes forward into the punches, them being more aggressive facilitates my work, but I also need to be more aggressive, so that the judges see another kind of fight, so that the judges really qualify what’s going on in the ring. I think it’s going to be like a chess game in the ring; we’re going to try and make the best fight possible, we’re going to try to use a lot of our experience, lot’s of intelligence, lots of speed, but also combined with a bit of aggressiveness.

Sanchez: Now Juan Manuel, we’ve noticed that you’re gained muscle mass. How might you maintain you speed to compete against Manny Pacquiao? The strength you’ll have; but the speed Juan?

JMM: Well now we’re practically 15 days out from the fight, right at the stage of (training for) speed, pure speed. Not lifting (heavy) weights, but doing pure repetitions with weights. We think that’s going to work in our favor, the speed. It’s an important point that we’re consciously trying to work on, and it’s going well. We’re coming in strong and with speed, so 15 days from the fight, we’re going to come in well prepared in terms of velocity.

Osuna: Juan Manuel, Manny Pacquiao says that he feels powerful and fast. How have you felt about him that respect, since you first faced each other in 2004, then in 2008, then in 2011, in terms of his speed and his physical strength?

Juan Manuel Marquez: Well, he’s still been a strong fighter, a fighter with power, a fighter with speed. I think in this fight, I’m going to expect the best Pacquiao, the best Pacquiao of the other 3, so I know we’re going to have a difficult fight, a hard fight, so that’s why we’re preparing ourselves very well.

Sanchez: Well, Juan Manuel, finalize, tell us about your plans within the next few days in the last two weeks before the fight with Manny Pacquiao. You’re going to develop speed and work on that, but physically, where are you going to do it, in the Romanza gym in Ciudad de Mexico, or are you going to relocate to some other place?

JMM: No, we’re going to keep training here Jorge, in Ciudad de Mexico, in the Romanza. Now it’s not so much about weights, it’s more relaxed, so we’re working on speed with repetitions, which is very important. At practically 15 days from the fight, we’re making good time in terms of improving the speed. The size of the gloves (change) as well; I was training with 16oz, we’ve just gone down to 14, and then we’ll go to 10oz. I think that’s a very important point, to come with power, to come with speed, to come with lateral steps and legs. This fight is going to be the most difficult; why? Because we know each other now. Manny Pacquiao, I practically know what he’s going to do, and he knows what I’m going to do, so a change, however small it may be, will be important, so that’s why we’re preparing ourselves for everything, and with speed, which is one of the more important points.

Sanchez: To finish up Juan Manuel, what weight to you hope to land on during Friday’s weigh-in, a day before the fight with Pacquiao? What do you want to weigh?

JMM: I’d love to come in at 142, 143 pounds to leave a little room for food and not enter the ring so heavy, because if you come in heavy, you hurt your speed and feel the same way, so one doesn’t fight at the same speed that they’re thinking. So we want to aim for 142, 143, to come in strong, come in fast, and it’s an important point Jorge not to come in heavy, because Pacquiao might take advantage, they made the fight at 147 with that goal in mind; so that I would come in heavy, without speed, and slow for this fight.

Osuna: Let me tell you that Manny Pacquiao has been walking around these days at 143, 144 after training, rehydrating, and eating, so I think that both are coming along similarly so as to not inflate themselves, because for them the worst that could happen is to come in at 147, because they’d lose speed and everything that favors them inside the ring.

Sanchez: Very well. Juan, thanks very much, I send you a hug, and as you know, wish you the very best of luck.

JMM: Thanks Jorge, and thanks to everyone who’s supporting me out there; thanks Bernardo, we’ll be keeping in touch.

 

Definitely agree. It's not like I avoid re-watching Chavez-Whitaker, DLH-Trinidad, DLH-Mosley 2, JMM-Pacquiao 2, Hagler-Leonard, etc. because I don't want to hear the questionable decisions at the end; what happens in the ring is most important, and those two are ATG's with a historic rivalry.

There are definitely more important fights to be made with Pacquiao and I wouldn't knock anyone for not paying for it, but I feel bad for people that can't get any enjoyment from a solid technical fight.