Juan Manuel Marquez heading to an old-fashioned bullring in Cancun

One of my best memories in the sport of boxing was chronicling my good friend Nate Campbell's title pursuit of Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz's lightweight crowns in early 2008. Despite being a heavy 5-1 underdog heading into the contest, those close to Campbell's camp down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida seemed to know that something special was on the horizon.

Campbell carried his rough and jovial demeanor with him all the way to Cancun, Mexico, the setting for his date with destiny, as he readied to challenge Diaz on the 8th of March. Serving as the co-feature to and HBO World Championship Boxing telecast, Campbell and Diaz would end up duking it out at the Plaza de Toros, an old, dirty, bullring in the heart of Cancun.


Campbell would end up producing his finest outing as a professional, holding off an early charge from Diaz before turning the tide of the fight and bullying his younger foe around the ring over the final rounds. Nate was awarded a split-decision verdict and I will forever remembering being in the ring with him when he was announced as the newly-crowned champion of the world inside of the Plaza de Toros.

Over three years later and I have come to find out that Juan Manuel Marquez, who now holds the WBA and WBO belts that Campbell captured on that night, will himself be making a visit to the aforementioned bull ring as he meets Columbian Likar Ramos. Marquez must find a way to defeat Ramos in order to pave the way for a huge November meeting with Manny Pacquiao inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Marquez vs. Ramos has flown under the radar a little bit simply because the bout isn't showcased by a major network in America. Still the card is worth note, as Marquez's younger brother Rafael will return to the ring against Nicaragua's Osejo Eusebio while Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez will defend his WBA flyweight title against Mexico's Omar Salado.

David Diaz was originally being considered as a foe for Marquez but the fight fell apart over money issues. The 25-year old Ramos has a decent record at 24-3 with 18 knockouts but is known just as well for his stoppage loss to former champ Jorge Solis last year as he is for any of his wins.

Surely Marquez has respect for Ramos but you can sense he is looking past him and on to Pacquiao.

"This fight is not just for me to prepare, there are a lot of things. It's been five years since I fought next to my brother and that motivates me, and I will probably get better prepared than expected for the third fight with Manny Pacquiao. He knows who beat him twice and this time there will be no controversy. Either I win by knockout or he knocks me out."

Source: http://www.examiner.com

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The Battle for Pacquiao-Marquez III

On November 12, Manny Pacquiao will face Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas; that much is known. However, what is still to be decided is just who will handle the pay-per-view broadcast. Will it be Showtime/CBS, which distributed Pacquiao’s last bout versus Shane Mosley, or HBO Pay-Per-View/Time Warner?

The bidding has just begun.

 

Bob Arum, whose company, Top Rank, handles the “Pac-Man” told Maxboxing on Friday, "All I can tell you is what’s happened; last night we got the proposal from HBO, which frankly, blew [Top Rank President]Todd [DuBoef] and myself away. It’s the most unbelievable proposal for a company wanting to be involved in a pay-per-view that I’ve ever seen. Huge, huge, huge, investment in assets both in Time Warner and outside of Time Warner. Just incredible. I don’t want to get into details but it looked to me like it’s $15 million worth of commercials and that type of thing. It’s being analyzed now by our media buyers. And based on that- and it appears to me to be much bigger than even the great amount that we got from CBS for the last fight- we will take what we have to CBS and see what CBS and Showtime come up with."

When asked if both entities will get one shot to make a pitch or if they will go back-and-forth with counter-offers, Arum said, "I don’t know; we haven’t decided that but that really wouldn’t be fair at all. But at some point, it’s gotta stop. At some point, we’ll say, ’Hey, you take the fight; just give us the money’ and we’ll walk away."

 

Arum chuckled as he said this because he knows his company and Pacquiao are in a win-win situation here. The decision to move Pacquiao to Showtime’s pay-per-view franchise caused quite the stir back in January. Not only did HBO lose one of the two big bona fide pay-per-view franchises in the sport (alongside Floyd Mayweather) but the new deal had the promise of utilizing other platforms to market the event instead of the stale, formulaic cookie-cutter that Top Rank believed had run its course. In what is now a multi-platform media age, it wasn’t just enough to promote on the network itself. The move to Showtime included their version of “24/7” getting airtime on CBS.

 

It’s hard to say just how much of a game-changer this was. One could make the argument that any Pacquiao fight would reach a certain benchmark. Others would argue that despite facing an opponent that was thought to have almost no chance of winning, the Mosley event on May 7^th did around 1.3-1.4 million pay-per-view buys, the most ever for any Pacquiao promotion.

 

At the very least, it may have awoken the sleeping giant that was HBO.

"Well, I think we changed the whole nature of the business of promoting boxing on its ear; no question about it," said Arum, who did not deal with Ross Greenburg or Kery Davis, when he met with HBO, but skipped them on the corporate ladder. "Up to this point, HBO’s model was relatively limited to HBO. They did a good job but it was limited to HBO. Of course, that’s how they liked it because if you put the HBO assets against Showtime’s assets, there was really no contest. HBO is bigger, although that gap has narrowed. Now, we’ve brought in CBS and the network exposure that changed everything and now HBO, Time Warner is playing defense and they gotta come up with something to counter it and indeed exceed it- which they’ve done."

