Marquez trainer seeks ‘justice’

On Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden, the journey continues as they pursue their personal Holy Grail – a convincing win over nemesis Manny Pacquiao.

Beristain, 73, believes that Marquez won all three previous meetings, particularly the most recent confrontation on Nov. 12, 2011. But the Hall of Fame trainer knows that until Marquez has his hand held aloft by the referee, nothing he thinks matters.

“I want this for Juan, for him to have justice,” Beristain said. “That’s why we took this fight again. It is important for Juan to erase the doubts and set the record straight.”

Beristain said any good trainer plainly can see Pacquiao’s shortcomings. But he said it takes a special fighter to take advantage of the opportunity. In Marquez, he has had the perfect opponent to beat Pacquiao.

“Pacquiao is a natural fighter,” Beristain said. “He is a southpaw, and Juan has always done well against southpaws since he was a very young fighter. He can control Pacquiao because he is an intelligent fighter, and he knows how to break a fighter down right from the start.”

The trainer met Marquez when he was a 12-year-old kid who wanted to learn to fight. Beristain, who had trained two gold medalists for Mexico in the 1968 Olympics and was widely regarded as the country’s best at preparing a fighter, saw something in the young Marquez.

“He had natural talent and a big heart – two things you look for in any fighter,” Beristain said.

Under Beristain, Marquez matured into a fighter who has been a seven-time world champion in four weight classes (featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight and junior welterweight) and figures to join Beristain in the International Boxing Hall of Fame someday. Beristain said because of their long-term relationship, he doesn’t need to yell at Marquez during a round to make an adjustment. They know each other so well that Marquez can do it on his own.

“He can fix things during the round,” Beristain said.

Marquez said Beristain’s experience gives him a game plan that he can easily execute against Pacquiao. This time, the plan is to make sure Marquez moves more fluidly and has enough spacing to attack Pacquiao inside, in what Beristain refers to as the “Combat Zone.”

“(Beristain) has over 50 years in the game,” Marquez said. “He always has me prepared because he wants to win as much as I do.”

Beristain has trained 18 world champions, including Marquez’s younger brother Rafael, a former bantamweight and super bantamweight champion, and was inducted into the Hall in 2011.

Beristain’s life is in the gym. He doesn’t go out much, other than for his daily 5 kilometer run in his Mexico City neighborhood. He had a physical setback in September when he contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized for five days. He now uses an inhaler to keep his lungs clear, and he admitted things were touch-and-go in the hospital.

“It was a humbling experience knowing you could die,” Beristain said. “But I’m not ready to go yet.”

There’s a chance Beristain’s and Marquez’s long journey will end Saturday. Marquez is 39 and has talked about retiring, even if he defeats Pacquiao. A loss undoubtedly would have him leaning toward quitting.

Beristain just wants his fighter to experience the joy that comes with success. The future can wait.

“It would mean a lot to me personally to see Juan finally beat Pacquiao,” Beristain said. “It would be one of the greatest moments of my life.”

■ NOTES – Today’s weigh-in at the Grand Garden is free and open to the public. Pacquiao and Marquez are expected on the scale around 2:30 p.m. … Pacquiao remains a minus-370 betting favorite at the MGM Resorts sports books, with Marquez a plus-280 underdog.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.