Don?t tell everybody but it looks there is a subprime mortgage problem in the lightweight division.
The championship properties on One Hundred Thirty Five Pound Street are about to go from upper crust to instant ghetto. The property values are going to take a major hit for two reasons.
One is there are too many lightweight champions?Nate Campbell has a firm hold on the IBF and WBO straps but the WBC is about to crown a second ?champion,? probably Edwin Valero alongside Pacman, and the WBA now recognizes Campbell and Yosuke Kobori as its two champions. Confusing, isn?t it?
But you can already see how adding a second WBC and WBA champion devalues the collective straps, can?t you? It?s a far cry from the glory years when Panama?s pride, Roberto Duran, was THE lightweight champ with no questions asked.
The second reason and, here comes Michael Marley?s fearless forecast, is that I believe Megamanny is done as a lightweight. That?s right, the street?s prime property, the Megamanny Mansion, is being put on blocks and moved elsewhere.
His welterweight dance with Oskie Dolla Hoya does not mean he will remain at 147 pounds because he has to stuff himself to get there and be in proper condition. And, let?s face it, Pac is also too short, in terms of height and reach, to be wailing with the helter skelter welters or at least those who he cannot gain a $20 million mega purse against.
No, the handwriting is on the wall for 2009. Coach Roach may dispute this, and he knows far better than I even though we are both card-carrying members of both Red Sox Nation and Celtics Nation. I must bow to Professor Roach?s specialty which is keeping Manny primed and ready to fight all manner of men or beasts.
But it says here that Manny campaigns in the New Year as a 140-pounder and never returns to lightweight land.
Two seconds after I wrote this and Juan Manuel Marquez?s people read it, I am told that Juan Ma ordered a triple serving of chorizo and huevos rancheros so he can quickly bulk up to stalk MP as a junior welterweight.
So the first ka-ching, ka-ching, let the cash registers ring thought that comes to mind is what Golden CEO Richie Rich Schaefer keeps shouting from the rooftops about, Manny versus Ricky Hatton.
This is a nautral matchup where Pacman won?t be battling a height, reach and strength disparity as he is in playing Little David against gloved Goliath De La Hoya.
But negotiating this one could be a rocky road. The Goldens and Uncle Bob usually wind up fighting each other like scorpions in a small bottle anyway.
One sure issue would be the venue. I?d say the chances of luring Manny, with his solid West Coast fan base migrating to Vegas so easily, to Hatton?s UK stronghold.
And, with the British economy cratering right now, who knows how many Hattonites will want to or be able to buy package trips to Las Vegas come next March or April,
And, while there is some nifty young talent rising at 140 (Tim Bradley, Devon Alexander and some others), Hatton is the only fully marketable PPV level name for Pacquiao.
The bottom line?
When Manny was in his Manny Mansion at lightweight, the neighboring properties were glimmering.
With Manny removed to 147 and then to 140 pounds, two things will happen.
Marquez, Campbell and others will lead a mass migration to Manny?s new neighborhood.
And what becomes of those who remain in those lightweight properties?
Can you say crack houses?
