Mexico City, MEX/Houston, TX (June 17)…Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez and Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz are training hard for their rematch, Marquez vs. Diaz II “Fight of the Year: The Rematch,” but it is a day like Father’s Day, which both fighters will celebrate with their children this Sunday, that makes it all worth it. The world championship bout is scheduled for Saturday, July 31 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV and will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View®. Marquez has three children ages three to twelve and Diaz has a three-year-old son, so both fighters have grown accustom to balancing boxing and family, staying dedicated to their children while staying dedicated to their craft..
Both “working” dads cite their lessons learned as fathers and share some of their own fathering tips.
JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ, Current Ring Magazine, WBA and WBO World Lightweight Champion
“My advice is that you remain dedicated to your work and your children. I know that I won’t see them all of the time, but one should always focus on what they do without forgetting about their children.
“I have to balance my family and my time in the gym. Unfortunately, when I’m in training, it is 70 percent in the gym and 30 percent for my children. As a professional boxer, it happens like this.
“My father always gave me good tips that I try to remember, especially since he was a fighter too. He says ‘Take care of yourself as an athlete and always keep your feet on the ground, and when you get to be a champion, you have to try to remain consistent in the ring.’ I try to always keep that in mind and teach it to my children.
“I come from a big family, and I know that my parents had to suffer and live through a lot in order for me to experience good things in life. Overall, being close to your family is the most important thing, and I have enjoyed seeing my own family grow.”
JUAN DIAZ, Former Three-Time Lightweight World Champion
“It is difficult to balance a career and fatherhood at times. Thankfully I have my family who has been really supportive and helpful with everything.
“The best advice is to try and spend as much time with your children as possible. Sometimes people get caught up in accomplishing their own goals, but we need to remember to make our children our number one priority. You should never be too busy to play with your kids.
“I try to be with my son 99 percent of the time. I like to do small things with him. For example, we brush our teeth together at night. I want to lead him in the right direction as a young kid so that he will grow up and learn to have respect for other people.
“I’m trying to do the best that I can to accomplish my dreams and goals so that when my son gets older I can tell him, ‘This is what I set out to do when I was your age’ and for him to see what I was able to do in my life so he will want to follow in my footsteps.”
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Marquez vs. Diaz II “Fight of the Year: The Rematch” is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Marquez Promotions and sponsored by Tecate and AT&T. The 12-round rematch of the “2009 Fight of the Year” is scheduled for Saturday, July 31 and will be for Marquez’s Ring Magazine, WBA and WBO Lightweight World titles. The championship fight will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Tickets for Marquez vs. Diaz II are priced at $350, $250, $150, $100 and $50 and are on sale now. Tickets are available for purchase at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
Juan Manuel Marquez & Juan Diaz World Cup Predictions
Mexico City, MEX/Houston, TX (June 11)…With the first game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicking-off today, the entire world seems to have soccer fever including current WBA, WBO and Ring Magazine World Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez and former three-time Lightweight World Champion Juan Diaz. Marquez vs. Diaz will meet in “Fight of the Year: The Rematch” on Saturday, July 31 for Marquez’s Ring Magazine, WBA and WBO Lightweight World titles, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The championship bout will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Although they will both be deep in training for their rematch of the 2009 “Fight of the Year” during the month of World Cup play, both fighters will be keeping a close eye on this year’s Cup. Below please find predictions and comments from both fighters as we head into this weekend’s World Cup kick-off.
JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ:
“I am not only rooting for Mexico, but I believe if they bring their character to the field and are strong physically and mentally throughout the competition, they have a chance to win the World Cup. It will be difficult, but definitely not impossible. They need go the whole tournament without injury and play like they have never played before.
“Their Group is very difficult. South Africa is going to bring everything that they have onto the field, but I think Mexico can beat them. The first game is definitely key.
“Cuauhtémoc Blanco is the heart and soul of Team Mexico. I look forward to seeing him play along with Guillermo Ochoa and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. I believe they can lead the team all the way to the finals.”
JUAN DIAZ:
“My loyal fans are Mexican-American or American fans in general, so I am going to root for Team USA.
“I think we have a great chance of making out of the Group Stage. I know most people aren’t giving Team USA much of a chance to win, but soccer is like boxing, scoring one or two goals quickly is possible and a lot of the time enough to win the game, so anything can happen.
“After training each day in camp, I’m going to have a lot of spare time, so I’m going to be watching a lot of soccer. It’s going to be my new hobby.”