This is great news: Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II did 400,000 pay-per-view buys, a record for a bout at lightweight (135 lbs.) or under. It was a great fight, as was Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III at 122 lbs., which had a nice live gate and appearances at ringside by the likes of Jack Nicholson and Sylvester Stallone. Taken together, it might be evidence that we’re moving toward a more non-heavyweightcentric worldview. Great fights are great fights. Who cares what their weight is? Which is not to say that there wasn’t some funny business from both sides in Pacquiao-Marquez. Thomas Hauser shined some light on the irregularities about the fight. Hmmm. Rematches of both Pacquiao-Marquez and Vazquez-Marquez are still possible, of course, but there will not be a Brian Vera-Andy Lee II. Vera’s promoter, Jeff Wald of the television “Contender” group, told ESPN.com: “Not a chance on God’s earth… No reason to. Lee doesn’t mean anything. There is no upside to a rematch. There are better fights out there for Brian. There are more meaningful opponents. I’m very proud of what Brian did because nobody gave him a chance. Why should we do a rematch? What for? There’s better money elsewhere.” Too bad. I was curious whether Vera’s win over Lee was a flukey kind of thing or a real exposure of the talented middleweight (160 lbs.) prospect. And where’s this better money? The rematch could’ve been on the undercard with fellow middleweights Kelly Pavlik-Gary Lockett in June, so Vera’s going to have to get a better slot than that or he’ll have lost out on whatever heat there was in him upsetting Lee.
Pacquiao-Marquez II Was Gangbusters Business; Vera-Lee II Won’t Happen
Posted by Tim Starks on Mar 29, 2008 00:58
