Marquez is the better fighter, the judges just don't see it - 'Nacho' Beristain

LAS VEGAS - In Mexico, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain is known as El Rey Midas or King Midas. It comes from the belief that every fighter he trains turns into gold. He has trained a plethora of great fighters who have made their mark in boxing, but if you ask him, he'll tell you that Juan Manuel Marquez has, is, and will always be the best of his fighters.

Beristain is a low-key individual. He speaks a lot but he does it in a way that is meek and unassuming. He does not speak English, so a translator is always by his side to help him out. Even if he looks quite shy, Beristain can throw barbs without hesitation.

"Marquez has always been the better fighter," Beristain said. "The judges just don't see it."

In three fights against Manny Pacquiao, Marquez has come up empty-handed, but according to the legendary trainer, the results don't really tell the entire story.

"We want to prove that Marquez is the better fighter," Beristain said. "We will be more offensive, a little more aggressive and hopefully the judges will see it."

Coming into the fourth fight, Pacquiao has claimed that he will turn back the hands of time and fight like he has back at age 25. For Beristain, this is a welcome development. "If they do that, it's going to be easier for us," he said. "There will be more holes that we can take advantage of."

In the past trilogy of fights between Marquez and Pacquiao, Beristain said that the versions of Pacquiao in the first and second fights were the most dangerous. "He was difficult in the first fight because we did not know him that well," he said. "He was coming from all angles and we almost did not have a chance to fight back."

In the second bout Beristain says that Pacquiao was more dangerous for an entirely different reason: "He was head-butting a lot. That's why he was dangerous."

Even though Beristain admits that Pacquiao has turned into a better all-around fighter, he claims that this actually played into their favor. "Pacquiao is more disciplined, he's no longer wild but still explosive and still strong," the hall-of-fame trainer said. "But the fact that he's getting better has been good for us. Because he's not at wild as he was before, we see things coming."

Although both fighters have said that they do not expect a fifth fight whatever the result of their upcoming fight is, Beristain begged to differ. "If we beat Pacquiao, they will want a fifth fight. I think they'll want the fight to be held in Manila," Beristain shared.

But even if the possibility of a fifth fight looms, Beristain and Marquez are zeroed in on the task at hand. "The second and third fights against Pacquiao were the best performances Marquez had as a professional, but I know he can still be better," the trainer said.

"For this fight, I want to see Pacquiao kiss the canvass. That would make me happy." - AMD, GMA News