On July 31st Juan Manuel Marquez returned to the lightweight division with a solid and tactical twelve round schooling over limited but game Juan ?Baby Bull? Diaz at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was a rematch of their February 2009 clash in which Marquez overcame a rocky start to end up starching Diaz in the ninth round. That bout was awarded with the title of ?Fight of the year?.
In the second encounter Marquez wasn?t quite as electrifying and the action was a little more sparse but it was the type of performance the Mexico City fighter needed to show that he still has enough left to be a player in the game. Ten months prior Marquez had risen in weight only to be thoroughly bludgeoned by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a fight in which he was outclassed with many claiming that he had fallen off a bit.
Following his second victory over Diaz, Marquez spoke of his deep desires for a third match with Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought to a draw in May of 2004 and lost a debated split decision to in March of 2008. Both fights were thrilling yet with Pacquiao now campaigning at or above 147 pounds a third fight seemed unlikely. Interim WBO lightweight champion Michael Katsidis and WBA junior welterweight king Amir Khan were the other two names tossed into the fray and people began speculating about Marquez? near future.
The Khan matchup in particular had been discussed since the beginning of the year and the British pugilist seemed to have the leg up in landing a fight with the 37-year old proven warrior. December 11th became the date in play and many expected to be seeing a Marquez-Khan clash in either Las Vegas or Khan?s United Kingdom turf near the end of the year. But to the surprise of many things would soon dissipate at the negotiating table and the possible fight was surrounded with question marks.
The reason for the troubles seemed to be that Marquez was simply asking for too hefty of a price tag for giving his services against the 23-year old Lancashire native. Marquez? last two fights had been pay-per-view attractions, with the Mayweather contest drawing over a million buys and the Diaz contest doing surprisingly well at nearly 200,000 draws, and Khan felt as though the living legend was pricing himself out of the bout after his recent run of high-profile exposure.
Golden Boy Promotions? CEO Richard Schaefer met with Marquez late last month in Mexico City and discussed his immediate future in the sport. After a productive meeting it was later revealed that the WBA and WBO champion would be staying home at 135 pounds to defend his belts and soon thereafter the Katsidis bout was cleared for November 27th at the MGM Grand.
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Khan would then set his sights on interim champion Marcos Maidana from Argentina, a man he had been caught up in a war of words with over the past few months. Despite a few rifts in making the fight become a reality, both Khan and Maidana would make concessions and fight was soon a go for December 11th at the Mandalay Bay. Just like that the city of Las Vegas had landed two extremely meaningful and well-matched fights featuring some of the finest fighters alive at 135 and 140 pounds.
It is likely that a Marquez-Khan bout would have landed in Nevada but to be honest it wasn?t the best of matchups for either man. Marquez would have been facing an uphill battle against a bigger, younger and faster man while Khan would have been criticized for selecting a smaller man who was looked at as being past his prime. Instead both guys now have a willing and able dance partner in front of them that has gotten mass approval from many in the sport and each contest has the chance to be a barnburner affair.
The 30-year old Katsidis had a heartbreaking 2008 campaign in which he was stopped late by Cuban southpaw Joel Casamayor in March before losing soundly to Diaz six months later. To his credit Katisids has shown true perseverance in reeling off four straight victories, the last being a 3rd round blitzing over undefeated rival Kevin Mitchell in London. The Australian?s strength and dogged attack will surely answer some questions as to how Marquez deals with pressure at this point in his career.
Maidana is a brutal puncher and people are dying to see what happens if he can find Khan?s chin, as Amir is still remembered for his disastrous September 2008 first round blowout at the hands of Breidis Prescott. Maidana has fought twice this year, stopping Dominican Victory Cayo in March in six heated rounds and struggling towards a decision victory over former champion DeMarcus ?Chop Chop? Corley on August 28th. Even if he is being outclassed by Khan, which many expect to happen, his punching power will make him a threat every step of the way and that is the intrigue about this particular fight.
The city of Las Vegas hasn?t had a banner 2010 campaign as the second half of the year has been void of any meaningful matchups. Seeing Filipino star Manny Pacquiao fight twice in Dallas, as he had fought eight of previous eleven showdowns in Nevada, further illustrates this fact. These are certainly trying times for a city that is always bolstered by the added income from a notable boxing event but it looks now that Las Vegas is starting to get its swagger back just in time.
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Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at
