Interview Dated 2006

Raul "El Diamante" Marquez

Raul Marquez is one of the most recognizable figures ever to emerge from the Houston Boxing Scene. The former I.B.F. Light Middleweight Champion has fought highly publicized bouts against the likes of Shane Mosely, Jermain Taylor and Yori Boy Campos. He also serves as a color commentator for several English and Spanish language network television boxing program. Now at the age of 34, he is preparing a comeback, scheduled to fight Miguel Hernandez of Chicago on April 29th in Louisiana. I spoke with him before a recent workout at the Savannah Boxing Club, in which he engaged in a brutal sparring session with undefeated light heavyweight Chris Henry.

HBS - How do you feel and when did you start working out again?

RM - I've been working out since whenever Hopkins lost to Jermain Taylor for the second time, I think it was July, I was down there in Vegas covering the fight for HBO Latino and when I saw Jermain Taylor beat Hopkins I said I'm going to give it another go at it because I didn't lose to anybody. I lost to a big, strong middleweight who's the undisputed middleweight champion of the world and I started working out. I started bringing my weight down, I went to the gym by myself, you know, just getting all the excess, (laughs) weight off, and all the tortillas and tacos and all that. That's when I decided to come back and then recently I hooked up with Ronnie (Shields) and I've got a fight coming up and I'm excited.

HBS - You're originally from Mexico but you've spent much of your life here in Houston?

RM - I was born in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas but I actually moved to Chicago when I was like, two, three years old. We got a green card because my brother was born there and then we settled here in Houston because it was too cold in Chicago and I started boxing here. I graduated from North Shore High back in '89 and I started boxing for P.A.B.A.

HBS - How did you first get involved in boxing?

RM - My dad was always a big boxing fan. Back in Mexico he would keep the Ring Mundial, the magazines. He had a big old stack of them about a foot high. When I came out of my mom's womb he said I was holding my hands (like a boxer). He said "I'm going to make him a world champion, " and I was a world champion.

HBS - So he started working with you originally?

RM - Yeah, my dad was my trainer for all of my amateur career and most of my pro career and after I retired the first time....I've retired twice already. After the first time I decided to go my own way.

HBS - Did you ever work with Kenny Weldon over in Galena Park?

RM - As an amateur we used to fight for his gym but my dad was still my trainer. As a matter of fact Kenny Weldon helped us for one fight. He did train me for one fight, after I lost the title to Yory Boy Campas I came back and beat "Shibata" Flores and Kenny trained me for that fight.

HBS - What was it like when you won your first world title?.

RM - It was April the 12th, Anthony Stevens I fought, next Wednesday will be nine years since I won the world title. It was on ABC Wide World of Sports. I was supposed to fight Terry Norris but he decided to vacate the title. I was the number one ranked guy, the number two guy was Anthony Stevens who had went 12 rounds with Felix Trinidad, game him a good fight. Anthony had Trinidad down, but Trinidad stopped him. Tropicana Hotel, Las Vegas, April 12th, 1997 and hey, it was a big win for me. It was something that every fighter hopes to win a world title. Besides me going to the Olympics in Barcelona, which was huge too, you know, winning the world title was even better because great things were expected from me from the Olympics. I ended up losing in the quarterfinals. I was favored to win at least a bronze medal but I guess I kind of got screwed a little with the computer scoring system. The guy that beat me went on to the finals, got a silver medal. The guy that won the gold medal was a Cuban I had beat three months before the Olympics so you know, just bad timing.

HBS - But in the Stevens fight tell us a little bit about how it went.

RM - He might have won one or two rounds. I was aggressive. I stopped him in the 9th round. It was a big win for me and I was very excited to win the world title because of all the hard work that I put behind all the years, finally I had a legitimate belt, which is the I.B.F. belt to show, and to be well-respected in the boxing world.

HBS - Then you defended a few times and you lost to Yori Boy Campos.

