Marquez doesn't have the speed, says Nacho Beristain

Juan Manuel Marquez's own trainer, Nacho Beristain, is expressing great concern over his fighter's lack of speed heading into the final stages of training for his September 19 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

From PhilBoxing.com, as reported by Hesiquio Balderas:

"Juan Manuel is very strong, he looks like a natural welterweight, but it worries me a lot that we can't get to the speed level that we are looking for, and we can't compete with a fighter of the quality of Floyd Mayweather with that f***ing lack of speed. The sparring partners are not a problem, it is the work we did to increase the muscle. He is tense and as I said he is very strong and buffed, but he has no speed at this point and that is because the weight lifting he did was excessive. It's like a soccer player after working with weights, they are strong but they lack the speed and the rhythm to compete. That is the way Juan Manuel is right now I am desperate at this point. But there is still time to get him speed, the problem is that the weight lifting is giving us a hard time."

Beristain's worry is bad news to those hoping for the Marquez upset (which is a lot of people), but it could also simply be a ploy. It adds up that Marquez would lose speed, and speed against Mayweather was going to be a problem for him even without bulking up the way he did. But they might be trying to make Floyd Jr. think this is going to be easier than they (the Marquez camp) really believe it will be. Maybe they intend to catch Floyd rusty or even napping.

But if it's legit, yes, it's a real problem. There's not much time left (about three weeks to be exact) and without being able to find Mayweather, the fight plays out with Floyd battering Marquez and probably putting him away early, which is the way a lot of people are seeing the fight in the first place.