 

The paradigm seems to have shifted and it seems to be more of a two-horse race as it relates to landing the sport’s biggest pay-per-view attractions. Now Top Rank gets to play two media titans against each other. Even Scott Boras would be impressed.

"It’s really closed [the gap]," stated Arum, "and that’s to the tremendous advantage of Top Rank, which first of all, knows what they’re doing as far as marketing a fight and secondly, the ability to interface with both companies."

 

Source: http://www.secondsout.com

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Pacquiao-Marquez fight to use instant replay

The third installment of Manny Pacquiao's epic rivalry with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez will use the instant replay rule, which is being utilized by major sports leagues in North America.

The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) has approved the use of the instant replay in Pacquiao’s 12-round showdown with Marquez on November 12 for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown.

Instant replay is the replaying of video footage of an event or incident in a sport event very soon after it has occurred.

NAC executive director Keith Kizer said the instant replay is going to assure the decision made by the referee will not be controversial like in their first two meetings.

Pacquiao's first fight with Marquez in 2004 ended in a draw even though the Filipino southpaw floored Marquez thrice in the first round. In their 2008 rematch, Pacquiao knocked down Marquez in the third round on his way of clinching a controversial split decision win.

The instant replay rule will also be used in professional unarmed combat sports like boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) in Nevada State.

Kizer said the instant replay will be used to see if there is a foul in stoppage of a fight but not to review the knockdown calls made by the referee.

The NAC has decided to adopt the instant replay rule amid concern over rising cases of illegal blows in MMA fights that were not seen by the referee.

Kizer cited the 2008 loss of MMA fighter Anthony Johnson to Kevin Burns in their Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight match where the latter was awarded a technical knockout win.

Video replays, however, showed Burns poked Johnson in the eye but was not seen by the referee.

The National Hockey League, National Football League, Canadian Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball are using the instant replay rule.

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv

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Improved Pacquiao might be easier for Marquez says Nacho Beristain

If you ask Hall of Fame trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain who won the first two battles between Manny Pacquiao and his fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez - the straight shooting Mexican will pull no strings.

"We fought 24 hard rounds with a man who has been made into a mythical figure," said Beristain.  "After both fights, I feel my fighter beat Pacquiao, but the politics of boxing took over."

The record books will forever show Pacquiao and Marquez fighting to a draw in their first fight, and Pacquiao taking a split decision in their second affair.

What makes Marquez such a tough opponent for Pacquiao?

"Pacquiao jumps in and out like a wild cat," said Beristain.  "His speed and agility is amazing, but Marquez's own speed and boxing intelligence allows him to control Pacquiao inside punching range."

Beristain believes that Marquez's ability to counter-punch Pacquiao within striking distance will once again be the key to a successful performance against Pacquiao.

The trainer even goes as far as to say the recent improvements by Pacquiao, might help Marquez.

"Freddie Roach is an excellent tainer," said Beristain.  "Pacquiao's improvements from a technical perspective have been incredible.  But, with Pacquiao being a more refined fighter, and jumping in and out less - Marquez will be able to handle the Filipino's offense even better."

Pacquiao vs. Marquez III takes place on November 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 Source: http://www.examiner.com

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Why the long delay

One thing I can’t understand is why did it take so long for Manny Pacquiao to agree to a rematch if promoter Bob Arum foresees the Trilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez  to be “a great fight.”

Remember that Marquez has been openly challenging  Pacquiao to a third match, saying that he was the actual victor  in their second match staged in Las Vegas in 2008.

The fight ended in a split decision win for Pacquiao.

On television, Pacquiao has been ignoring if not refusing the challenge outright. He said nobody will watch  a Pacquiao-Marquez fight,  possibly because he considers the Mexican fighter a has-been.

I don’t know what made him change his mind.

* * *

In case you haven’t heard,  Arum is planning a world tour  for Pacquiao and Marquez to promote “The Trilogy” which is set Nov. 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The tour will cover seven cities in eight countries, starting in Manila this August.

From here,  the fighters will go on a whirlwind visit of cities like Tokyo, Singapore, Abu Dhabi,  London, New York and Los Angeles.

The tour will end in  Marquez’s homeland, Mexico.

* * *

Arum explained why he is taking Pacquiao and Marquez thousands of miles all over the world together for a promotional tour.

“Pacquiao  has long ceased to be only a product in the Philippines, the United States and Mexico.  He is already a global icon and therefore we are going around the world to promote this great fight. The tour will start in Manila this August and will end in Mexico in September, with the necessary time  required for both  fighters to return  to their camps.

“It will be a great fight and we expect it in 1.6 million homes on pay-per-view,” Arum said.

Speaking of pay-per-view,  an article in  the Pacland Website said  the undefeated  Floyd Mayweather Jr., who has  been inactive for more than a year now, continues to be  the top PPV seller in the United States, with Pacquiao coming in second.

Mayweather’s  comeback fight  against Victor Ortiz is scheduled  on Sept. 17 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Source: http://sports.inquirer.net

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