RM - Well what happened with Yori Boy Campos was, you know, the fight was even. I should have never taken that fight but you know, pressure from the promoters and opportunities. Two months before I had fought on the De La Hoya-Camacho Pay-Per-View Card. I was a co-main event there. I fought an animal, Keith Mullins, which was a very tough fight. I won a split decision over Keith Mullins. I got really bad. So two months later I was in there with Yori Boy Campos and my face didn't heal the right way. I didn't have any cuts but my face was just swollen real bad. By the eighth or ninth round I couldn't see. They stopped the fight. The fight was even on the scorecards. One judge had it even, one judge had it for me, one judge had it for Yori Boy so it was an even fight. But had I let my face heal right I know I would have beat Yori Boy. That night, De La Hoya beat Rivera and that night Keith Mullins, the guy that I had beat two months before on that Camacho undercard, he knocked out Terry Norris. So it was a bad night for the champions. Had I won that night, I was scheduled to maybe fight Oscar the following year and that's another reason why I took that fight because you know promises from the promoter and "You beat Yori Boy", it was in December of '97 and in '98......I was fighting on De La Hoya's pay-per-view card so they were grooming me. It was a story. Me and Oscar were on the same Olympic team together, we were teammates, and it was a good story. Us fighting each other would have been so big. Unfortunately it didn't happen, I lost and that's the end of it. But ever since then I've had some big fights. You know I lost to Fernando Vargas. I fought Sugar Shane Mosely and it was a good fight for three rounds but we banged heads and nobody won. And then of course my third loss was to Jermain Taylor so I've been sparring here with a lot of guys here in the gym and a lot of young guys and a lot of up-and-coming guys and a lot of guys that are the elite right now like, you know Kassim Ouma. I sparred Candelo a couple of times who fought recently on ESPN and lost. I feel good in the gym. I feel like I still could do something in the junior middleweight division. I'm trying to work myself back down to junior middleweight. This fight will be at 162 or 161, and I didn't want an easy fight, a real easy fight my first time back. I was trying to get this guy named Freddie Cuevas who's been fighting like Kingsley Ikeke, fought Kassim Ouma. He didn't want to fight me so they gave me this other from Chicago who's 19-3 with nine knockouts. Never been knocked out. So it's not like I'm going to hit the guy and he's going to fall. He's never been knocked out and I'm hoping to knock him out that night.

HBS - Have you been working on anything in particular here in the gym with Ronnie?

RM - Nothing in particular. I'm more of a veteran. I think I'm more disciplined. I think I learned a lot from being a commentator, covering all the big fights. You know you really learn, you see different styles and how you could incorporate my styles into different styles and then what other fighters do. You kind of learn, you really do so I think I've learned a lot from that. I'm more patient in the ring. I try to take my time more. It's not a two or three round fight. It's a ten round fight. The recent fight with Candelo, he did good the first two rounds and stuff but after that the other guy started coming on, and then the guy took a little break, it's a ten round fight. I can beat you for three rounds but then the next seven rounds if you can come on you know. So just being more patient, being more economical, making every punch count, trying not to load up with every punch, you know chopping the guy down like a tree. You know you chop him down, "boom, boom boom", instead of just trying to go for the gusto on one shot. The guy could take your shot and you run out of gas, what's going to happen? Stuff like that. I'm a made fighter. I'm already a made fighter, you know somebody, Ronnie, who's experienced, and who's been there with the best, Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield, it helps to have a trainer like that and be respected more when you go into a fight.

HBS - You've got 24 knockouts and you're obviously an articulate guy but how do you transform yourself from the smooth-talking commentator into the guy who could basically kill someone when you get into the ring?

