The other zapato has just dropped in the Nate Campbell-Joel Casamayor WBO mandatory lightweight title situation.
Triple-belted champ Campbell, the conqueror of previously unbeaten Juan ?Baby Bull? Diaz, won?t be fighting crafty Cubano southpaw Casamayor. The soon to be 37-year-old Casamayor will, instead, take on his Golden Boy stablemate and Manny Pacquiao?s fierce rival, slick counterpuncher Juan Manuel Marquez.
GBP is looking at doing Juan Ma-Casamayor on PPV with a likely date of October 11.
At first, Juan Ma?s advisers acted like they wanted no part of Casamayor. But watching everyone else making moves and the looming Pacman challenge against WBC 135?pound king David Diaz, got the JMM brain trust to take a second look at the aging Casamayor.
Marquez and his people want to make a statement in the lightweight division and to keep some pressure on Pacquaio for a third fight and they came to the conclusion that a decisive victory over future Hall Of Famer Casamayor does that for their man.
Where in the alphabet soup does this leave Campbell? He may wind up in a WBO mandatory, anyway, but against two-time WBO champion and undefeated Dominican Dandy Joan Guzman. Reps for both Guzman and Campbell spoke on the telephone Monday.
It?s now academic that Campbell co-promoter Don King sent inadequate bout contracts to GBP and Casamayor because they weren?t getting signed anyway.
As for the Goldens? Golden Child, Juan Diaz, he will keep his Sept. 13 hometown Houston date on HBO but the opponent will be Michael ?Rocky? Kastidis and not Casamayor.
The lightweight version of musical chairs appears to be over.
