Happy New Year to you all!

I know it's the second week of January but this is the first chance I've had to do my blog, it's been that busy.

I've been halfway across the world and back since my last entry, taken in Christmas in San Francisco and New Year's Eve in Mexico!

McCrory and Marquez: mates

But trust me, I have been working. And working hard!

Before Christmas I was out in San Fran with my amateur team where we did some training with Andre Ward, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist.

We had a fabulous stint working with him and his boys and on top of that, a couple of my lads fought in a competition and won!

That made the flight back to Ireland - for the Darren Sutherland show - a little easier, because the very next day it was back out to San Francisco for Christmas.

The in-laws came out as well and as luck would have it, they have a house down Mexico way, so me and a mate headed down there for New Year's Eve.

To be honest, it was more to get back into boxing.

Designated

I love Cuba and my links with the place, but if there is one other great fighting nation it is Mexico. So off we went to Mexico City with two things in mind.

The first was the 2012 Olympics. As regular readers will know my gym has been approved as one of the designated pre-games training centres, so we are already on the look out for nations to come and use our facilities ahead of London.

Normally I would have gone straight to the Cuban boxing people but the three guys that have turned pro under manager Gary Hyde who has now signed me up as trainer- and believe me, you will hear a lot more about them in the coming months - have, shall we say, left their homeland via the back door.

But it would be great to play host to the Mexicans, so we went to see their Olympic people, with the booklets we have had made up and I've got say, it was brilliant. They were over the moon that we'd paid them a visit and we were welcomed by the main man of Mexican boxing, Dr Morales.

He is Mr TV down there, a sort of Ian Darke, Jim Watt, Glenn McCrory and Dave Clark rolled into one. He's a top man and although I was shocked at how many police and security were out and about on the streets of Mexico City, the people are just dead, dead nice.

Legend

We also went to look around a few gyms and as our guide was big pals with Mexican legend Ricardo Lopez, we went down to see him and his son, the unbeaten Alonso, who has every chance of being as good as the old man was.

Speaking of dads, we then got chatting to an old guy at ringside and he causally said we should stick around because his boys were coming down to spar in a minute.

We thought we might as well, but who should stroll in 10 minutes later? Juan Manuel Marquez and his brother Rafael! Juan Manuel - the elder and a fighter we all love here on Sky Sports - is fighting Juan Diaz next month, so he went upstairs to do a press conference, but Rafael got on with some sparring.

And I've got to say, it was unbelievable. I genuinely think watching him and this other little Mexican go at it was probably the best fight I have ever seen!

The Marquez's were top men and I came back with some huge six-foot posters of the two of them for my gym walls.

We already have two Mexican greats taking pride of place, hopefully the Olympic boxers will follow suit... watch this space!

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