Juan Manuel Marquez

Juan Manuel Marquez comes from a strong boxing pedigree. His brother, Rafael Marquez, is a former world champion who has won world titles at the bantamweight and super bantamweight divisions. Marquez had an amateur record of 35-1 that included two Golden Glove tournament wins. He made his professional debut at the age of 19 on May 29th, 1993 and lost his first bout by way of disqualification to Javier Duran.
Marquez wouldn’t lose again for another six years as he compiled a record of 29-1 that included a win over future champion Agapito Sanchez, and former champion Julio Gervacio and Alfred Kotey. In 1997, Marquez won the NABO featherweight title, which he defended seven times.
Marquez earned his first shot at a world title on September 11th, 1999, when he lost a controversial 12 round decision to then unbeaten champion Freddie Norwood.

On November 20th, 1999 Marquez stopped Remigio Molina in eight rounds. In August of 2000, Marquez defeated former champion Daniel Jimenez and five fights later, he stopped future champion Robbie Peden in ten rounds for the NABF and USBA featherweight titles.

In May of 2004, Marquez fought the man recognized as the number one pound for pound fighter in the world, Manny Pacquiao to a draw; in the fight Marquez was knocked down three times in the first round. Marquez was never able to overcome those early points deficit which many believe is the reason the fight ended in a draw. The result was controversial as judge Burt Clements scored the first round as 10-7 for Pacquiao instead of what normally would have been 10-6; this was the anomaly that caused the fight to be called a draw instead of a split decision for Pacquiao. The final scores on the judge’s cards were, John Stewart had it 110-115 for Marquez, Guy Jutras had it 115-110 for Pacquiao and Burt Clements had it 113-113.

On September 18th, 2004, Marquez defeated future champion Orlando Salido. In 2005 Marquez was stripped of his WBA and IBF belts for his inability to defend them against various boxers after potential bouts failed to draw a bid. In 2006 Marquez attempted to regain the WBA featherweight title coming up short in a controversial decision loss to Indonesian boxer Chris John. The disputed decision led to Ring magazines removal of Marquez from their top ten pound for pound list.

In August of 2006, Marquez captured the WBO Interim Featherweight title when he stopped Terdstak Jandaeng of Thailand in 7 rounds. Three months later Marquez successfully defended the title with a 9th round knockout of Pilipino boxer Jimrex Jaca in Hidalgo, Texas. Later that same year Marquez was promoted to world champion status when the previous champion Scott Harrison vacated the title. Than in March of 2007 Marquez vacated the same title to challenge Marco Antonio Barrera for the WBC Super Featherweight title. Marquez ended up outpointing Barrera to win a unanimous decision.

In September of 2007 Argentinean boxer Jorge Rodrigo Barrios was scheduled to fight Marquez for the title but withdrew due to a last minute injury. American fighter Rocky Juarez took the challenge to no avail losing a 12 round unanimous decision.

In late November of 2007 the Marquez-Pacquiao rematch was announced. In a highly disputed split decision, Juan Manuel Marquez lost the Super Featherweight title to Manny Pacquiao on March 15th, 2008. According to Compubox scoring Marquez landed 42/201 (21%) of his jabs compared to Pacquiao’s 114/305 (14%) of his jabs. They also had Marquez landing 130/310 (42%) of his power punches compared to just 114/305 (37%) for Pacquiao. In spite of all this Pacquiao landed a powerful left that decked Marquez in the third round. The knockdown proved to be the deciding factor in the fight as the remaining rounds were scored even. The fight was controversial with some Filipino boxing analysts saying Marquez should have won the fight. Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, offered a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum said, “I’m not saying they’ll never fight again, but you have to let it bake for a while”. Pacquiao, for his part said, “I don’t think so, this business is over” as he plans have been to move up to the lightweight division.

On September 13th, 2008 Juan Manuel Marquez moved to the lightweight division to fight the linear champion Joel Casamayor. Marquez defeated Casamayor when referee Tony Weeks called a halt to the fight after 11 rounds declaring Marquez the winner by way of an 11th round TKO. In the 11th round Marquez twice landed two perfectly timed right hand punches that caught Casamayor flush on the chin both flooring the champ causing Weeks to stop the fight 2:55 in the 11th round.

