Coming off of his tough battle against Juan Manuel Marquez this past Saturday night, Rocky Juarez sits down with Boxingtalk, and assesses his performance. Rock makes no excuses, it shows why he's a class act, he accepted defeat with class. Juarez talks about going back to the drawing board, and coming back into the ring an improved, and even better fighter.
BT – Rock, you came up short against Juan Manuel Marquez, talk about your performance.
RJ – I thought I did better but it seems as if something mentally goes on in my head. I watched my fight, and I mean shit, Marquez is a legendary fighter and a great champion, but I just don't see how he beat me. I think I have all of the tools necessary to beat him, and compete against a guy like him. It just seems the person beating me is myself. I need to figure out what it is mentally that's effectin g me in my fights.
BT – Ronnie Shields was begging you to put your punches together in the fight. What do you think you need to do to get past that mental block?
RJ – Well I just have to throw more punches, I came into this fight very confident and relaxed. I felt good about this fight and coming into it, everything went well. It was a good camp, good sparring. When the fight started, everything changed in my head once I got that bad cut from the head clash.
BT – You clashed heads early in the fight. Do you think the cut made the difference in your performance?
RJ – Well I haven't even warmed up, and I didn't even get my game plan going yet when it happened. The cut threw my whole game plan off, but I'm not going to say that it was the cut that overturned the outcome.
BT – What happens inside a fighters head when a cut like that happens in a fight?
RJ – Well it's the first time that I got cut like t hat. When I went back into my corner my trainers were telling me that it was a bad cut. I could see that they were wanting to stop the fight because of it. It made a big impact in my mind, because I wanted to keep fighting. I had a long training camp, I didn't want to throw it all away in the first round.
BT – Were you surprised that he walked through some of your left hooks? Do you feel that you lost some power in your hook at that weight class?
RJ – Well I think it has to do with me just letting go of my punches. In my previous fights, earlier in my career, I would just let my punches go. I hurt him in the 7th round with my hook, he even announced it that I hurt him in the 7th round. It was towards the end of the round, and you really couldn't tell it on television. It all has to do with me just letting my hands go, it just throws something off when I don't let my hands go. I think it just throws off the accuracy of the hook when I don't throw in bunches. It takes away from the full force of the punch, but it has nothing to do with my trainers, it's just me. It's something mentally that's impacting the outcome of my decisions in the ring. Marquez didn't hurt me at all in the fight, even when he caught me flush, it didn't effect me like it had with his other opponents.
BT – What did Juan Manuel Marquez say to you after the fight?
RJ – He told me that I was a tremendous fighter with great heart. He said that I was a two handed hard hitter, and he had to be cautious. I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity to fight for the world title.
BT – So what's next for you?
RJ – Well I was scheduled to fight Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero on September 15th. I would like to fight him since the last time it fell out. I have 4 defeats in my career, two against a legend in Barrera, one against a legend in Marquez, and one against Humberto Soto, who's making a big name for himself.
Robert “The Ghost” Guererro just knocked out Honorio with one punch, it was a great showing. Much credit goes to Robert for finishing him off like that. That would be a good fight for me, to fight Robert Guerrero. I don't have a problem going back down to 126lbs.
BT – I have to be honest with you, I think if you go back down to 126lbs your hook comes back, and you start putting people on their butts again.
RJ – I think once I start letting go they will start falling again. It's a mental thing that I have to fix, nothing is going to happen until I fix that.
BT – When do you want to fight again?
RJ – Well I have always been a fighter that stays in shape. I'll take a little time off, I have to let this cut heal up. I'll take a couple of weeks off, but it will be a few months before I can spar with this cut. Basically I'm all good except for the cut, so I will just get back in there and get my mind right, and move on.
BT – Do you have any closing thoughts for your fans?
RJ – Well I want to thank all of my fans for supporting me. I would like to apologize to my fans, and I think they know that I have what it takes to beat these people. Don't lose faith, I will be back. I am not letting myself get down, so down get down on me.
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