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Remember Rocky?
By Steve Kim (July 11, 2002)

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Last year featherweight Rocky Juarez was a forgotten man. Despite the fact he came into his first year in the paid ranks as one of the most highly sought out amateurs after he captured a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

While he was racking up six victories in 2001, he wasn't doing it in the spectacular fashion as his Main Events/Shelly Finkel stablemates, Francisco Bojado and Jeff Lacy. While Juarez would grind his way to wins, Bojado and Lacy were winning with highlight reel knockouts that captured the fancy of the media and fans.

Not that Juarez wasn't every bit as dominant as his young colleagues, but Bojado and Lacy were leaving an impression each time out. Pretty soon, it was Bojado and Lacy - who didn't even medal in Sydney - that were being featured on Showtime, not Juarez. Who was suddenly relegated to Telefutura and ESPN2 showings, if at all.

Now, as Juarez (10-0, 7 KOs) prepares for his bout this Saturday night in Tunica, Mississippi against Isidro Tejedor (which will be shown on Showtime), the tables have turned. Juarez has been turning heads with his recent performances... and Bojado and Lacy? Well, they've been temporarily derailed on their road to Canastota. Bojado would be done in by his own lack of discipline against Juan Carlos Rubio in February when he was spanked in a ten-rounder. Lacy is currently embroiled in a dispute with Main Events and looking to leave the company in the wake of Gary Shaw's departure from that company last month.

Juarez in pounding out impressive victories over the likes of Frank Martinez (TKO 4), Jorge Garcia (UD 6), Javier Ortiz (TKO 5) and Len Martinez (TKO 1) in 2002, has taken his game to a new level. This highly acclaimed amateur has seemingly made the adjustment to the pro game.

"I feel that it was just a matter of time before I showed my talent level," said Juarez, who resides in Houston, Texas. "I feel that my confidence has always been up there because of the training that I put in to be ready and prepared for a fight. I just feel that I've been looking very good the last three fights."

Juarez says he never wavered or lost focus as he was overshadowed by his fellow Olympians.

"I knew in the beginning that a lot of people had criticized my talent," admitted Juarez, "even coming out from the Olympics and stuff. I felt that it was just a matter of time that my talent was going to shine and I still feel that I'm getting better as each fight progresses, I'm still in the gym training hard. But a lot of people were judging by their first year, I mean, I feel that's still too soon. How can they judge a fighter by their first year as a professional?"

Part of the reason why Juarez wasn't as memorable as a Bojado or Lacy is that unlike those two he doesn't have their true one-punch knockout power. His grinding, pressure style, which is dependent on breaking people down consistently is much more suited for longer fights. Juarez is not a sprinter, but a long distance runner with a strong finishing kick. Juarez agrees that he is more suited to 10- and 12-round fights.

"Yes, that's just the way I've always been," stated Juarez, who is named after heavyweight legend Rocky Marciano, "even as a amateur, even in sparring. I'm more of a slow starter but one thing I'm trying to progress is to start a lot faster because some boxers are going to catch onto that and they're going to try and start fast. But I mean, it's happened before, a boxer comes out and tries to attack me in the first round and I feel that I get right back at them."

And Juarez makes it clear that just because others may finish the job faster, it never made them better fighters.

"That's just a plus that they got, I feel that I got knockout power, it's just a matter of when I land the power," explained Juarez. "As the rounds go on, I get stronger and my power's still there. I say nothing bad about Bojado or Lacy, I give them all the credit, I just feel that that's what people were judging us Olympians by right off the first year - who was getting the early knockouts, the more spectacular finishes and me? I was still winning but I wasn't getting the spectacular finish that everybody was looking for."

Bojado and Lacy were a lot like the prettiest girl in class that you do your best to woo and garner the attention off - but they end up breaking your heart. Juarez is the stable and reliable type that you wanted to settle down and marry. Juarez is very much a down-to-earth type that is respectful to everybody. He remains grounded despite getting a huge signing bonus from Finkel and Main Events and remains sharply focused on his professional goals. Much of that comes from still living at home with his parents in Houston.

"I feel that it has (helped my focus), I really do," explained Juarez. "The one thing I told myself coming out from the Olympics was that I wanted to stay grounded, I know I received a large signing bonus with the money my life changed from one day to another. So one way I had to stay focused and keep my feet on the ground was to stay in the same house, live under the rules of my parents and that's what I feel has helped me in the long run."

Carl Moretti, the matchmaker for Main Events, has seen the steady growth of this young featherweight.

"He has improved dramatically and obviously become a better professional each fight out," stated Moretti. "He came so close to winning the gold medal but I think people sort of lost him in the shuffle based on these other Olympians. And as the fights go on, he has clearly proved that he is clearly one of the better - if not best Olympian out there right now."

Moretti forecasts Juarez's future by saying: "He has no problem staying in the featherweight division right now. Over the next year, certainly by the end of this year he'll be moving up to 10-rounders and fighting fringe contenders. Guys that will extend him or guys that will give him different looks and I totally expect him to be a little bit better each time out because that's what he showed that he can do."

And nobody will be forgetting him again anytime soon.

MALIK SCOTT

Also fighting on underneath the return of Zab Judah, who takes on Omar Weis, is Main Event's bright young heavyweight prospect Malik Scott (11-0, 6 KOs) opens up the Showtime telecast with an eight-rounder against Lyle McDowell (27-8-1, 18 KOs). Scott, a tall and slender boxer from Philadelphia, has been making some strides in recent bouts.

"I think a lot of the credit goes to Harold Knight," Moretti says of Knight who also works with Lennox Lewis as an assistant to Emanuel Steward. "Because he's really went back to teaching basics and fundamentals, which is what the kid needed. And he's shown it in the last couple of fights under his tutelage. But he's young, he's only 20 years old and he's still growing physically, so there's no rush there at all. It's just a matter of getting more fights, more rounds and experience. But he's got a lot of natural talent and I think that a year-and-a-half from now you're going to see him emerge as the top young heavyweight prospect."

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