26.07.06 – The Marquez brothers – Juan Manuel and Rafael — will be featured when the 20th anniversary celebration of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING continues Saturday, Aug. 5, on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). In the main event, former champion and No. 2 WBO contender Juan will face WBO No. 1 contender Terdsak Jandaeng for the WBO Interim 126-pound belt. In a rematch, Rafael will put his IBF/IBO titles on the line against No. 1-ranked Silence Mabuza. Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, will promote the world championship doubleheader from MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa at Stateline, Nev..
Jandaeng: I would like to thank Gary Shaw for this opportunity. It will be a great fight, and it is a big opportunity to fight Marquez.
Question: Juan, how are you doing and what are your thoughts coming into this fight?
J. Marquez: I am doing just great. I want to thank Gary for the opportunity that he is giving me to get back in the ring and just to get a victory.
Question: Juan, you are coming off a disappointing loss in your last fight, a fight that maybe you didn’t really lose. Are you looking at this fight as a must-win? Is there more pressure to win than there would be usually?
J. Marquez: I come into the fight preparing myself to prove to the boxing fans and prove to the world that I am still Juan Marquez and there will be a Juan Marquez for a long time.
Question: Juan, at your age, do you feel like you need to be in a hurry to accomplish things?
J. Marquez: Obviously, age does not matter in my case. I train for myself. I am responsible and I am training well. And that is what makes a difference between boxers being responsible in work and training.
Shaw: I believe Juan Manuel is the premier fighter at both 126 pounds and 130 pounds in the world. There is no rush because there are plenty of fights out there for him. In this case, he does it one fight at a time. I have seen the tape of his last fight against Chris John. He did not lose that fight. He got a bad decision. But everybody will see what he is like on the SHOWTIME telecast.
J. Marquez: There is no intention of signing with anybody (promoter). First of all, there is this upcoming fight, so I want to take it one at a time and once we have something in writing or something that is convenient for us, I will sign with that promoter.
Question: Juan, have you seen tapes of Jandaeng and, if so, what do you think of him as a fighter?
J. Marquez: He is top-notch. He is very quick. I think he is a great fighter. That is why I am preparing myself like usual, so I do not get any surprises that night. I have seen him once on a tape, and I know he is capable. That is why I am getting prepared.
Question: Jandaeng, have you seen tapes of Marquez, and, if so, what are your thoughts of him as a fighter?
Jandaeng: Marquez is very strong. I am prepared to fight him. I have been studying his tapes. He is a top quality fighter and I am looking forward to seeing him in the ring on August 5.
Question: Jandaeng, your only loss came in a hard fight against Joan Guzman. How did that fight help you and what did you learn from that fight?
Jandaeng: I got a lot of experience (from it). Guzman was a strong fighter. I believe that Marquez is not as strong as Guzman.
Question: Nick, how exactly did the rematch come about?
Durandt: We had to fight for the rematch (and win an elimination bout) because they would not come to the table. So, we have come back the hard way. We fought (and defeated) Ricardo Vargas. So I think you have a very, very competitive fight. As Gary said previously, we have the No. 1 bantamweight world champion in Marquez, and you have the No. 2 bantamweight in the world in Silence Mabuza. I will really be honest. We were offered other fights for world titles after we had beaten Vargas. I discussed this with my fighter, but my fighter wants Marquez. He wants to go back to Lake Tahoe and take back what belongs to him and win the IBF belt that we went there originally to win. He didn’t want to take on any other fighter. He wants a rematch with Marquez. And thank you to Lou DiBella, our promoter in America, who has been very instrumental in setting up this fight. And thank you, Gary Shaw. We are coming to take something away from you.
Question: Nick, do you guys feel that the head butts turned the first fight around?
Durandt: Absolutely. I mean, it was on television to be seen. That fight should have been a technical draw. When the ref was interviewed in the ring after the fight, and he looked at the monitor and the guy said to him, ‘How do you see the fight now?’ he said, ‘I messed up. It was a head butt.’ You have to understand one thing. We respect Rafael as a great fighter. He has proved it. He is not pound for pound the best bantamweight in the world because he has fought nobodys. We went in there to win. Yes, he had us down in the first round, but he could not finish us. We were coming back strongly when the fight did get stopped. We generally feel that the book was closed in the middle of a chapter. Now we have the opportunity, and we want to close the chapter.
Question: Nick, you saw how the head butt occurred after you reviewed the tapes?
