Terence Crawford in Omaha. Errol Spence Jr. in Dallas. Giovanni Marquez in Houston?

The 22-year-old junior welterweight prospect says that his vision is to build his fanbase from the ground up, starting with his Texas hometown and then going beyond that. So far, five of Marquez’s seven pro bouts have been in Houston or nearby, with his sixth set for this Friday when he faces Joshua David Rivera in a six-round bout at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston. The card, which is the first of Red Owl Boxing’s Box Fest series on DAZN, will begin broadcasting live at 8 p.m. ET.

“Having the backing of my city is going to be important later on in my career because those fans will follow me when I venture out more,” said Marquez (7-0, 5 knockouts), a 2021 National Golden Gloves champion.

Would it be enough to be another fighter with a belt who gets an occasional title fight in his hometown? No, Marquez says. He wants to become an icon in America’s fourth largest city, a place where over 40 percent of the population is Latino like himself. He wants to become synonymous with the city, citing rapper Bun B and former Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson as parallels he’s seeking to emulate.

“My dream actually is to headline at the Toyota Center in Houston,” said Marquez.

“I want to be big like the Houston Texans, the Houston Astros, I want to be a big name brand like them. I hope to one day headline at the Toyota Center and bring big time boxing back to Houston.”

Marquez’s father and trainer, former IBF junior middleweight titleholder Raul Marquez, is looking out for his, making sure he gets the right development to get to that point.

Marquez says that, counting this fight, he’ll have three more six rounders before progressing to eight rounders next year. He says he appreciates the solid matchmaking that Marquez’s managers at Split-T Management has put forth, and says he has gotten solid work in the gym, sparring with Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson and O’Shaquie Foster to gauge where he’s at.

Giovanni Marquez is coming off of back-to-back stoppages against Nicky Vitone and Donte Strayhorn in fights which his father says were designed to go rounds.

“Consecutive knockouts like that, it shows that Giovanni is another level. Hopefully we’ll get another good ending like that,” said Raul Marquez.

The 29-year-old Rivera (8-3, 3 KOs) may end up being his third straight knockout victim. Rivera has lost three of his last four bouts, including a sixth round stoppage loss to Larry Fryers in his most recent bout in April, though he did go the eight-round distance with the then-unbeaten Aaron Aponte in the fight before that.

Marquez is expected to win, but he wants to leave an impression that goes beyond the result.

“I know my opponent is game, he’s hungry, he’s going to be in shape. He’s gone the distance with other top prospects, he’s shown to be durable,” said Marquez.

“Of course I’m gonna go out there and get the victory but the victory is not enough. I want to go out there and make a statement, get a highlight reel knockout to show that I’m not just another prospect. I’m different and I’m coming strong.”

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].