Raul Marquez keeps punching the clock in every way he can post-Showtime

Versatility has always served Raul Marquez well.

A skilled southpaw technician in the ring who boxed his way to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Marquez could also turn into a pressure fighter when the situation called for it and was no stranger to a bloody brawl (even if the blood was invariably almost all his own).

A bilingual broadcaster, “El Diamante” broke through with both HBO and Showtime, among other networks and international feeds, holding a distinct appeal because he could play the role of ex-champ analyst in either English or Spanish depending on what was needed.

And in 2024, Marquez’s versatility has been more necessary than ever. Since Showtime exited boxing at the end of last year and his most steady, reliable job exited with it, Marquez has been in full hustle mode. He’s big on saying yes to opportunities and on adding hyphens and slashes to the list of job descriptions that may come before his name.

“It’s all about cashing checks,” Marquez told Boxing Scene. “You cash checks where you can, and it all adds up.”

Marquez, now 52, is a broadcaster (for multiple outlets), a gym owner, a head trainer, a landlord, a commercial pitchman, a husband and a father of five.

“I’m not scared of work,” he spelled out. “Whatever it takes, I don’t mind working.”

This has been a challenging year for just about anyone who was employed by Showtime Sports. Marquez’s situation is not unique in that regard; his fellow broadcasters, the PR team, the production team, the executives and other office workers – many of them have spent 2024 in similar boats. And, of course, there are numerous fighters who were regulars on Showtime and haven’t been as active this year as they would like to be.

Some of the former Showtime folks have latched on with Amazon Prime, and Marquez spent the early months of 2024 hoping to get that call. Not that those who did get the call have been kept busy – through August, there have been just three of those events to work this year. But Marquez, who acknowledges passing on one gig while waiting for word from PBC, did not end up with an offer to call fights for Amazon.

“Look, after what happened last year, I knew this was gonna be a rough year,” Marquez said. “The beginning of the year, not knowing what was going to happen, no doubt, it was super-stressful. But I’ve been able to stay busy.”

Fight fans have still seen Marquez on their TV screens (or other streaming devices), as he has been calling fights on DAZN for promoter Dmitry Salita’s “Big Time Boxing USA” cards – alongside his former Showtime colleague Al Bernstein. Salita approached Marquez about the opportunity at a Showtime event toward the end of 2023, once Paramount’s decision to shutter Showtime Sports had been announced, so El Diamante knew coming into 2024 that he had at least one commentary gig coming his way.

He quickly picked up another, calling streaming fights for Team Combat League. He also worked one card that was broadcast on ESPN+, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez’s win over Rober Barrera in July. And Marquez is hopeful about one more opportunity behind the microphone that he just got a call about last week. He won’t go into detail except to say that “it’s a big name” and “it could be major.” He also is engaged in conversations about working weigh-in shows for PBC/Amazon events with some of his old friends from Showtime.

While he awaits further word on those, and calls the occasional DAZN fight, Marquez’s top money-making priority back home in the Houston area is his gym, Raul Marquez Boxing Fitness in Humble, Texas.

“When I was making the Showtime money, the gym was more like a hobby for me,” he said. “I would only open up three days a week for classes, plus I would do private lessons. It was just some extra money. But now, I’m expanding it. Working more hours, running more classes, and Giovanni works with me.”

That would be Raul’s son, 23-year-old Giovanni Marquez, a junior welterweight with a pro record of 10-0 (5 KOs). The second-generation boxer last fought in May and he’s expecting to return to the ring on Oct. 4, with his dad in his corner as his head trainer. Trying to mold Giovanni into championship material is, understandably, a major career and life priority for Raul.

On top of all that, Marquez is picking up side cash by doing his best impression of Rocky Balboa pushing Beast Aftershave. Cavender Grande Ford flies Marquez into San Antonio every month, and he throws his old championship belt over his shoulder and cuts ads selling cars for a couple of hours.

He also owns a couple of rental properties, and is looking to add one more. “I’m not trying to buy up 10 more properties or anything, but I’m looking for at least one more,” he said. “Every investment is a risk, so I’m just trying to be smart about it.”