Durandt: Yes, we did see it. You know, we saw it live as well. I did not have to look at a monitor to realize there was a head butt. The first cut that was inflicted on Mabuza, which was underneath the eye, was from a punch. The second was a head butt when Rafael was coming off the ropes. They clashed heads. And I do not think it was an intentional hit, but it was an accidental hit. If we go by rules and regulations, and had the referee called the fight correctly, the fight would have been a technical draw, and that would immediately set up a rematch. But we had to go out and fight for the No. 1 position in an eliminator against Vargas and we won our right for the rematch.
Question: Rafael, how is your training going. What are your thoughts going into the rematch?
R. Marquez: I am training hard, like always. I am (working on) speed. I am doing whatever I am doing for (any other) fight, so I am ready for the upcoming fight.
Question: Is making 118 harder for you now? You have been threatening to move up in weight. Is weight going to be an issue at all?
R. Marquez: No. The last fight, weight was my enemy. I did something different for that fight, so that is why I got a little bit with the weight. But now I am ready, I am prepared. I did what I was doing before. And now I am like three pounds over at this moment for the fight.
Question: Rafael, do you think fighting at altitude gives you an advantage? Also, when are you arriving in Tahoe?
R. Marquez: No. Altitude is not a problem because I train in Deluca, which has a lot of height like Lake Tahoe. We are arriving in Lake Tahoe on Monday, July 31.
Question: Rafael, as far as this fight and the first fight, was there a need for a rematch or will this fight be different?
R. Marquez: No. Actually I do not know why he asked for a rematch. Maybe he thought that he won that fight or he was winning that fight. I don’t know. But we are preparing to do a good show on August 5, so the boxing fans are going to love it.
Question: Rafael, you and Juan have fought on the same card before, but not in about five years. Is this exciting or is it more nerve wracking?
R. Marquez: Actually, it is going to be a great night for everybody. A great night for the TV people, for the boxing fans, for everybody in the world. It is exciting and we are proud (for) the family, friends and everybody.
Question: Terdsak, you said that Guzman is stronger than Juan. Do you think that Marquez is going to be an easier fight for you than the Guzman fight was?
Jandaeng: I watched some of the Marquez tape, including the Indonesia fight. I still feel that I am stronger and faster than Marquez. I do not think that Marquez is stronger than Guzman. I feel that I will prevail. I will win this fight.
Question: Nick, even though it was stopped relatively early, what did you learn from that first fight and what do you think is going to be different in the rematch?
Durandt: There was not much in the fight. We knew, going in to the fight that Rafael could punch. He caught us early, he caught us cold and we went down. There are one or two different things I have worked on for this fight, having watched the first fight. But there is not much you can take out of the first fight. It was all over with in three and a half rounds. So we have pretty much worked with the same sparring partners for it and we have trained just as hard as we did for the first fight. You have to understand, the first fight, and absolutely no disrespect to Rafael Marquez, we were ready in Las Vegas three days away from fighting him and he pulled out of the fight. We had to then travel 42 hours back to South Africa. I had to give Mabuza a week off training, put him back into training, and three weeks later come back to America. So I think we are more prepared this time than we were the first time for Marquez. As I said, Mabuza has been offered other fights that he didn’t want to take. He wants Marquez. He wants to go back to where we left off.
Question: What are Mabuza’s travel plans?
Durandt: Mabuza is probably two hours out of Lake Tahoe at the present moment. I am only in South Africa at the moment because I have my IBF junior lightweight champion defending his world title on Saturday night here in South Africa, and then I am leaving to join Mabuza in Lake Tahoe.
Question: How long has Silence been in the United States?
Durandt: Silence arrived yesterday morning in the States.
Question: So by the time of the fight, he will be fully acclimated to the time difference and climate?
Durandt: Absolutely. You have to understand that when he has trained we have also trained at altitude. The Lake Tahoe altitude is not too much different to where we are at the moment. He will be well acclimated for the fight. We come in there prepared. We have done our homework. We know whom we are fighting; it is not a closed book. As I said earlier, we have a common opponent in Ricardo Vargas and both Marquez and Mabuza went 12 rounds with him. So this is a very, very competitive fight. Irrespective of what went on in the first fight, I still believe in our faith strongly, and I will live up to it. That fight should have been called a technical draw. I just hope and pray that in this fight, they have an official in the center of the ring that completely knows what he is doing. That is my only concern.
Question: Gary, do you have any closing comments?
Shaw: We are excited to have Joey Gilbert on this card. It is going to be an outdoor event at the hotel, which reminds everybody of the old days in Tahoe for a big event. It is going to be a big, big summer event there. I believe the Marquez brothers, both of them, are going to light it up.