Dumb, dumber, dumbest. There you have it, my three word description for the bright light bulb who came up with the idea of putting Juan Manuel Marquez on the Manny Pacquiao-Oscar de la Hoya card.
Maybe I should call it putting a pig on lipstick.
I have a gut feeling that Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum will put his foot down and reject this idea.
I can understand Juan Ma wanting to share or even perhaps some of the limelight from Megammany and Oskie but his appearance on the already sold out show at the MGM Grand is not icing on the cake. It?s icing on the icing.
Would you put Ken Norton on the undercard of an Ali-Frazier show? My point, exactly.
You may say well it will boost PPV sales, definitely in Mexico and in some of the stronger US Hispanic markets. I say no way, Don Jose.
It also wouldn?t boost the Filipino market. No matter who he fought on this night, Marquez would be the spear carrier, the Sarah Palin figure on the fringes of the big top.
It?s nothing against Juan Ma or his fantastic fistic ability. That speaks for itself. But Manny against Oscar is boxing?s 2008 version of the Super Bowl.
When was the last time you had a group partying in your house for PPV boxing?
The crowd is liable to mixed male and female. Food and adult beverages will be served.
There will be lots of social conversation and mindless chatter.
Just like the Super Bowl, most viewers watching on TV won?t pay any attention until the opening kickoff. Which means they’ll rivet their eyes on the tube when the Manny and Oscar ring walks begin.
Not to mention how the media will barely pay any attention to Marquez in Vegas on fight week. He?s got his own Pacman agenda and Boss Oscar runs the promotional company he fights for. His analysis of Manny-Oscar will be totally partisan.
Marquez will get just as much attention sitting in a ringside pew. His only real purpose in Vegas other than a spectator would be to irritate Pacquiao and his rabid fans.
They should take this notion and put it in File 13, namely the wastebasket.
When your entr?e is filet mignon and lobster, you don?t serve up an appetizer of chopped liver.
On this special night, that?s all a Marquez fight would be. Personally, I love watching Marquez show his craftsmanship but, regardless of whether Manny-Oscar turns into a debacle or a ring classic, having him box on this show would just needless trimming on the radiant tree.