RM - It's just in me. You're born with it, I guess. You know I've been doing this for so many years and yeah, well you're right. When I go in the ring I'm vicious. I love boxing. I love to fight and I'm a brawler. I love to give the people what they want to see. They want to see people that come to fight. This ain't no wrestling. They got people that want to hold and you know there's a lot of fighters out there, the top fighters that I don't like their style. I'm not going to mention their names or anything but they hold and they run. They're champions, whatever, good for them but that's not the kind of fighting that people like to see and that's not the kind of fighting that I do. I come to fight. I give the people their money's worth. The blood and guts type of guy, that's me. I love that. How do I make that transition? I don't know, it's just in you. Hey, I'm going to feel sorry for a guy when I go in the ring? Nobody's going to feel sorry for you. They got to do the same thing. If you don't beat up on them they're going to beat up on you so you better do something.

HBS - What is it that separates a good fighter from a great fighter?

RM - You know boxing, I put a lot of work into my body, believe it or not the last year. It takes a lot. Where I'm at right now, you know Jay (Johns) has been helping me out with strength stuff, conditioning stuff. It's really helped me. It takes a lot of dedication, man. It's a lot of hard work. A lot of sacrifice, a lot of heart, I think that's what separates the elite. This is a 24/7 job you know, this is an every day job. This is a job. This ain't, you train six weeks for a fight and that's it. No you train six, eight weeks for a fight, take off a week, go eat your hamburgers, whatever you're missing, and you've got to be back on it again. This is a 24/7 job and I think that's what separates the elite fighters from the wannabes.

HBS - You're not as young as you used to be. You're 34 and there are those who might question whether you should still be fighting. How do you respond to them?

RM - I'm aware of that. Safety with me has always been first. Yes I'm 34 but if you look at the list of top champions around they're in that age class. 35, 33, the top guys, that's how old they are. I think I'm more mature. I think I know more. I'm a veteran and believe me I'm the first to say if I thought I was a shot fighter, like when you hit me one time that my legs just buckle, I"m nowhere near that. I'm not there. My reflexes might not be as fast like how they used to be, but I've got more experience. I know how to handle pressure more than a younger fighter and I think I'm going to be alright and I'll be the first one to say if I didn't think I could do it. That's why I've been in the gym since last July. We're going here close to a year that I've been training, sparring all kinds of different amateurs, up and coming guys, veterans. I've been sparring all kinds of guys to see where I'm at and if I didn't think I had it I wouldn't be doing it.

HBS - So ultimately this comeback is a quest for another world title?

RM - Absolutely. You know nowadays sometimes the titles don't mean anything. It's the truth. Yeah, I would love to fight for another world title. Or from 154 to 160 there's a lot of big fights out there. This is the first step. I'm not fighting an easy guy back. I don't want no easy guys because I want to see where I'm at. I want to stop this guy. Or give him a beating for ten rounds but you know the knockout's always better. I've been working really hard in the gym and I'm going to continue to work harder. I've got three more weeks. I feel strong, I feel good. This is the first step. I have this fight at the Coushatta. I'm thankful the people at the Coushatta are giving me this opportunity too. It's a big casino and it's a good way to come back, living two hours away I'm going to have a lot of fans go over there. Maybe I'll have another fight after this at Coushatta and then hopefully look for something big, get back on HBO into a big fight.

HBS - Who do you view as being at the top of your weight class or who would you like to fight, one or the other?

RM - There's no particular guy. I'm looking at whoever's the champion out there or which fight is going to benefit me. Or they might have an up and coming young guy that they want to get on HBO and they want to test him with a veteran like me. That's the kind of fights I'm looking at. We got the world champions. You've got Roman Kamarzin who's a Russian guy, which is basically unknown. I don't even know who the champions are to tell you the truth, that's how unknown it is. The middleweight champion Winky Wright's going to fight Jermain Taylor but that's the middleweights. You've got the big names like Vargas, Mosley, De La Hoya, Mayorga. Mayorga's the other champion who's going to fight De La Hoya. That would have been a nice fight but De La Hoya's going to take care of Mayorga. Then you've got Alexandro Garcia who's the WBA champion who's not a known fighter either. But there's other fights out there that can be made. There's Ike Quartey, you've got Vernon Forrest. You know we all came up together me and Vernon. So all those fights are possible fights down the line.

