Marquez Confident of Beating Diaz on Saturday

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 02.24.2009

Juan Manuel Marquez spoke to the press today about his upcoming title defense.

Photo by Tom Hogan-Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions

In the days leading up to his lightweight title defense against Juan Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez is focused and confident of victory over his younger rival. It will surely prove to be no easy task especially fighting in Diaz' hometown of Houston, Texas but Marquez isn't worried. "I'm not worried about fighting in Diaz' hometown. Also as part of the deal, we have a neutral referee and neutral judges," said Marquez today.

At 35 years old, the lightweight champ has been in plenty of wars and most feel that it's only a matter of time before he shows his age Still, the ring veteran has managed to keep himself looking good over the past few years, fighting like a man who's still in his physical prime – which he attributes to his clean living and hard training.

Marquez surely knows he'll have his hands full with Diaz, who's known as being a volume puncher with an impressive workrate. Marquez however feels he'll have to use all of his "skills, intelligence and assets to beat Diaz." Working with longtime trainer Nacho Beristain who also admits that Diaz' style will probably be one of the toughest to date, Marquez is confident that they've put together the right strategy for this fight though he's not eager to reveal just what those plans are.

Marquez also candidly talked about carrying the weight of Mexico on his shoulders. As one of the last Mexicans at an elite level, he knows it's a huge responsibility to represent his country but understands that it's simply one of those stages in the sport where the championship caliber Mexicans are on the way out as is Barrera, Arce and Margarito to an extent (given the ban). He's happy however to be in that position as it was something he yearned for years ago when he was ducked by fighters such as Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales and even Marco Antonio Barrera but as he puts it, "better late than never."

With only days away before his showdown with Diaz, Marquez as usual is ready to go.

"I'm very well prepared for this fight," says Marquez. And you can bet the farm that he will be.

The Marquez-Diaz fight for the lightweight championship will be aired live on HBO from the Toyota Center in Houston, TX and according to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, it may wind up a sellout as additional seats had to be opened up in the upper deck to accommodate fans.