De La Hoya: "The Pressure is On Floyd Mayweather Jr"

The date of September 19 is only a few weeks away. Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes his long awaited return to the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez at the catch-weight of 144-pounds. The pressure in the fight, according to Oscar De La Hoya, is on Mayweather and not Marquez. The Mexican warrior is a heavy underdog and most expect him to lose. Mayweather is expected to win big. If he falls behind the expectations, he might lost his marketing power when he tries to make a fight with Manny Pacquiao and others.

"Marquez will have the whole nation of Mexico behind him because it will be the Mexican Independence weekend and that is a lot of pressure on Mayweather because he has to perform. He has been away for almost two years and Mayweather has to perform so I think it's going to be one tremendous fight where you can never ever count out the smaller guy," De La Hoya said.

Marquez sees the big picture. He knows the fight is the biggest of his career but the pressure is not there. He doesn't see anything in the fight as pressure. He is only motivated to win.

"I don't see it as pressure. I see it as motivation. I just work hard and I appreciate everything that's been done and to the level that it's been done by my promoters. And I understand the magnitude of this fight. What I do is in training, I separate it. I do my work in the gym. I train really hard. I get ready. I'm focused for the fight. And in my mind I separate. I know what's in the gym and what's out. And on September 19 I'm going to be 100% focused," Marquez said.

Source: http://www.boxingscene.com/index.php?m=show&id=21897