Nacho Hopes Juan Manuel Marquez Retires, Avoids Risky Return

By Miguel Rivera

Nacho Beristain, the longtime trainer of former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40KOs), would rather have his fighter announce his retirement than attempt a very risky comeback.

Marquez, who turns 43-years-old later this year, has been inactive since a May 2014 decision victory over Mike Alvarado.

Several returns dates have been discussed, but they never came together.  The veteran has been dealing with a bad knee for over a year.

Marquez claims that his knee is a lot better and believes a ring return is possible for May or June. Based on his outline, he wants to have a tuneup bout against a ranked opponent in the summer and then he wants a major fight in the fall.

"The news that would fill me with joy is Marquez announcing his retirement from boxing. He's had two years without a fight, and planning out his preparation [for a return] would take two and half months [of training]. For any athlete it is not healthy to return after such a long stint of inactivity," Nacho told Carlos Zoolbaran.

"But, even if he returns from such a long period of inactivity - Marquez will always will have great chance to leave the ring with the victory, because he has great class and is always 100% professional."

Return or retire, Nacho will support him either way.

For a few months there have been rumblings of a fall bout, at a catch-weight, with former four division champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. Marquez is very interested in the fight, but says a fight in May/June is absolutely necessary before he even considers the possibility of facing Cotto or any other elite opponent in the fall.

Even before the two-year stint of inactivity, Marquez only averaged one fight per year in 2013 and 2014. So on paper, Marquez has only had two fights since 2012.