04.05.05 – JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ: “I want to fight the best. I would love to fight Marco Antonio Barrera or Eric Morales, and would be willing to move up to 130 pounds. I want a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, so we can find out who really won our fight. But I am not going to avoid anybody. I am not going to do what the other world champions did to me when I was ranked at the top and they refused to fight..
“It took me such a long time to become a world champion. Winning the title was not easy. So I will never underestimate any opponent, especially Victor Polo on Saturday. I took Pacquiao lightly and it almost cost me. I learned in that fight to never take anyone lightly.
“Victor Polo is a great, technically skilled boxer. If he had been luckier, he would have been a world champion by now. I expect a tough fight, but I expect to win.’’
VICTOR POLO
“I know this is my last chance, and I am desperate for Saturday to get here. I have trained really well in Colombia and feel sure I am going to finally win a world title.
“I believe I am in the top level of fighters in my weight class, and proven at this level. I am always in championship fights. It is hard to get a decision when you always fight in the backyard of the champion. But I am confident I will make a great performance. It will take that kind of performance to defeat Marquez, who is a great champion.
“I plan to throw a lot of punches from start to finish and prove that I am stronger than Marquez. Neither of us are from here, so I am not worried about getting robbed by the judges.’’
In one of two world title fights on Saturday, May 7, on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on West Coast), Juan Manuel Marquez (43-2-1, 33 KOs) will defend his International Boxing Federation/World Boxing Association (IBF/WBA) featherweight titles against Victor Polo (34-4-3, 21 KOs), who is the WBA No. 5 featherweight contender. Two-time World Boxing Council (WBC) Champion Jose Luis Castillo (52-6-1,45 KOs) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) Champion Diego “Chico” Corrales (39-2, 33 KOs) will collide in a world lightweight title unification bout in the May 7 main event at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on SHOWTIME.