Then there’s Marquez’s most important unpaid gig: being a dad. Giovanni and his two older brothers don’t necessarily need Raul guiding them through the world day in and day out anymore, but El Diamante started anew in the 2010s with wife Jeannette and young kids Liam and Alina – and spent a good chunk of time this summer taking 7-year-old Liam to travel tee-ball tournaments.

Hey, there’s something to be said for a Marquez gravitating toward a sport where you hit off a tee and nobody tees off on you.

The dad life and the gig economy are keeping Marquez occupied, and even though this year has come with its share of challenges, he makes a point to spell out that nobody needs to worry about him. 

“Thank god I’ve done pretty well financially, and whatever I made with Showtime, I didn’t blow it,” he said. “I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to blow all his money, you know? I live in a nice neighborhood, but it’s nothing crazy. I have nice cars, but I’m not driving a Lamborghini. I don’t live that kind of life.”

There’s certainly a contrast between the way Marquez lives his life in his early 50s and the way his old Olympic roommate does. Thirty-two years ago, Marquez bunked in the Olympic Village with the ’92 U.S. boxing team’s lone gold medalist, Oscar De La Hoya – a man who was briefly the talk of boxing social media this past weekend when a video of him dancing in a thong made its way around the internet. (The less said about that, the better, probably.)

Marquez was a highly interested observer when the HBO documentary “The Golden Boy” came out last year, very much a warts-and-all portrayal of De La Hoya, the Hall of Fame fighter and successful promoter, who has struggled publicly with demons and addictions.

“Oh man,” Marquez said when asked what he thought of the doc. He took a long pause as he searched for what he wanted to say. “I thought … I’ll just put it this way: He never should have done that documentary. He never should have made it. I don’t think it did him any good. I’m going to leave it at that.”

Marquez and De La Hoya aren’t in touch anymore.

“He was my buddy, man,” Marquez reflected. “Back in the amateurs, when we traveled all over the world together, when they saw Oscar, they saw me, and when they saw me, they saw Oscar. I don’t know what happened. You know, in my professional career, I challenged him. I called him out, I wanted to fight him – I mean, why wouldn’t I? He was the money guy, everybody wanted to fight him. But I challenged him, and I don’t know if maybe he took that personally.”

Marquez wasn’t interviewed for the documentary. “I should have been in there. They skipped all the great stories we had – with women in Italy, women in Australia, all over the world.”

But Marquez – again, a conscientious father to young kids these days – wasn’t forthcoming with any of those stories for this interview. “We had a great time, man. We were young, we were single, we were living the life, and that’s all I’ll say.”

A lot has changed since then – for a couple of 1992 Olympians turned ex-fighters, and also for Olympic boxing in general. And with the latter, the change has not been for the better, in Marquez’s view. The 2024 Games just wrapped up in Paris, and Marquez wasn’t interested in the least.

“If some top amateur right now asked me, ‘Should I wait for the next Olympics?’ I would advise them not to,” Marquez said. “Amateur background is very important. I’ve always emphasized amateur background. The amateur system is always going to be in my heart, and before you turn pro, you should get that amateur experience. But once you feel you’re ready to go pro, then go pro. Waiting the whole four years just to try to see if you can make the Olympics? I don’t think it’s worth it. I don’t even know if a gold medal matters like it used to.”

Marquez parlayed his Olympic experience into a solid 16-year professional career – a record of 41-4-1 (29 KOs), a 20-month junior middleweight title reign and high-profile fights with the likes of Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas and Jermain Taylor. And he parlayed that into a steady broadcasting career that included 12 years with Showtime, 12 years he looks back on with nothing but fondness.

“I had a great run with Showtime,” he said. “It was like a family there, and I learned a lot working with that group. We were spoiled working for Showtime, honestly.

“But maybe things happen for a reason. We’ll just have to see what’s next.”

Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, Ringside Seat, and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside boxing, he is the senior editor of CasinoReports and the author of 2014’s The Moneymaker Effect. He can be reached on X or LinkedIn, or via email at [email protected].