Moments after being officially announced as the winner in the WBC super featherweight title bout with the courageous Rocky Juarez, Juan Manuel Marquez told Showtime roving reporter Jim Gray that, ?I want Manny Pacquiao!? The two men had fought to a draw in 2004, when Manny dropped Marquez three times in the first round only to have Marquez mount a big comeback. Then Marquez appeared to tactically blunder his way out of a lucrative rematch by overpricing his services.
In one of the strangest of the many strange financial decisions ever made in the sport, Marquez rejected $750,000 for a rematch and instead fought Chris John in Indonesia for a paltry $30,000, losing his featherweight title in controversial fashion in the process to further compound the indignity.
But Marquez is a supremely gifted boxer-technician and in just over a year he has run off four straight impressive victories, including Juarez and his victory over Marco Antonio Barrera for the WBC crown. Today, Manny is a global superstar and in terms of remuneration, Marquez can expect to receive considerably more than the $750,000 that he was offered three years ago. The world wide demand will be huge.
For Marquez, now 34 and amazingly showing little deterioration of his skills, it?s now or never for this Superfight with the charismatic Pacquiao. The Pac-Man doesn?t hold a title but everyone considers him as being one of the two best pound for pound fighters in the world. Pacquiao?s celebrity may transcend belts but you can bet your bacon that he wants one. He?s been toying with a move up to lightweight, but first he must take care of that unfinished business with Marquez.
The intrepid Gray also interviewed Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya after the fight. (Was it my imagination or did Oscar put his hands in his pockets to avoid shaking hands?) Ridiculous rumors circulated last week after an internet blog discussed the possibility of Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya. The story somehow picked up some traction and appeared in some Philippine newspapers as if it was actually a possibility.
Naturally Gray, who seems to thrill at asking the tough questions, asked Oscar, (who by the way was honored last week by the WBO as ?Fighter of the Decade? and ?Promoter of the Year? at their annual convention), about the possibility of a fight between the Golden Boy and Manny.
?No, Marquez and Pacquiao is the logical fight,? Oscar replied, laughing it off. ?If (Pacquiao) wants to be called the world champion at 130 pounds, he has to go through Marquez.?
Not to be denied, Gray asked, ?But would you consider fighting him??
Patiently, Oscar said that he would make the decision on his future plans in the first quarter if 2008 and repeated that, ?The next logical fight we have to have for the boxing fans is Manny Pacquiao against Marquez.?
This was Golden Boy?s first show on Showtime. I recall that in an interview that we had some time ago with Golden Boy?s CEO, Richard Schaeffer, we were told that despite his company?s loyalty to HBO it was possible that GBP would begin to promote fights on Showtime because of the limited number of dates available and the number of fighters that needed to be showcased. Now, with a stable larger than Calumet Farms, it only makes sense.
At this point in time, Golden Boy is unquestionably at the top of the mountain, insofar as promotional companies go. Additional fights on Showtime should be welcomed by all, but hopefully GBP will not use Showtime as the JV team for its lesser names and attractions.
Back to Marquez-Juarez, first of all it was certainly fortuitous that the end of ?the other fight? and the start of the Showtime main event were timed so perfectly. Unfortunately, the fight was basically decided early when Rocky suffered a severe cut below his left eyebrow due to an unintentional clash of heads in the first round. On his best day Juarez stood little chance of beating Marquez; the cut was far too much to overcome.
The brilliant Marquez performs his duties in the ring with the precision of a master craftsman, an artistic virtuoso whose work in the ring is akin to another kind of artist working on a different type of canvas. He?s a pleasure to watch.
He was particularly sharp on Saturday night, firing blazing combinations while counterpunching as well as ever. But Rocky Ricardo Juarez won our respect, blood dripping in his eye throughout the fight as he fought on with just heart and guts. It was a game battle against a Hall of Fame caliber opponent. It makes you wonder if he could have made the scores of 118-110, 117-111, and 120-108 any closer had he been able to see.
I questioned referee Robert Ferrara, Juarez? trainer Ronnie Shields, and the ringside physician for allowing Juarez to risk his future career with such a huge gash and diminished vision when you could make an excellent case that he was being shut out by the great Marquez. True, Rocky showed true grit in staying in the fight so heroically, but sometimes you just have to save a fighter from himself.
In any event, Rocky needs to take a long rest, heal 100%, and return as a featherweight if he ever hopes to hold a title.
In the opening fight of the telecast, Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero defended his IBF featherweight belt by blasting Martin Honorio into the Land of Oz in 56 seconds of round one. Honorio somehow managed to get up at the count of eight after eating a huge southpaw left from Guerrero, and then staggered across the ring before referee Tony Weeks called it off.
Amazingly, Guerrero performed at this level after learning that his 23 year old wife, Casey, had been diagnosed with Leukemia and was going on chemotherapy. Yet, I don?t think that a featherweight in the world could have touched him on that night.
Ironically, Guerrero was Juarez? original opponent on the undercard of the cancelled September 15 PPV show. Juarez was picked to fight Marquez on that card when Jorge Barrios went down with an injury, and when the Golden Boy deal with Showtime was made, Rocky remained the opponent.
If Rocky thought that Marquez was tough on this particular night, how would he have fared against the inspired Robert Guerrero?
CHAMBERS-BROCK ON SHOBOX
Quite simply, Calvin Brock blew it. Weighing a career high 241 pounds, up 17 from his title shot with IBF heavyweight titlist Wladimir Klitschko just one year ago, he allowed himself to be outboxed by ?Fast? Eddie Chambers in a fight that was part of the IBF heavyweight title elimination tournament. The Philadelphian Chambers won the split decision 115-113 (twice), with one 115-113 vote going to Brock.
Neither fighter has what you might call a chiseled body, but Chambers appeared comfortable at 213 and showed impressive hand speed in flashes. Brock, by comparison, appeared to be slow as he moved around the ring with every tissue on his upper torso jiggling.
Not only that, but with the fight on the line in the final round, Brock chose to dance and move away from danger, not that there was likely to be much of that from the light hitting, but undefeated Chambers, 30-0 (16). We saw it 115-113 Chambers, who is now poised to face Alexander Povetkin for the position of #1 mandatory challenger, if the details and venue can be settled.
