By James Blears
The pride of Scotland, Scott Harrison will put his WBO Featherweight belt up for grabs at Glasgow’s Braehead Arena on October 1st. But his as yet unnamed opponent won’t be either WBC champ Injin Chi or WBA title holder Juan Manuel Marquez.
Marquez’s Manager Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain has confirmed the JMM plan is to take on WBA title holder Chris John as soon as possible. Marquez is still the WBA’s Unified Champion and John holds the bread and butter version.
That might stem the slide, which started when the IBF stripped Marquez of its belt. No promoter was willing to fork out a bid of fifty thousand dollars…or more…for his mandatory against Phafrakorb Rakkietgym, who was previously leveled in less than a round by Manny Pacquiao, one division lower.
Mr Beristain said, the next phase of the plan was to regain the IBF version of the title.
After that, Scott Harrison would be on the radar screen, and that could be at the end of November, or possibly later.
As for Chi, Mr Beristain said he could soon be undergoing surgery on the heel of his foot, so an October clash for him is unlikely.
Harrison has said he’ll fight either Marquez or Chi, any time, any place anywhere.
And Marquez camp have already said they would prefer neutral turf, preferably in the United States. That’s likely to mean Las Vegas.
Marquez’s real problems started when Beristain and he turned down a juicy 750,000 dollar purse for a keenly anticipated February re-match with Manny Pacquiao. Manny had already accepted the same money, but the Mexican contingent insisted that as champion, their man deserved the lion’s share of the cash.