By Dave Sholler (photo by Tom Casino/Showtime)

From Juan Manuel Marquez’s refusal to let Joe Cortez officiate his Feb. 28 bout with a “Baby Bull” to Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan’s preparation for Jorge Arce, it’s already been an interesting week in the sweet science.

Let’s take a look back at some of the best stories of the week.

JMM PREPARES FOR DIAZ BY SPARRING WITH CORTEZ

We’ve heard of a lot of strange training methods over the years. From swinging sledgehammers to doing cardio with a scuba mask on, not much surprises us.

But Juan Manuel Marquez’s new workout takes the cake. Sparring with referees is absolutely going to be the latest trend in boxing fitness. You see, the often reserved Marquez got a fire cooking this week when he informed his promoter that referee Joe Cortez would not be a suitable official for his fight with Juan Diaz.

Why you might ask? Apparently, JMM thinks Cortez is “the enemy of Mexican boxers.”

Cortez’s rebuttal swiftly followed and boxing fans are now entrenched in a Juan Manuel Marquez-Joe Cortez verbal sparring match. Talk about an appetizer to JMM-Diaz.

At the end of the day, we are puzzled by this heated exchange. First, both Diaz and Marquez have Mexican roots, so how could heritage affect this bout? Secondly, Cortez can be called a lot of things, but we would be well served to remember one thing about the notorious official.

He’s fair, but he’s firm.

His words, not ours.

MARCO GETS CUT, EVERYONE’S SURPRISED?

We received our fair share of emails this week questioning Marco Antonio Barrera’s decision to take a fight with Freudis Rojas in Mexico over the weekend since he’d already landed a bout with the highly-touted Amir Khan next month. Barrera, who suffered a serious cut against Rojas that many thought would jeopardize the Khan fight, was ridiculed for taking such a meaningless bout.

We’ve responded to those Barrera criticisms nearly the same each time. Plain and simple, Barrera loves to fight. He would have taken the Rojas clash on the moon if need be. Right or wrong, he doesn’t care if one bout outcome affects the other. He just likes to hit and get hit.

Luckily, the Khan bout is still on. But if it wasn’t, Barrera probably wouldn’t have the slightest regret.

For the record, we don’t believe any of this nonsense about Team Barrera asking John Nolasco, who was eventually replaced by Rojas, to take a dive in the fight. Boxing is often a controversial sport, but this rumor holds no water.

DAWSON SPEAKS, WE LISTEN

And people wonder why Chad Dawson is one of our favorite fighters…

Speaking with BoxingScene ace Lyle Fitzsimmons, the light heavyweight stud spoke of potential bouts with Paul Williams and a desire to retire by the age of 30. While we think the Williams fight is more likely than an early retirement, we rarely doubt the words that come from the Connecticut native’s mouth. We just hope top dogs like Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins are listening.

If Dawson is to ever reign supreme at 175 pounds, he likely needs a win over either the Philadelphian or the Welshman. Although extremely improbable, we hope Chad gets the opportunity should he defeat Antonio Tarver for the second time next month.

MAYORGA PULLS OUT: WE KNEW IT ALL ALONG

When Gary Show informed reporters that Ricardo Mayorga had withdrawn from his Valentine’s Day clash with Alfredo Angulo, we weren’t the least bit surprised. We kinda figured the chain-smoking, beer-guzzling, Shane-just-whooped-my-tail-so-why-fight-a-youngster Nicaraguan would find a way to escape Angulo’s wrath.

If Mayorga is truly injured, we offer our sincere apologies. However, if he is just ducking as we suspect, then someone needs to put out Mayorga’s cigarette and crush his beer can career. We don’t have time to watch Ricardo fight no-names. We especially don’t have the money…

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS PLAN MANNY PACQUIAO DAY

Dear God, don’t let him sing the National Anthem…He might actually continue thinking he’s good.

WINKY-WILLIAMS DONE; TAYLOR-FROCH TALKS RESUME

If the proposed Jermain Taylor-Carl Froch gets done, we’d like to see the winner face the victor of the April 11 Paul Williams-Winky Wright clash. It may sound a bit far-fetched, but consider how it will play out should Taylor defeat Froch.

Option A has him facing Winky Wright in a rematch of their highly controversial 2006 draw. Option B has “Bad Intentions” going to war with Paul “I’ll Fight at Sumo Weight If Necessary” Williams.

We don’t know about you, but we’d like to see either contest.

“THE RAGING BULL”: BOXING’S NEW BAD BOY

He stands just a tad shy of 5’6” and weighs a mere 115 pounds, but super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan speaks as if he were Muhammad Ali. We would normally be turned off by such arrogance, but when it comes to the Armenian champion, we love it.

Simply put, we appreciate Vic’s straight talk. You can always bet that you’ll get an honest, no-bull type of quote from the Gary-Shaw promoted product. In a sport that often features lies, deception, and the run-around, we like Vic’s approach.

As for his title fight against Jorge Arce tomorrow night, we think he stops the Mexican inside 10 rounds.

VAZQUEZ THE NEW GOLDEN BOY?

Taking a page out of the Oscar De La Hoya School of Management, it seems as if almost everyone is interested in the payday associated with fighting legendary scrapper Israel Vazquez.

Vazquez, who reportedly remains on medical restriction from fighting, was rumored to be considering a bout with Filipino Ronny Lunas in April. One problem… Team Vazquez told reporter Robert Morales that such talks never happened. What’s more, Team Vazquez admitted that they don’t even know who Lunas is.

Knowing the type of money a Vazquez fight would likely command from SHOWTIME, we can’t blame Lunas for trying to get his name in the discussion. But we think he’s got a better shot at singing backup to Manny Pacquiao during his day with the San Francisco Giants.

Log this one in the “nice try” category.

CAN FUNEKA GET BY CAMPBELL?

Anyone else concerned that lightweight champion Nate Campbell may be in for a rude awakening against challenger Ali Funeka next weekend? The once-beaten South African fighter seems to be just the type of competitor that could score the upset.

Campbell, often left out of marquee fights, cannot afford to look past Funeka. Finally getting back on his feet both financially and professionally, Campbell needs to extend his winning streak to five fights on Valentine’s Day. It’s the only way he’ll get any love from the boxing faithful.