Golden Boy Promotions in association with Mayweather Promotions officially announced the undercard for the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Juan Manuel Marquez PPV September 19th. In a media conference call Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, Oscar de la Hoya, and Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, spoke with the media about the jam-packed card.
“Going back to 2000, this is the best undercard I have seen so far,” said Schaefer who first got into the sport when he partnered up with Oscar de la Hoya in the early 2000’s.
The undercard, according to Schaefer, was made possible by the efforts of co-promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr who gave them permission to go out and spend the money necessary to put on a high-profile card, “It takes a lot of money to put on a card like this and the matchmakers executed. I hope the fans will embrace this because it is a very expensive undercard.”
Three fan-favoring fights are planned. The featured undercard bout will be a rematch of the exciting WBA featherweight title fight between Chris John (42-0-2, 22 KOs) and Rocky Juarez (28-4-1, 20 KOs). John’s first title defense against Juarez last February ended in a draw, which many felt John had won.
In what could end up being the most exciting fight of the night, former WBO interim lightweight titlist Michael Katsidis (25-2, 21 KOs), of Australia, will be facing 2004 US Olympian Vicente Escobedo (21-1, 13 KOs) for the same interim title he once held.
The first fight that will be televised is a 10-round matchup between Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs) against come-backing Antonio Diaz (46-5-1, 29 Kos) at 144lbs.
President of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar de la Hoya was also elated about the card saying, “We haven’t seen one of these undercards in quite a while. It takes me back to those Don King cards [in the 90’s] with Julio Cesar Chavez and Felix Trinidad on the undercard and people are really excited about that.”
With rumors floating of the card struggling to sell tickets and capture the interest of the public, Schaefer says that he is not worried and promises that it will be the biggest pay-per-view of the year.
Though a UFC pay-per-view is also planned for the same night, Schaefer is still confident of success stating, “Floyd Mayweather transcends the sport of boxing and September 19th the biggest name in any sport will be Floyd Mayweather.”
With a stacked undercard, to go along with the Mayweather Jr vs. Marquez main-event, put together by Golden Boy and Mayweather Promotions, both promoters feel that this will be a huge event.
In addition, Schaefer has planned to introduce new promotions and sponsors which the sport has never seen before. Without detailing too much information, Schaefer said, “We’ve got some ground breaking things planned for the promotion of Mayweather vs. Marquez, things for the financial world as well as the boxing world.”
An announcement will be made in the coming weeks as to what Schaefer is referring to. He plans to attend a sponsor and marketing forum in New York City where more information will be released and several new names [sponsors] will be getting involved in boxing.
While the main-event may or may not be struggling to gain the kind of attention that Floyd Mayweather believes he demands, both promoters have put together an undercard that appears to please the appetite of fans who have seen some of the worst undercards for the biggest fights the past few years. Golden Boy hopes to continue this trend, but set it clear that it takes a big financial commitment; one which requires support from the public.
