Marquez-Juarez: What’s the Point?

By Chris Murillo 10/8/2007

Juan Manuel Marquez. Manny Pacquiao. Marco Antonio Barrera. Erik Morales.

These men have created the best rivalry in all of boxing, comparable to the Leanord-Hearns-Duran-Benitez bouts of the 70s and 80s. JMM, Pacquiao, Barrera and Morales have produced a total of ten fights at the highest levels of professional pugilism, including two of the finest ever in Barrera-Morales I and III. With the aforementioned duo now retired, Pacquiao and Marquez are left to settle the score from their first meeting in 2004. Suffice to say that they have unfinished business…

Pacquiao-Marquez was a thrilling contest which saw Juan Manuel hit the deck three times in the first round, compliments of Pacquiao’s lethal left hand. However Marquez demonstrated his savvy and heart in not only battling back but out boxing the Pacman for the majority of the following rounds. The fight went to the scorecards and was ruled a (controversial) draw, in light of Burt Clements’ first round score of 10-7 for Pacquiao. Had Clements scored it 10-6 like the other judges, Pacquiao would have won by split decision. The stage was set for a compelling rematch.

But this is boxing. Common sense rarely prevails, with common cents and dollars usually the deciding factors in determining the course of our beloved sport. And sometimes even the business decisions do not work in anybody’s favor. And so we have Exhibit A: Juan Manuel Marquez, a pound-for-pound fighter who has been mismanaged outside of his deserved limelight. Neither common sense nor business acumen has abounded in this man’s career. Three years have passed since his gutsy draw with Pacquiao, with whom a rematch never materialized as a result of trainer/manager Nacho Beristain’s dubious business decisions on behalf of Marquez.

Turning down a proposed rematch with Pacquiao, for hundreds of thousands of dollars, in favor of facing Chris John…in Indonesia…for a reported $30,000…resulting in a hometown decision against your client…who hadn’t lost in seven years…must rank as one of the top bonehead managerial moves in recent boxing history. Nonetheless, Marquez persevered and reeled off two wins against Terdsak Jandaeng and Jimxrex Jaca, then finally landed a big name bout with Marco Antonio Barrera in March of this year. His victory over the fellow Mexican legend has finally given Marquez the momentum he desired and deserved for all these years, the culmination of which, in a perfect world, would place him face-to-face once again against arguably the best fighter in the world right now…a fighter Marquez came a slipped punch away from beating three years ago.

But this is boxing. Instead, Marquez is fighting Rocky Juarez on November 3 in a match that nobody asked for, Juarez himself stepping in to replace Jorge Barrios…in a match that nobody asked for, originally slated as a PPV event. Ridiculous. This is the wrong direction for a boxer of such caliber, a fighter who has waited this long for his moment in the sun. At thirty-four years old, Marquez’s clock is ticking. Get this win out of the way, Juan Manuel, and get in the ring with Manny Pacquiao as soon as possible.

Your legacy depends on it.