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Raul Marquez will be in sweats as he officially welcomes his son into the sport that brought him so much success. For the rest of the night, however, he will need a change of clothes.
Marquez – who reigned as the former light middleweight World Champion and represented the United States at the 1992 Olympics – trains his son, 21-year-old Giovanni, who is making his professional debut Friday night against Nelson Morales.
Nicknamed El Diamante, Raul won the first 25 fights of his career before capturing the IBF light middleweight world title in 1997, and successfully defended his belt twice. He finished with a record of 41-4 before retiring in 2008.
Raul will be in Giovanni’s corner, coaching his son through his first professional fight, a long-awaited moment for the two. As his son’s milestone moment wraps up, however, Raul’s day job, and main duties for the night, start.
As a Showtime Championship Boxing and ShoBox broadcaster, Raul, after his son’s broadcast-opening fight, will call the rest of Showtime’s card, which takes place in Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel in Deadwood, S.D., alongside Hall of Famer Barry Tomkins and Brian Campbell – regardless of his son’s result.
“It would be crazy to say that I’m not gonna be nervous,” Raul told The Post. “He is my son. There will be some kind of nerves. But I’ve always said throughout this whole training camp: Watching Giovanni work, and seeing that he’s in great shape, and that nothing fazes him, it gives me some ease. I am an emotional person, I am a prideful person. I like excitement. I like this, I like competition, I’m a very competitive guy.
“I’m gonna be fine. I’m gonna be good. I think Giovanni is very focused. He’s gonna take care of business, and once he takes care of business, I’ll do what I have to do.” It is believed to be the first time in the sport a fighter’s father has both trained him/been in his corner during the fight and then later commentate on that same card.
Raul has never had anything close to this added layer of emotion and stakes throughout his broadcasting career, which started while he was still fighting and includes the last 10 years with Showtime. This is a moment he and his son have spent years working towards, envisioned as the official start of another successful boxing career in the family.
Which, of course, begs the question: What if Giovanni loses?
“Honestly, I’m not worried about Giovanni not winning. He’s gonna win the fight, that’s how confident I am. But say he doesn’t look good in winning, yeah I’m gonna be a little bit upset but I have to do what I have to do to focus. Focus on my job, because that’s what pays the bills right now, because Giovanni’s not making $30 million per fight yet,” Raul said with a laugh and smiled. “But hopefully one day he will. I have to focus on my job and do what I have to do. And then we will worry about his performance after the fight.”
Raul already has his suit picked out for TV – and will bring it with him in an extra bag. He’ll travel with his son to the fight, which will be a full-family affair, with his mother and brothers also in attendance.
After his son’s fight, he’ll get changed in Giovanni’s locker room and handle any media responsibilities before joining Tompkins and Campbell on camera for the rest of the night.
Giovanni, who started boxing at 12, is one of the sport’s top prospects. A decorated amateur, he compiled a 75-12 amateur record and won the National Golden Gloves 152-pound championship – a moment Raul remembers finding out while he was on air – before recently turning pro.
“From a very young age, boxing has always been taught,” Giovanni told The Post. “At the dinner table, holidays, things of that nature, so I was already involved in the sport at a very young age. Being that boxing is such a dangerous and brutal sport, boxing was never pushed on myself or my brothers by my father. It’s something we all wanted to do on our own. I think I wanted to start after my brothers had started. That’s really what motivated me to start. I started boxing, fell in love with the sport and haven’t looked back since.”
Giovanni’s older brothers, Arturo and R.J., boxed at the amateur level.
As he embarks on his professional career, the Marquez duo hope Giovanni can mirror his father’s early-career success – winning the first 25 fights and earning a world title opportunity. Raul has a long, long way to go before even thinking about that. But to get there, he has perhaps the best possible guide.
“He knows the ins and outs of this game.” Giovanni said. “The smallest little details that he shows me, someone who hasn’t been in the ring at that level, they’re not gonna be able to give that to the person they’re training. Having him, it is truly a blessing. I think it will be a key part of my success in the future.”
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