JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ -- IT?S ABOUT HARD CASH AND CHARISMA, BESIDES ON-RING PERFECTION
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 10 Mar 2009
Los Angeles, CA:- Juan Manuel Marquez may have finally proven to the boxing world that at the very least he is close to the same pinnacle as Cesar Chavez, Sr and Oscar de la Hoya when the two Mexican legends were at the top of their game.
He did that via a devastating knockout victory over a very good legitimate lightweight contender and former champion, Juan ?Baby Bull? Diaz at Houston last March 7th.
So now pundits and boxing fans want to see the man called ?Dinamita? matched with other big names out there. People like Pretty Boy Floyd, Ricky Hatton and of course, pound4pound king Manny Pacquiao.
Excellent idea, but that is easier said than done.
Certainly, the victory of Diaz added more luster to the fame he gathered with his wins over Joel Casamayor, Rocky Juarez and Barrera.
But there is always that split decision defeat to Manny Pacquiao that looms over his head as well as the controversial loss to Chris John in Indonesia.
And, the fact that he is not on the same league as those aforementioned in the area of ?box appeal?, particularly when compared to Pacquiao and Hatton.
Thus, no matter how much respect he has gathered by way of his ring accomplishments, it will be a while before he becomes a ?real? marquee name and command the purse that Pacquiao can get with every fight.
That of course is a terrible thing, but sadly, boxing is also 'entertainment and hard cash', thus to do well in the box office Marquez needs more than just scintillating victories over his opponents.
Boxing after all is all about hard cash and charisma, besides on-ring perfection.
Otherwise, they could have called it something else instead of a ?prize fight."
With that, no matter how loud he calls out Floyd Mayweather, he is not going to merit a second look unless Golden Boy Promotions take a risk and dangle an insane amount of money in the face of the ?retired? Mayweather.
A fight with Hatton, assuming that he can get by the Filipino spit fire, sounds like a good idea on paper, particularly if held in Manchester where Hatton has a good grip of the fight crowd.
But doing the fight in England means that Marquez will have to take a pay cut. For one, due to time zone difference, the fight time will have to be adjusted to fit the US and Mexican TV prime time.
They could also switch venue to Las Vegas much like the Pacquiao-Hatton fight. But, the old question comes up: Can Marquez deliver on the box office?
No promoter or sponsor will take that risk now particularly with the gloom in the present day economy. And I doubt, Las Vegas people even with their deep pockets are willing to pay the high site fees and take a chance.
A fight with Pacquiao? I say no way unless Freddie Roach agrees and Richard Schaefer increases the $6 million he offered Pacquiao right after Pacquiao beat his man Marquez or perhaps offer a 60-40 split.
Will Schaefer do that?
I do not think so.
So what is left for Marquez?
Well, the titles and the belts he won are a nice consolation. But they do not bring bread to the table.
Perhaps Marquez needs to hire more and better personal PR people to polish up his image. Doing what he and Jaime Quintana did at the Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines is not the way to go.
Marquez has the ?determination, skills and achievements? as Alistair Donkin of ESB has written, but he needs to polish his image as well enough to improve his box office appeal. Only then can he hope to achieve the glory Morales, Barrera, de la Hoya and Chavez Sr., had in their heydays that brought in the hard cash.
After all, as I have mentioned, boxing is about hard cash and charisma, besides ring perfection.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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