Many Casamayor fans were not happy with the early stoppage but Joel himself was gracious in defeat saying, “Marquez was the better man this night”. At the time of the stoppage the official judge’s cards read Glen Feldman 97-93 for Marquez, both judge’s Patricia Morse Jarman and Paul Smith had it scored even at 95-95.

The betting odds in Las Vegas at this time are all very close giving Juan Diaz a slight edge due to the “hometown advantage.” The fight at this time is still a full month away and I’m sure odds will change the closer we get to the opening bell.

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Lady Gaga

Date of Birth
28 March 1986, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

Nickname
GaGa

Height
5' 1" (1.55 m)

Trade Mark
Her hair bow.

Platnium blond hair.

Her futuristic outfits.

She carries a glow-in-the-dark disco stick during performances.

Rhythmic hooks and choruses

Always features two Great Danes in her music videos

Refers to all her fans as "Monsters"

Often portrays herself as a rebel in her videos

In her videos, she often ends up killing someone - usually her boyfriend

Various colored wigs

Her tattoos

Revealing outfits

Wild charismatic dancing


Trivia
Has three tattoos, one her on wrist, shoulder blade, and lower back.

Is of Italian descent.

Used to be a go-go dancer.

The album's lead single, "Just Dance", was released on April 8, 2008 and had reached number one in five countries.

Went to the same school with Paris Hilton.

She has been influenced by Madonna, David Bowie, Judy Garland, Grace Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Freddie Mercury, Björk, Liza Minnelli, Yoko Ono, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson.

At seventeen, she was one of twenty people in the world to have gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Her stage name, Lady GaGa, is a reference to the song "Radio Ga-Ga" by Queen.

Interscope music executive Vincent Herbert hired her in January 2008 as a music writer.

She states that she is "very into fashion" and that it is "everything".

Her song "Boys, Boys, Boys" was inspired by Mötley Crüe's hit "Girls, Girls, Girls".

She learned how to play the piano at the age of four, wrote her first piano ballad at 13, and began performing at open mic nights by the age of 14.

Her parents are Joseph, an Internet entrepreneur, and Cynthia, a telecommunications assistant.

She makes mention of the band, The Killers, in her song "Boys, Boys, Boys".

On February 20, 2009, she donated tickets and a meet and greet, for any show on her Fame Ball tour, in the US or Canada, to raise money for Odyssey Charter School and elementary schools in Los Angeles affected by budget cuts.

Has a younger sister.

Is a natural brunette.

Attended Sacred Heart School, a private Catholic school in New York City. Her classmates included Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton.

Bleached her hair blonde in light of the fact that she was being mistaken for Amy Winehouse by interviewers while trying to make it big.

Has a contralto vocal range.

Her song "Telephone" was originally written for Britney Spears's sixth album Circus. However, after it failed to make the album's final track listing, Gaga recorded the song as a collaboration with 'Beyonce Knowles' for her second album, The Fame Monster.

Is a big fan of Britney Spears.

Made the cover of Time magazine's double issue - The 100 Most Influential People in the World - alongside Bill Clinton and Didier Drogba. In the magazine's "Artists" category (which she headed), the singer's tribute was written by Cyndi Lauper. [May 10, 2010]

Is good friends with Deepak Chopra and has stated he is one of the most influential people in her life because of the spiritual guidance he gives her.

In high school, one of her nicknames was "The Germ".

A staunch supporter of LGBT Rights.

Her sister Natali once dressed as her for Halloween.

Her album "Born This Way" (2011) sold over 1 million copies in the first week. Amazon sold 440,000 copies of the album in its first two days at a price of 99 cents (at a loss of over $3 million). This contributed to the album's 662,000 digital sales. However, in the second week the album experienced an 84% sales decrease and a 94% digital sales drop. In it's third week the album had a 42% sales decrease and, in the fourth week sales of of the album decreased by another 33%.

Her second album "Born This Way" (2011) is the seventh album to sell 1 million copies in 1 week. Gaga is the 5th woman to sell 1 million album copies in a week, after Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Norah Jones and Taylor Swift.

Ranked #99 in the 2011 FHM list of "100 Sexiest Women". Ranked #92 in the 2010 FHM list of "100 Sexiest Women".


Personal Quotes
On Donatella Versace: She's iconic and powerful, yet people throw darts at her. She's definitely provocative.

Some artists are working to buy the mansion or whatever the element of fame must bear, but I spend all my money on my show.

