GIOVANNI MARQUEZ

Age: 22

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Weight class: junior welterweight

Height/ Reach: 5-foot-9 (175 cm) / 69 inches (175 cm)

Amateur record: 75-12

Turned pro: 2022

Pro record: 6-0 (4 knockouts)

Trainer: Raul Marquez

Manager: Split-T Management

Promoter: No promoter

Twitter: @giomarquez36

Best night of pro career and why: Marquez is pleased with his second-round stoppage over Nick Vitone in August.

“I would say my recent out, my fight with Overtime boxing was my best outing,” Marquez told The Ring. “Although it was still an upcoming fight, the promotion and the build up to it was like a world championship fight. Things like that motivate me, some people kind of crumble under the lights but for me pressure helps me perform even better.

“I felt relaxed, I felt calm and I just went out there and performed and did my thing and I got an impressive second round stoppage.”

Worst night of pro career and why: Although the 22-year-old won a six-round shutout over Bryan Springs at his old high-school back in April, he was left frustrated.

“The reason it wasn’t my best performance and I wasn’t happy or satisfied is the opponent was a very awkward journeyman,” he said. “[Springs] didn’t take any risks, he just kind of ran around the ring, throw a few punches here and there. He was more a survival mode guy. I did what I had to do, I beat him every round but I would have liked to have gotten him out.”

While getting the call to be two-weight world champion Shakur Stevenson’s main sparring partner is an honor, it’s not without its drawbacks.

“Of course I was thankful for the opportunity but I learned that that camp was more about Shakur,” he explained. “I wasn’t able to run the same, working with my dad every day. I was just working with Shakur every day. I think that also had a lot to do with my performance. The experience was great, we were sparring three times a week but the whole camp was mostly sparring not the other things which are very important as well.”

What’s Next: Marquez will face experienced campaigner Donte Strayhorn on a Top Rank show at Fort Bend Community Center in Rosenberg, Texas, on Saturday.

“It’s a step up in competition,” he noted. “I’m excited about that because I feel as the competition rises, so will my performance and me going out there looking impressive. I’m able to show more aspects of my game. Whereas if you get these guys who just survive and they don’t take risks, it’s kind of hard to really show what you have.

“He’s been stopped by [Jose] “El Rayo” Valenzuela, it was a referee stoppage, I’m looking to go out there and get a real stoppage. A more clear stoppage.”

Strayhorn (12-4-1, 4 KOs) has been a professional for a decade. The 6-foot Ohio native can cause problems for his opponents and hasn’t been as active as he’d like. In his four loses, as Marquez points out, he’s only been stopped once and should provide Marquez with the necessary rounds and a few problems. I do think Marquez will solve them en route to claiming a six-round decision win.

Why he’s a prospect: Marquez was often the bridesmaid and not the bride as an amateur. However, he was able to get over the hump winning the 2021 National Golden Gloves and was also named Outstanding Fighter.

“Winning that was enough on my resume, plus my father’s name, was enough momentum to go pro,” he said. “I’ve always felt since the amateurs that I had more a pro style. That was another reason we decided to go pro.

“I felt like I’ve adjusted very well to the pros and I’m just getting better and more comfortable in the ring. I think my transition to the pros has been great and it’s only going to get better from here.”

Marquez has mixed with some of the top fighters in and around his weight class in training camps and sparring, including former junior middleweight titlist Austin Trout, undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney, the aforementioned Stevenson and reigning WBC 130-pound beltholder O’Shaquie Foster

“Every time I step in the ring with those guys, I always hold my own,” he said of those sessions. “I won’t say I dominate but I have my rounds I would say I win. It’s competitive sparring. I’m in there competing with these guys who are already at a high level.”

The young fighter feels he has several impressive qualities that he brings to the ring.

“I feel like I have God-given abilities, like talent, I have tremendous work ethic, I work extremely hard day in and day out,” he said. “I have great team behind me, my father is so experienced in the game and as a fighter, a lot of everything that makes me a great fighter and will make me have a lot of success in my career.”

Former Ring editor-in-chief and current ShoBox alumn Steve Farhood witnessed Marquez debut.

“It’s not easy being the son of a former world champion. Expectations are high, and often unfairly so,” he said. “But if anybody can succeed despite those pressures, Giovanni Marquez can.

“First of all, he has a deep amateur background. And secondly, he’s a grounded young man, with an excellent work ethic. My longtime Showtime colleague Raul Marquez has done a great job!”

Why he’s a suspect: So far so good, but its still early days, Marquez admits to being frustrated by facing opponents who have shut up shop and not tried to win in the past. He’s likely to begin to face a wider array of styles soon, southpaws, boxers, pressure fighters, punchers etc. That will be an important next step as he begins to move into eight-rounders and then 10-rounds in the not too distant future.

While having a father who has been there, done that, got the t-shirt is a big help, could it be added pressure?

“Not at all, it’s been like that since I was a kid, so I’m used to it at this point,” he said. “I love pressure. I welcome pressure because for some reason I just perform better under pressure. If anything, it works in my favor.

“Having my father is truly a blessing because he’s already been through everything, he has a lot of experience from being a fighter and now being a commentator, he sits there and watches these fights, not just the old generation but he has the insight into the new generation and he understands all the different styles. Not only that but from his career he learned a lot on the business side of things and making the right moves. All that experience he’s going to pour it into me and it’s going to help me in my career. I’m very thankful to have my father.”

Marquez feels he just needs time and to follow the necessary steps to keep moving forward.

“Nothing specific, being patient with the business part of boxing, staying the course and staying focused,” he explained. “I know what I want to do and what it takes to get there. I’ve just got to stay the course, stay focused and keep working hard every day.”

Storylines: Marquez, who is the third eldest of seven children, was born and grew up on Houston, Texas.

He was always into sports and took an interest in swimming and then played on the soccer team before heading toward American football.

“That was the first sport I was truly passionate about,” he said. “All the while growing up boxing was always around the family, it was the talk of the dinner table, it was the talk at holidays.

“For fun, my brothers and I would spar with each other, beat up on each other, hit the bag. Boxing has always been around the family.”

In middle school, Marquez suffered an injury and started to box, initially just as a hobby.

“I wasn’t fully committed to it,” he said. “But after I had that injury, I kinda of just realized I had better chances in boxing than football because football is a team sport and the guys were six-foot, 200-pounds and I was a smaller guy so boxing was the route I chose. I feel in love with the sport. Every since then I’ve been working at it ever since.

He’s not the only Marquez to box, his elder brothers boxed, Raul Jr. was a talented amateur who boxed at national tournaments and Arturo even went professional, signing with Top Rank, going 10-0 (6 KOs) before an eye injury cut short his career.

Unsurprisingly, he has big goals in boxing, which he hopes then to use as a vehicle to help his local communittee.

“First my goal is to become champion,” he said. “When the times comes to fight for a championship it’s going to be at 140, right now I make the weight pretty comfortably, it’s not a struggle.

“Once I become champion then we can think about becoming undisputed. Through my success I want to be able to inspire people and give back to charities and things like that in my hometown Houston. I love city, that’s my vision.”

Boxing is a large part of the Texan’s life. He doesn’t find much time outside of that but he does enjoy playing golf with friends to help him switch off from the grind.

Fight-by-Fight record

2023

Aug. 11 – Nicky Vitone – TKO 2

April 1 – Bryan Springs – UD 6

2022

Nov. 19 – Luis Portalatin – KO 2

Aug. 13 – William Davis – TKO 2

June 17 – Ariel Vasquez – TKO 2

March 11 – Nelson Morales – UD 4

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].

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