Saturday night has been a long
time coming for middleweight challenger Marco Antonio Rubio. Last April, he was
merely seen as an aging veteran on the verge of gatekeeper status. Somehow, he
had found himself in a WBC final elimination bout for the middleweight title. All
he had to do to get that shot at the green belt was beat Canada’s favorite son
and heavy favorite David Lemieux in Montreal’s Bell Centre. Seven veteran
rounds later, Rubio stopped Lemieux and reclaimed a shot at what he has felt
was his destiny all along. Over the course of the year, “aging veteran” Marco
Antonio Rubio became “dangerous veteran” Marco Antonio Rubio.
When it comes to the WBC, the
word “mandatory” has a loose interpretation. It can mean “next” or “sometime
next year.” Sometimes it means “never.” In the case of “Veneno” Rubio, the
interim lasted three fights he felt were needed to be sharp for the task at
hand.
“I think it has been critical
for me to stay busy,” Rubio told me this past Sunday. “I think it is something
important for boxers. I did three fights since my eliminator. I’ve got my
conditioning. I’ve grown technically and we have put together a really good
team since my eliminator.”
Rubio fought in June, September
and December, stopping all three opponents and looking better each time he did
it. Now at 31 years old, Rubio will get his
second shot at the title when he faces off against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at the Alamodome in
San Antonio, TX, live on HBO. He brings to this attempt all his years of
experience to bear and the heartbreak of having been here and failed before.
The first time, it was against
Kelly Pavlik, back in 2009, in the former champ’s hometown of Youngstown, Ohio.
Rubio, who boasts a record of 53-5-1 (46), seemed more like a dancer than a
puncher in the fight. As a result, he emerged more the survivor than the
punching bag. As a consequence, Pavlik stopped Rubio in nine rounds. It is from
this moment that Rubio learned what is necessary to be a true professional.
“When I lost that fight, it was
a career-changing loss,” said Rubio, “but immediately following, my goal was to
be back in the ring fighting for the title. I’ve been fighting and I’ve been
staying busy and just staying focused on the goal of being world champion. I am
very excited. I am ecstatic that I am here. I believed in myself and this is
what I wanted and I am here again and I am going to win.”
Since that fight, Rubio has
gone on a 10-fight winning streak, including nine stoppages. He settled in at
middleweight using a nutritionist, further dedicating himself to his training.
“I think the biggest difference
is my camp. My team,” says Rubio. “This time around, I did enough in a specific
amount of time in the altitude, not as long as I did against Pavlik. I come
down. I’ve got a nutritionist. I’m already at weight. Things have been put
together for this from my team and from my camp. The right training camp I am
doing for this, compared to what I did for Pavlik.”
Rubio spent “three weeks
training in Toluca in the altitude of the mountains of Mexico City.” From
there, he returned to Jorge “Mapimi” Rodriguez’s gym where he also worked with strength
coach Marco Echegaray. It was here where the team began studying his newest foe:
the young and silver spoon-fed Chavez Jr.
However, before camp began,
Rubio helped prepare Miguel Cotto for his rematch with Antonio Margarito, then
went straight into his destruction of Matt Vanda. A few days of rest and the
now razor-sharp Rubio was set to head right back into camp. In hearing him
speak, there is no question he is ready and hungry for this fight. Everything,
every heartbeat of last year has been building to this moment in time.
“For Chavez, we’ve been looking
at a lot of tapes,” Rubio explained, “more focused on his more recent fights
where he looked better. We’re looking at the bad things that he’s got and the
good things that he’s got. We’re preparing specifically for him in this way.”
While Rubio would not give away
what he sees specifically wrong with Junior, the evidence is there: spoon-fed
opposition, a never truly tested chin, wide punches, slow feet and possibly
most costly of all, a rumored poor work ethic. His saving grace is that he is a
big middleweight who comes in on fight night at 190 pounds, outweighing and
weighing down the opposition. Junior can wear a guy down going to the body and
does appear to have heavy hands. And of course, he is the son of the great
Julio Cesar Chavez. Promoted by Top Rank, backed by the networks, beating the “Son
of the Legend” Chavez will take some doing.
“It’s a point we have always
been concerned with going into a fight with Chavez,” said Rubio of the unspoken
rule that in Texas, against Chavez Jr. and on HBO, Rubio will have to knock him
out in order to get a draw. “Unfortunately, he’s got the referees. He has the
benefit of his promoter and television, etc., and we know at the end of the day,
that can be a feather in his cap. It’s in his favor. I am prepared to go the
distance. I am strong. I’ve been training for this fight for some time but my
goal is to go in and try and knock him out. I do not want any surprises.”
In looking at David Lemieux,
it’s easy in hindsight to see how Rubio pulled off the upset. He lured Lemieux
into thinking he was landing better than he was. The kid got tired headhunting
instead of working smartly. In Lemieux’s case, he did not understand the kind
of veteran he had in front of him. This was not the rookie who got iced by Kofi
Jantuah in 2004 or the gutsy-but-defensively reckless fighter who lost closely
to Kassim Ouma. This was not an underprepared or outgunned Rubio vs. Pavlik.
This was a dangerous veteran for whom time, skill and experience all had
finally come together. He is more relaxed now as a fighter, taking his time,
picking his moments and then attacking.
“I think that has been a major
change that has benefited me in these last fights is experience that I have
gained to go in and not lose my mind or not get too stressed in the fights,”
Rubio offered. “I go in relaxed. A lot of it is the experience I have gained
over my career and I think that is what has gotten me to this point these last
couple of years.”
Relaxed against Lemieux near a
similar height is one thing but Rubio will be looking up at the slightly taller
Junior who will likely weigh 190 on fight night.
“I’m not worried about it,” said
Rubio. “I focus on my job, focus on my weight, focus on being prepared for the
fight. We all have our weight issues. I am not worried about it.”
To hear his voice, Rubio is in
fact not worried about anything. Preparation? Check. On weight? Check. Solid
power? Experience? A craftier than expected defense on the ropes? Check, check,
check. The hard work is done. All that is left is the game plan to be executed.
“I am going for the knockout,”
declared Rubio confidently. “I am going to start from the first and go to the
12th round looking to knock him out. If it happens in the early
rounds or the later rounds, I am looking for the knockout.”
Ortiz-Berto II in Dire Straits
Early Monday evening, I was told Andre Berto had ruptured his biceps muscle
in training and that it was so severe, he was taken into surgery almost
immediately. My colleague, Steve Kim, who tweeted the news seconds before I
did, found out later Berto was injured in camp and that the left arm was the
injured party. This was the same arm Berto injured before against Carlos
Quintana. No word yet on postponement or cancellation of what was going to be a
very good rematch on February 11.