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5-19-06

Raul Marquez is on the comeback trail. After a two-year-layoff, the 34-year-old Houstonian and former I.B.F. Middleweight Champion returned to the ring in Coushatta, Louisiana on April 29th, where he knocked out Miguel "Macho Man" Hernandez in the 9th round. I spoke with him after a recent workout at the Savannah Boxing Club.

HBS - Tell us about what it was like for you right before the fight.

RM - I tell you what it felt really great, you know, I've always said all the hard work gets done in the gym and you've seen me work in the gym. I work hard, I'm a hard worker. I got a lot of weight off, got my body looking good doing strength and conditioning with Jay Johns, doing my boxing training with Ronnie Shields. I was in excellent shape. You know, I had a lot of confidence in myself. When I was in the locker room I said, "Look, I've been doing everything that's right, all the right things. I feel good." I had a great crowd. One of the biggest crowds ever at the Coushatta. Great fan support. We're going to do it again. We've got to do it again July the 8th at the Coushatta and like I said I felt really good. I fought a guy that came to fight. He wasn't a guy that just came to lay down. I worked a little hard than I thought I would. It took me awhile to break him down but finally I got him out of there. The first time he ever had been knocked out, too.

HBS - Give us a summary of the fight.

RM - The first round I started of slow, you know I'm a slow starter but I was trying to establish my jab, find my range, which I did. That's what I accomplished in the first round. After that I finally found my range, I was letting my combinations go. Miguel Hernandez is a tough guy. A lot of heart. Came to fight. Came to win, actually. Took a lot of hard punches, a lot of hard shots everywhere you know, and basically I thought I was winning every round but I had to break him down. I finally broke him down. I saw in the sixth or seventh round that his level was going down. On top of that he was holding a lot. Every time I hurt him he'd hold me but I got to the point where he wasn't going to be able to hold me no more. His conditioning was not as good as mine and I felt my conditioning was so good, I had like a second, third wind in the seventh, eighth round. I said to myself, "He keeps holding me, this time I'm going to be able to push him off," which I did the eighth and I felt my little rhythm, he was trying to hold me, this time I was able to push him off from me and continue that rhythm and finally I was able to knock him out and get him out of there.

HBS - Had to feel great.

RM - Absolutely, it felt great to be back in the ring. I felt really sharp. You know I made some mistakes, you know, but there's always room for improvement. You know a fighter's always got to get better by finding mistakes, by criticizing himself and I'm always my biggest critic. It was good work for me, a good solid win, and I'm looking forrward to July the 8th.

HBS - Was there any point at which he caught you off guard or surprised you in any way?

RM - Not at all. I expected a tough guy. I expected a guy with a winning mentality. I expected a guy that was going to come to win. Overall I think I did great, I felt good. My trainers were very happy with me and a lot of people in the boxing world, who know about boxing, they said, "Hey, Raul, you look great, you look really good," and you know that's motivating.

HBS - What are some of the mistakes that you made that you want to correct for next time out?

RM - I got hit with some shots that I shouldn't have gotten hit with. I might have been a little bit cocky, letting the guy hit me a little bit. Because when I was hitting him with som shots he was acting like he wasn't hurt, so I was letting him hit me with some shots that I could have avoided, blocked. I guess hearing the crowd excited, the punches didn't really hurt me but, you know anything could happen in boxing and the next time I shouldn't allow to do that. I kept a good composure but I should have kept more composure and forgot about his little cockiness because I knew, when guy says you're not hurting him, believe me, that's hurting him. It's just doing it and doing it and taking him out of there and that's what I did.
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HBS - Do you have any idea who you're fighting next?

RM - I'm looking at several opponents. I don't want to mention any names but we're looking at a couple of different guys. It'll be another type of fight like that. I'm not looking to fight a bum, a guy that I'm going to whack out in a couple of rounds. I'm looking to fight a guy that's going to come to fight, that hopefully has never been stopped before. I'm looking for that kind of guy and hopefully, get another win under my belt.