By Michael Marley
MEXICO CITY--They said it would be a frosty day in the great Mexican capital city before a large crowd would turn out to see a foreign fighter who wrecked so many of this nation's ring heroes.
Well, whoever "they" are or were, they were right. There's a real nip in the air this morning as final preparations are being made in Revolution Square to host the final leg of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Manny Pacquiao Nov 12 "Chapter III" bout press tour.
Marquez's career-long trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, the Mexican equivalent of Pacman tutor Coach Freddie Roach, started training Marquez and his former world champion brother Rafael when they were 13 and 14 years old.
Which brings me around to an amazing declaration about Floyd Mayweather Jr., who tests Vicious Victor Ortiz a week from Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The speaker was Beristain and we chatted mano a mano in New York. In discussing how he feels Ortiz has zero chance of beating undefeated "Money," Beristain compared Floyd to basketball's icon of icons, Michael Jordan.
"I have seen so much (in boxing)" the 72 year old Beristain said. "I've trained so many world champions. In the Olympics, I've had two gold medal winners and two who won bronze medals. Many people do not know this but once I was asked to train the great Mike Tyson.
"It could not work out because of my (lack of) English," Beristain said. "My point is that, looking at this Mayweather, I would say that he is the fastest fighter in the whole, entire history of boxing.
"He is so (good) defensively in a fight, that he is like no person I have ever seen before. I would have to compare his status in boxing to that of Michael Jordan in basketball when it comes to speed, to athletic ability and to agility."
Not that Nacho disparages Pacman.
"This is not the same fighter from the two (past) fights," Beristain said. "He is now quite different with his speed. He is a better, improved fighter. But, this time, Juan Marquez is more focused."