Latino featherweight Juan Manuel Marquez should be a superstar.
The fact that he is not is a genuine travesty which has precious little to do with his ability and almost everything to do with the stupidity of his handlers.
Marquez of course was the featherweight shamelessly avoided by Naseem Hamed in the late 1990s.
Despite Hamed’s reluctance to trade leather with this masterful Mexican during his peak years, Marquez still managed to win WBC and IBF featherweight belts.
After his thrilling draw with Manny Pacquiao (where he was dropped heavily three times in the first round before going on to earn a draw, a draw many had him winning), he looked a shoe-in to join the likes of Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales as a lesser weight topliner.
However in the 22 months following his fight with Pacquiao, JMM boxed just twice against wholly unremarkable opposition.
He then, quite incredibly, turned down mega-money for a return with ‘Pac Man’ and instead travelled to Borneo to box undefeated local hope Chris John for a figure reputed to me no more than $30000.
In terms of career moves, it was up there with Bill Wyman’s decision to leave the Rolling Stones.
Marquez is a supremely gifted, box-puncher who is also a qualified accountant.
Yet you have to wonder just what school of economics he studied at given his willingness to risk so much for what was, in world championship boxing terms, such a paltry sum.
Predictably Marquez ended up on the wrong end of a dubious decision in the Indonesian wilderness, having already had his two belts taken from him by increasingly impatient world governing bodies.
As a result he now finds himself in boxing limbo and this weekend, at the age of 32 and, without a promotional deal to speak of, tries to start again against Thailand’s Terdsak Jandaeng.
Quite how he has got himself in such a pugilistic pickle remains a mystery, but there are many insiders pointing the finger firmly at Nacho Beristain, the legendary Mexican trainer who until recently acted as JMM’s manager.
Beristain is regarded as the man who has done more than most to change the perception of Mexican fighters from hook-happy brawling types to tactical pressure fighters with brilliant lateral movement in the last 20 years (he also served with distinction as Mexican amateur coach).
His influence on Marquez the boxer has been immense.
Beristain’s attention to detail is second to none with regard to studying opponents and tactically he has few peers in the world game.
However his influence on Marquez the box-office star has been dubious to say the least.
Promoters Top Rank insist his unreasonable demands were the main reason Marquez – Pacquiao II didn’t materialise.
This may or may not be true, but the burning question now is whether his charge’s best years have been squandered?
At 32 he is hardly ancient in boxing terms but then again he has precious little time to waste if he is to realise his full earning potential and cement his boxing legacy.
Starting this weekend then, it’s time Juan Manuel Marquez and his team stopped pointing fingers and started waving fists in the direction of Pacquiao and the rest of boxing’s elite little men.
