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FIGHTERS
REPORT TO TRAINING CAMP IN PREPARATION
FOR “THE
CHALLENGE” ON SEPTEMBER 13TH
Camp
Updates on Casamayor vs. Marquez and Mora vs. Forrest II
Los Angeles ,
August 14, 2008.
– As the eyes of the world turn to Beijing for the 2008 Summer
Olympic Games, four of boxing’s elite have officially ended
their summers and begun their own training as Olympic Gold
Medalist (’92) and current
Ring Magazine
Lightweight World Champion Joel Casamayor, former two-division
World Champion Juan Manuel Marquez, current Super Welterweight
World Champion Sergio Mora and former two-division World
Champion Vernon Forrest get ready to compete on Saturday,
Sept. 13. Casamayor vs. Marquez – “The Challenge,”
will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas and will be distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View,
beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
CAMP
FACTS -
Joel “El Cepillo” Casamayor
(36-3-1, 22 KOs)
arrived in Phoenix, AZ almost six weeks ago. This has become
the usual training location for Casamayor, having selected the
MD Systems Boxing Gym to prepare for his past four fights.
His trainer, Roger Bloodworth and Joel have already gotten
down to serious training with a regimen that includes spending
the majority of his day in the gym and sparring three to four
times a week with several different sparring partners.
Casamayor and Bloodworth are back together for Joel’s second
consecutive fight since they reunited for Casamayor’s
impressive performance on March 22, 2008 – a knock out of
previously undefeated and then world champion Australian
Michael Katsidis. Bloodworth, who trained Casamayor when he
defeated Lamont Pearson and Diego Corrales in 2006, not only
serves as Casaymayor’s trainer, but as his personal chef as
well. Notorious for making weight with ease, Casamayor is
able to solely focus on his training while still taking time
to keep an eye on the Cuban national team at this year’s
Olympic Games.
“Reporting to camp during the Olympics has
motivated me to train as hard as possible,” Casamayor said.
“Training is going really well. When I step into the ring, I
represent something that is larger than me…I learned that at
the 1992 Olympics. I intend on continuing to do whatever it
takes to ensure a win against Marquez.”
Staying close to home for his preparation
against Casamayor is Juan
Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez (48-4-1, 35 KOs) who
trains in his hometown of Mexico City every weekday at Romanza
Gym. He is joined there by Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, his
trainer of nearly 25 years, who has been with Marquez since
well before he began his impressive career at the age of 19.
In addition to his demanding training schedule at the gym,
Marquez takes part in a daily massage and physical therapy in
a hyperbaric chamber. Every Friday evening, Marquez departs
for Nevado de Toluca, a large volcano located 50 miles west of
Mexico City. Tucked away in a no-frills cabin free from
interruption from the outside world (as well as plumbing),
Marquez rises each morning at the crack of dawn to run nine
miles from an altitude of 10,000 feet above sea level to the
volcano’s peak which sits at more than 15,000 feet. The
remainder of his weekend is spent in the cabin which sits at
an altitude of approximately 15,000 feet relaxing with his
team and often with his eldest son. Like Casamayor, Marquez
has never had difficulty making weight prior to a bout and is
therefore able to heavily focus on the task at hand: preparing
to move up in weight and capture Casamayor’s
Ring Magazine
World Lightweight title.
“This is the most important fight of my career and
given the fact that I am giving Casamayor the advantage by
moving up in weight, I’m training extremely hard to be ready
and comfortable fighting at 135,” said Marquez. “I am
confident that the amount of effort I am putting into training
at this weight will pay-off.”
Sergio “The
Latin Snake” Mora (21-0-1, 5 KOs)
is deep into
training camp in his hometown of East Los Angeles. As the
champion of the first season of NBC’s “The Contender,” Mora
moved on to bigger and better professional fights, finally
reaching his world title dream by defeating Forrest for the
WBC World Super Welterweight crown in June 2008. Training
Mora for the rematch are Dean Campos and John Montelongo, who
have been with him since the age of 15. Mora’s training
regimen includes sparring three times a week, focusing on
strength and conditioning and eating a balanced diet of
certain fats, carbohydrates and proteins that his nutritionist
Robert Ferguson has created for him in order to keep him
performing his best during the training process.
“Training camp is going great and everything is
on schedule as it should be,” Mora said. “Having fought
Vernon once, I know what to expect and I will come out on top
again.”
Former two-division World Champion
Vernon “The Viper” Forrest
(40-3, 29 KOs) remains in his hometown of Atlanta,
GA to train, which he is doing with the self-promise of making
his second shot at Mora count. Instead of spending each night
in his own house, Forrest has chosen to live in a private camp
home with his team. Additionally, he will be working on a
special diet with nutritionist Dr. Clayton Gibson during his
training. Forrest wakes up at 4:30 am every morning to run
and build endurance before entering the gym for the remainder
of the day. James Buddy McGirt, arguably one of the best
trainers in the world, is training Forrest for his fifth
consecutive fight. The duo started working together when
Forrest beat former World Champion Ike Quartey in August 2006
and continued to do so for Forrest’s wins against Carlos
Baldomir and Michele Piccirillo. Since the devastating upset
against Mora last June, Forrest believes that the only
acceptable outcome for him is a victory in the rematch. He is
confident that this camp is already started him on that path..
“There is no doubt I am going to beat Mora,”
said Forrest. “I peaked early during my training for our last
fight but I know what I need to do now to win. Camp is going
better than ever and I am at 100 percent.”
Casamayor
vs. Marquez – “The Challenge” ,
a 12-round bout for Casamayor’s
Ring Magazine
World Lightweight Championship, is presented by Golden Boy
Promotions in association with Romanza Boxing and sponsored by
Cerveza Tecate, Cazadores Tequila and Southwest Airlines.
Mora-Forrest II is
the 12-round co-featured bout presented by Golden Boy
Promotions in association with Tournament of Contenders, Gary
Shaw Productions and Fight Knight, LLC. The double header
will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and
will be distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9
p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
The Casamayor vs. Marquez and Mora vs. Forrest II pay-per-view
telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested
retail price of $44.95, will be distributed by HBO
Pay-Per-View and will be available to 71 million pay-per-view
homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event
programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Casamayor vs.
Marquez fight week updates, log on to
www.hbo.com.
An exciting undercard will be announced in the
near future. For more information visit
www.goldenboypromotions.com.
8-14-2008
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