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I thought I'd be in Louisville, Kentucky this weekend watching my Miami Hurricanes battle the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John Stadium. But then I remembered that Larry Coker is still the head coach and that there was something even better going on in Las Vegas that same day.
Well, my little faith in Coker was justified as the 'Canes lost to arch-rival Florida State on Labor Day night (dropping UM to 1-3 in their last four contests), and this Saturday night at the MGM Grand, there's a tantalizing tripleheader featuring a main event of the anticipated rematch between Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez, supported by two solid title fights. WBC jr. featherweight titlist Israel Vazquez faces WBO bantamweight king Jhonny Gonzalez, and WBO jr. lightweight belt-holder Jorge Barrios defends his crown against the talented Joan Guzman.
No, it may not be 'Revenge - The Rematches', but this is the best card on paper this year.
The genesis of this card came right around the time that Bernard Hopkins lifted the light heavyweight championship from Antonio Tarver in early June in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was around that time that rumors started circulating that Vazquez - who fought on that card - would be part of a pay-per-view card that featured a return bout between Barrera and Juarez, who put on an exciting contest in Los Angeles in late May. Soon, there were reports that Barrios-Guzman would be added to the bill.
It was great in theory, but much harder to construct in reality. Around the time of Shane Mosley's rematch with Fernando Vargas on July 15th, Golden Boy Promotions worked feverishly to keep this card together. They had to clear more hurdles than Renaldo Nehemiah as this bill nearly fell apart more than once.
“It must have been like three different times," says Eric Gomez, matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions, who was integral in keeping this show together throughout the process. "When you get all these fights with these fighters at these high levels and they've worked hard to get to where they're at, it's risky for them to take these fights. But we were able to convince them that in order for them to get to that next level, to be stars, to be considered fighters that fight on HBO, you have to take these fights."
Hey, no risk, no reward. And in today’s marketplace, where dates are scarce, opportunities like these are difficult to pass up.
“You gotta take these fights," insists Gomez, "and that goes to show that we as promoters, we wish every pay-per-view can be this way. And it's tough when you're dealing with so many different individuals and different characters. A lot of these guys, it's hard to convince them. And I worked very, very hard for over a month-and-a-half to try to convince these guys.
“First it was on, then it was off; on three different occasions it was on and then it was off."
But Gomez and Golden Boy were steadfast. They knew, with Oscar De La Hoya pulling his annual 'bait-n-switch' on this date, they needed a strong card from top to bottom to move pay-per-view units.
“What Oscar wanted to do and that date was for Oscar, he came off that good win with Mayorga and his farewell was supposed to be on September 16th," explained Gomez. "That was the plan. But Oscar had some injuries and he felt that it was too soon for him to be ready. So he said, 'Look, I'm not going to fight. But we're going to do something special. We're going to do something special where the viewers, the fans, are going to be happy, HBO's going to be happy.' Obviously, it's a big downer that Oscar wasn't fighting, but we wanted to come back with something just as good, if not better, with the quality of the fighters and fights."
Barrera-Juarez was one of the best - and most controversial - fights of the year. Many believe the young Houstonian upset the Mexican legend at the Staples Center. And there was even more controversy when it was found that an error in tabulating the scorecards turned a draw into a split decision win for Barrera.
Vazquez is considered the world's best 122-pounder, going up against the dangerous and hard-punching Gonzalez, whose frame should handle the move up in weight easily. Barrios has become a respected titlist who blew out Janos Nagy with a single body shot on HBO on the Barrera-Juarez undercard, and he faces Guzman, who is no stranger to winning titles.
"That was Oscar's plan. We started talking about, 'What kind of fights can we do?' Well, we just matched up the top guys," Gomez says. "We knew Jhonny Gonzalez has been on a roll, Israel himself has been on a roll. We said, 'Hey, let's match them up together.' The same with Barrios; Barrios wanted a big fight, Guzman a big fight. We said, 'Let's match 'em up together.' So that's kind of how it came about. Oscar wanted to substitute himself, his date, with something just as good, if not better."
