It was believed that Juan Manuel Marquez, long a pillar of Golden Boy Promotions, would be facing Erik Morales in a pay-per-view feature on April 9th in Las Vegas. In what was an on-again/off-again affair, it was finally decided that Marquez would not be taking on ?El Terrible.? In fact, for the time being, he won?t be fighting at all.
“Well,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, on Tuesday afternoon, “we weren?t able to come to terms and so I expect he?s going to wait and see what else is going to come up.”
Marquez might be suffering from ?Pac-Man Fever,? as he has made it abundantly clear he wants a third go-round with Manny Pacquiao and outside influences could be steering him to leave Golden Boy the way Shane Mosley did in order to land this assignment.
Schaefer told Maxboxing, “[Marquez] told us he was contacted this past December by a guy by the name of Juan Carlos, who is the nephew or cousin of Fernando Beltran, who told him that if he wants a Pacquiao fight, they can give it to him but he cannot be with Golden Boy. So I?m sure that was the beginning of planting the seed.” It?s pretty simple; any fighter associated with Golden Boy will not be given an opportunity to face the Filipino icon and if you join the Top Rank crew (and Beltran is a Top Rank auxiliary), it puts you right into play.
OK, so when does Marquez sign on with James Prince?
“We have a contract which is still running and we have, as well, matching rights, those sort of things,” said Schaefer with a chuckle, explaining their contractual situation with the boxer. “So it?s not going to be that easy but it is unfortunate that Bob [Arum] is doing all that in-house stuff. It?s consistent with what the UFC is doing and I think that?s like his big dream, to eventually be like he UFC, him and Todd [duBoef]?s dream. As a result, unless you?re with Top Rank, you?re not going to get fights. We?ll see how far he?ll go with that.” As for any potential claims of tortuous interference, Schaefer said, “Oh, absolutely, and I will have my attorneys deal with it.”
When Arum was contacted regarding this issue, he told Maxboxing, “The only thing I?ve heard- we have purposely stepped away- is that the controversy between Marquez and Golden Boy is that Marquez is happy to do the Morales fight but doesn?t want to do it as part of a new long-term agreement. He wants to be a free agent and Golden Boy has resisted. That?s the issue. That?s the only issue. We?ve stayed out of it completely. It?s Marquez?s choice; I mean, Marquez has been advised by people in Mexico. Could any of them have somehow attached to Beltran? Probably, yes, because Beltran?s the biggest promoter in Mexico. But Marquez, as he said, would do the fight in a second if it wasn?t attached to options.”
There was talk of negotiating a third chapter of Pacquiao-Marquez after Marquez dispatched Michael Katsidis on Thanksgiving weekend but those talks didn?t go too far. According to Arum, “They f**ked it up; they f**ked up the negotiations by overreaching so that we couldn?t accept. In other words, they didn?t want Marquez to do the fight, in my opinion. I?m speculating but in my opinion, this was their way of sabotaging Marquez as far as getting a Pacquiao fight. They didn?t want it to happen because they needed Marquez to be with them because they really have nothing.”
And yes, Marquez is still a viable option for Pacquiao in the future.
“Absolutely, all options are open. I mean, Mosley economically made more sense but if Pacquiao defeats Mosley, Marquez is a wonderful opponent,” said Arum. Especially if he?s no longer associated with Golden Boy, from Top Rank?s perspective. GBP now turns its attention to making a fight between Morales and Marcos Maidana, a true, bona fide junior welterweight in his physical prime, who can punch with both hands. This match-up has many concerned about Morales? well-being.
“I think a Marquez fight would?ve been a very tough and dangerous fight, as well,” reasoned Schaefer, “but what is interesting is Morales really wants Maidana. He said that all along. He feels he has he style and the technical advantages over Maidana to actually make it an easy fight for him. As recently as today, Morales and his father called us and they watched tapes last night and he was like, ?Please, please get us Maidana,? begging us. So at that level, if you want to make history, you need to take these difficult fights. One thing Erik Morales always had was balls of fire.”
Some think that might be the problem in this instance.
KHAN DO
On April 16th in Manchester, England, WBO junior welterweight champion Amir Khan will face Paul McCloskey, who almost nobody knows of on this side of the world, on HBO, while Showtime has a bout between WBO featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez and Orlando Salido from Puerto Rico. HBO had given Golden Boy and Khan this date and Showtime had designated this slot for ?JuanMa? and Top Rank. In effect, they both had bought a fighter and not a fight, which isn?t always a bad thing. However, often times what happens in situations like this is you get insular fights like on Showtime between two Top Rank boxers or, in the case of Khan-McCloskey, a fight that is solely put together as the A-side (being Khan finally was able to find an opponent that was willing to take their rather punitive financial terms). In other words, whoever was desperate enough to take the smallest slice of the pie got the assignment.
Not exactly the best way to put together the best fight for your viewing audience, is it?
Some have asked me, since Khan is a draw (at least in the UK) and I?ve made the point that the network license fees should more closely reflect the fighters? box-office appeal, why was I making a stink about a guy like Junior Witter being considered? After all, that fight would draw well at the M.E.N. Arena, right? Well, it?s very simple; yes, Khan should absolutely be rewarded with a license fee that is in line with his value at the box-office but at the same time, the networks still have a right (others would say ?obligation?) to exert quality control and standards over what they put on their airwaves.
The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, they should be tied together.
TWIT PIC
On Monday morning, Todd duBoef of Top Rank (who does actually tweet) caused a bit of a stir by putting up a picture on Twitter of Arum, flanked by Jamie Foxx and one Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. at one of the luxury suites inside Cowboys Stadium for this past weekend?s Super Bowl. But hold your horses; no reunion is taking place.
“In effect, it was a social reunion,” explained Arum, who said he and his former client got along famously. “I hadn?t seen or been with Mayweather in a number of years and he was nothing but nice and congenial. We had a good time and we laughed a lot, particularly he and Todd. That suite was filled with celebrities and I never once- and neither did Todd- talk anything about boxing.”
PACKER FLURRIES
The real question in my mind regarding the Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz fight isn?t if it will happen but where it will be staged…If there is an NFL lockout, don?t be stunned to see the Giants? Brandon Jacobs take on the Ravens Tom Zbikowski at the Giants Stadium in July on the Cotto-Margarito undercard…Sorry, any trade that has Pau Gasol playing the ?5? spot is one I?m against for the Lakers…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
