Warriors Boxing: Marquez Targeting Abraham’s IBF Belt

Former world champion Raul “El Diamente” Marquez, who overcome the destruction of Hurricane Ike, recently broke his Houston training camp and departed for Germany, where on October 4 he challenges unbeaten International Boxing Federation middleweight champion “King” Arthur Abraham, headlining a pay-per-view card airing in the United States and Canada live from Bamberg, Germany.

“I don’t talk trash-talk,” Marquez said right before leaving Houston, “but we took on Hurricane Ike, so Arthur Abraham should be nothing. We still don’t have electricity in my house, I’ve been staying at my sister-in-law’s house, and we had to wait 1 ½ hours for gas. I’m very positive about this fight. We’re going over there to win.

“I fought in Germany as an amateur and I’m sure some of Abraham’s coaches remember me. You read about needing to knockout your opponent over there to get a draw (laughs). I just hope the judges are fair. The judges are from America, Mexico and England. Wayne Kelly from New York City is the referee. I couldn’t ask for a better situation over there. All I can hope for is a fair decision. I’m glad this fight is on pay-per-view so people can judge for themselves. If there’s controversy, people back home will be able to see it and know who really won.”

Abraham, 27-0 (22), rated No. 2 by The Ring and ESPN, captured the IBF middleweight title early three years20ago by way of a fifth-round knockout of Kingsley Ikeke. Eight successful title defenses have followed against Edison Miranda twice, Shannon Taylor, Kofi Jantuah, Sebastian Demers, Khoren Gevor, Wayne Elcock and Elvin Ayala.

The 37-year-old Marquez, 41-3-1 (29), rated No. 2 by the IBF as well as No. 8 by The Ring and ESPN, earned his title shot against Abraham by defeating previously unbeaten No. 1 contender Giovanni Lorenzo in their IBF title eliminator on the June 21.

Marquez, a 1992 U.S. Olympian who owned the IBF junior middleweight title belt in 1997, is motivated by talk about Abraham fighting Kelly Pavlik or Winky Wright next year. “It’s like they’re ignoring me,” Marquez explained. “They’re looking ahead. I was a 4-1 underdog my last fight and I’ve trained even harder for this one. Only two out of 35 writers picked me to win my last fight and it’s pretty much the same thing for the Abraham fight. Abraham’s people are looking beyond me. I want to spoil all that talk about him fighting Pavlik or Wright in his next fight. Nobody’s giving me much of a shot but I’m ready.

“My game plan is to make him fight. He’s powerful and strong; I am, too. And I’m motivated by him looking ahead. I’ve gone back to my roots with my father (Arturo) and brother (Aldo) in my corner the last four fights. I tried some different trainers but my father made me an Olympian and world champion. I’m older and wiser now. I’m getting hit and cut less. I think my father’s the best trainer in the world. After I beat Abraham he’s going to be Trainer of the Year.”

Despite taking off 1 ½ years to work as a broadcaster, Raul is still much more battle tested in the ring than Abraham – 269 to 161 in rounds fought – having fought world champions Jermain Taylor, Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas and Yori Boy Campas.

“This isn’t going to be an easy fight and Abraham knows it,” Marquez added. “I have a lot more experience than him having fought Mosley, Taylor and Vargas, as well as other experienced fighters like Campas, (Keith) Mullings, (Jose Alfredo) Flores and (Bronco) McKart. I’ve fought guys with all kinds of different styles. I’m left-handed and I think that’s going to give Abraham problems. I’ve watched tapes of his fights and I think he had problems against (southpaw) Ian Gardiner. Even at 37, I will bring courage, power, great conditioning and keep a steady pace like I did in my last fight.”

“After losing to Jermain Taylor, to get this far and fight for a world title again, well, it’s amazing. It’s weird but I feel better now than I ever have. Ten years after I was world champion, 16 years after I made my pro debut (Oct. 3, 1992), I want it (world title) more and appreciate boxing more than ever. I love everything about boxing.”

The 10-round co-feature on the PPV show from Germany has former NABO champion Otis “Triple OG” Griffin, 19-3-2 (7), of Sacramento, taking on Yugoslavian-born Enad Licina, 14-1 (8), now living in Germany, for the vacant IBF Intercontinental cruiserweight belt. Additional undercard bouts to be part of the PPV card will soon be announced.

Abraham-Marquez is promoted by Wilfried Sauerland, presented by Sauerland Event and its Managing Director, Christian Meyer, in association with Seminole Warriors Boxing. The broadcast is being distributed in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports for live viewing at 3 PM/ET – 12 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, TVN, DirecTV, DISH Network, Viewer’s Choice Canada, and Bell ExpressVue, for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. A replay will be shown that same night starting at 9 PM/ET. Al Bernstein and Nick Charles will call the action.

For more information about the Abraham-Marguez PPV go to www.integratedsportsnet.com or www.warriorsboxing.com