After visiting Juan Manuel Marquez during an open workout at the Romanza Gym in Mexico City, Oscar De La Hoya walked away feeling 100% confident that his fighter will walk out of the ring victorious on September 19. "Styles make fights and Marquez is perfect to beat Mayweather because he is intelligent, is able to counter, but also be aggressive, jab and he never tires," he remarked after seeing first hand the work that Marquez has done to prepare himself for his toughest challenge to date against the undefeated Mayweather.
Having faced Mayweather himself, De La Hoya is fully aware of the task that lies ahead for Marquez. "I have been saying that Mayweather does not hit hard; he does not have heavy hands, but he's very fast. But now that I've see that Juan is fast and his punches have increased, he's going to be fine...what he should worry about are his [Mayweather's] feints to the body because then he wants to finish up to the jaw. But Marquez is very intelligent and that's why he is the best in the world," De La Hoya stated as he talked about their upcoming clash in a recent interview with Salvador Rodriguez of record.com.mx.
Given Floyd's recent distractions inside and out of the ring, De La Hoya believes the time is right for Marquez to pull off the upset. "The fact that the fight was postponed due to the injury that he had, plus the distractions that he has, because one must remember that this is the first time that he has his dad with his uncle...there is friction there and there is jealousy there about who will be the head honcho...then they found his car in a shootout, so I think this is the perfect time to beat Mayweather," De La Hoya added.
Perhaps that's just the promoter in Oscar, but he does bring up some valid points. Interestingly enough, despite all the rumors about poor tickets sales, De La Hoya is expecting a sellout come fight night. "We are at 90% tickets sold with only three weeks left, so we are expecting a sellout on the night of the fight."
As far as the fight itself, De La Hoya insists that fans will be shocked come September 19. "I know that Juan Manuel will surprise Mayweather," De La Hoya reiterated. Given what happened to Paulie Malignaggi in Texas last month, I'm not too sure anyone can be surprised anymore whenever a Golden Boy fighter is fighting.
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