(The cynics would say they can't wait to see what card Oscar substitutes for himself in May, but of course, I'm not one of those.)
But in all seriousness, many believe that not only have pay-per-view shows proliferated, but they have saturated the market. It's more important than ever to give fans more value for their hard-earned money. The days of trotting out Butterbean, Mia St. John, and a main event are over.
"I really think so," agreed Gomez, "because in the old days a lot of the promoters used to do that. Arum did that for years with Oscar. When Oscar fought on a pay-per-view, he would build up some of his guys. We want to get away from that. We want to put together these great shows because, hey, it's not easy for a lot of people to pay fifty bucks for a pay-per-view. It's not easy, people work hard, and sometimes it's a big letdown with some of the undercard fights."
When things looked bleakest, what kept Gomez going throughout this ordeal to make this card come to fruition was the initial reaction of the press, who had given an immediate thumbs up to this show.
"When we first came out with the idea and we mentioned it to some of you guys in the media, you guys were in awe and were like, 'Wow, that's a special card. If you guys can do it, that's great.'"
And yes, it was a buzzkill to this writer when I heard this card was flat-lining.
Gomez says, "It motivated me, personally, to try to get it done."
Hey, power of the press. And fans, you're welcome.
Gomez, says this is the premier card he's ever been a part of.
“This is the best by far. As a boxing fan - I like to think I'm a boxing fan first, then I'm a matchmaker and a promoter - I'm very, very excited for this card and I can't wait. I can not wait. I'm going to be sitting up front watching every single fight.
"So I'm very, very proud of this card and by far it is the best."
AT THE SPORTS BOOK
That's where I'll be for most of the day. In addition to watching Coker trying to save his job, LSU-Auburn, Michigan-Notre Dame, Oklahoma-Oregon and Clemson-FSU take place in the afternoon, with Florida-Tennessee and Nebraska-USC taking place later in the evening.
What a day.
AS OF NOW
Nothing has been finalized - and this could change by the time you're reading this on Monday morning - but November 25th is back to being a 'Boxing After Dark' on HBO featuring the return of Jesus Chavez. December 2nd could be the rematch between Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright (on regular HBO, I'm told) and Ricky Hatton, who was scheduled to fight on December 9th, could be moved to early January 2007.
Chavez is supposed to face IBF interim lightweight titlist Julio Diaz, who is mulling over an offer to take on Acelino Freitas, or he could be facing the winner of the IBF eliminator between Nate Campbell and Matt Zegan.
As for Kassim Ouma, who was thought to be Taylor's next foe, there is talk of a fight between he and fellow African Ike Quartey somewhere in the near future.
But remember, this could all change (or has already changed) by the time this story is posted.
OCTOBER 21
The on again, off again, pay-per-view show that Golden Boy Promotions had been planning for October 21st in El Paso, Texas, could be a go. The show would feature their newest signee, Juan Manuel Marquez, who is currently the WBO interim featherweight champion. If Frank Warren - who handles the recently arrested Scott Harrison - gives his approval for Marquez to take a fight while Harrison sorts out his legal problems, then the show could go on.
Rounding on that card would be WBO 122-pound king Daniel Ponce de Leon facing Al Seeger and jr. welterweight contender Juan Lazcano facing Manuel Garnica.
FINAL FLURRIES
I hear that newly crowned IBF featherweight king Robert Guerrero will be making his first title defense on the Mayweather-Baldomir undercard on November 4th, possibly against Orlando Salido...Nothing’s been finalized, but it looks like WBO welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito will be facing Joshua Clottey. As for Miguel Cotto, who's also on that Showtime-televised card, Vivian Harris is being discussed...I hope that the reports of Antonio Diaz being approved as an opponent by HBO for hard-punching welterweight prospect Andre Berto weren't / aren't true. Did anyone not see his fight against Hector Quiroz a couple years back? Has nothing been learned with Leavander Johnson? Or is it that just nobody cares?
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Barrera-Juarez 2 --Barrera SD
Guzman-Barrios --Guzman UD
Vasquez-Gonzalez --Vasquez late TKO
Awesome card, fucking fantastic
