By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The vice president and award-winning international matchmaker of Golden Boy Promotions Eric Gomez says reigning WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez “really deserves a rematch maybe more so than ( Marco Antonio) Barrera did” with Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao.
Gomez who attended the highly successful 45th Annual Convention of the World Boxing Council at the historic Manila Hotel told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that their first meeting was “a controversial fight that ended in a draw” in which Marquez was dropped three times in the first round but counter-punched smartly to salvage a draw.
Gomez expressed confidence that a Pacquiao-Marquez rematch could do “the same kind of numbers that Erik Morales did and the same kind of numbers that Barrera did against Manny” which was around 350,000 buys on pay-per-view.
The Golden Boy vice president noted that “there seems to be a nice little buzz, a hype for the fight. I know that back in the States a lot of Mexicans really want to see that fight and obviously the Filipinos are always going to come out each time Manny fights because that’s just the type of fans they are. Its going to be very successful.”
Gomez paid tribute to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schhaefer who has been negotiating with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum for a Pacquiao-Marquez rematch saying “if there is one thing about Richard, he knows how to get it done.”
Gomez indicated that Arum would “obviously want to get the best deal for his fighter and himself and Richard (Schaefer) obviously he has an obligation to our fighter so that’s where there can be a little bit of a struggle or problem.” However, he expressed confidence that Schaefer and Arum “know each other well enough to be able to make this happen.”