I was the arty girl, the theatre chick. I dressed differently and I came from a different social class from the other girls. I was more of an average schoolgirl with a cork.

On her style: My grandmother is basically blind, but she can make out the lighter parts, like my skin and hair. She says, "I can see you, because you have no pants on." So I'll continue to wear no pants so that my grandma can see me.

You must never ever let a guy know how much you like him, because then he'll run in the other direction ... Well, I just sign that when you don't play hard to get, if you're too easy or you come off too eager, they run away so you gotta keep your pokerface on.

I love Dolce & Gabbana. I love Versace. I love the crazy, more eccentric stuff. I can't pay my rent, but I'm f---ing gorgeous.

I dropped out of NYU, moved out of my parent's house, got my own place, and survived on my own. I made music and worked my way from the bottom up. I didn't know somebody, who knew somebody, who knew somebody. If I have any advice to anybody, it's to just do it yourself, and don't waste time trying to get a favor.

Writing a record is like dating a few men at once. You take them to the same restaurants to see if they measure up, and at some point you decide who you like best. When you make music or write or create, it's really your job to have mind-blowing, irresponsible, condomless sex with whatever idea it is you're writing about at the time.

My album covers are not sexual at all, which was an issue at my record label. I fought for months, and I cried at meetings. They didn't think the photos were commercial enough... In my opinion, the last thing a young woman needs is another picture of a sexy pop star writhing in sand, covered in grease, touching herself.

[on Britney Spears] Britney's a real class act in terms of the way she handles herself in the media and embraces new artists. She's always really kind, I've always admired that about her.

[on Britney Spears] It was awesome seeing the song change when she put her touches on it. I'm just really grateful that she loves the music and she's so supportive of me. She's a fan of my stuff and to write a song that she loves and to know she loves me as an artist, you can't ask for anything better than that.

[on Britney Spears] She's gonna kick everybody's ass. She's awesome, as far as I'm concerned Britney never left.

[on writing the song Quicksand for Britney Spears] She was very sweet and she was very excited to do this song. It's an honor to do anything for Britney Spears - she is such an iconic pop figure for my generation.

I am not sexy in the way that Britney Spears is sexy - which is a compliment to her because she's deliciously good-looking.

[on writing songs for Britney Spears] She's a nice girl - I just feel very honored that she wanted to sing my song. I used to scream for her in Times Square and now I work for her. When I was 13 she was the most provocative performer of my time. I love her so much!

[on Britney Spears] Britney certainly doesn't need any freaking tips from me! Britney Spears is the queen of pop. I was learning from her.

I would rather die than have my fans not see me in a pair of high heels. I'd never give up my wigs or hats for anything. You see legendary people taking out their trash, I think it's destroying show business.

[about her experience at school] I had a very big nose, very curly brown hair and I was overweight. I got made fun of.

Pop music will never be low brow.

[on how to be glamorous for a photo shoot] Just look straight into that lens and be yourself.

Be yourself and love who you are and be proud. Because you were born this way baby.

People assume that when I'm off stage I transform back into someone else. But I truly believe in the glamorous lifestyle that I present to the outside world. I love glamor. A glamorous life is quite different to a life of luxury. I don't need luxury. For years I was practically broke but I was still vain and glamorous.

[on Freddie Mercury]: Freddie was unique - one of the biggest personalities in the whole of pop music.

Everywhere I go a Gaga fairy has been there before me and left a cupboard full of wonderful clothes that I'm allowed to borrow and wear. When I move on to the next city, the next cupboard is waiting. I haven't been shopping myself for over a year now.

She is the queen, Madonna is the queen. I have so much adoration for her. Being compared to her is unbelievably flattering, but in truth there is no one that can compare with Madonna. She is the queen!

First thing in the morning, try to think compassionate thoughts about yourself for five minutes. I don't always do it, but I try to.

[on sleeping with her makeup still on] I've got to wash my face at some point. I do get laughed at quite a bit by all my friends because they say I go to sleep a lot with my make-up on. But I say that I have to be ready for the men in my dreams!

They'd say, 'Why do you do your make-up like that, what's with your eyebrows?' I used to do these really big Evita brows. I used to self-tan, and I had this really intense tan in school, and people would say, 'Why the fuck are you so orange, why do you do your hair that way, are you a dyke?' I used to be called a slut... I didn't even want to go to school sometimes.


Where Are They Now
(January 2010) Named the new face of "Polaroid".

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