Israel Vazquez, Rafael Marquez Want a Fourth War
By Mark Vester
Mexican rivals, Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez, want the chance to stage a fourth war at featherweight. After three blood and guts battles, a fourth fight is what both boxers want the most. Marquez wants the fight so bad that he plans to postpone a possible tuneup on August 22 to pursue an October 17 date against Vazquez.
"I will no longer fight on August 22 because I want to fight Vazquez on October 17 fight with Vazquez. That's the fight. He wants it and so does Golden Boy Promotions," Marquez told The Record.
Vazquez's manager, Frank Espinoza, says a fourth fight is not likely in 2009 because both major networks, Showtime and HBO, are not willing to invest in a fourth meeting. Both networks have tight budgets until the end of the year - and the promoters are not about to invest millions of dollars to make it a pay-per-view with a low chance of making a profit.
"HBO has two very important pay-per-view dates, Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez in September and Miguel Cotto against Manny Pacquiao in November. October is the World Series. We can add to that, that Showtime has already made a strong investment in the super middleweight tournament. The situation is complicated and the promoters would have to make a major investment that they are not so confident of recovering," said Espinoza.
Vazquez, like Marquez, hopes the promoters trust them enough to put up the money for a fourth meeting on pay-per-view. He says the chances of a decent buyrate are good.
"When I'm walking on the street, people ask me all the time 'when are you going to fight with Rafa again,' so that tells me that good numbers would be obtained," Vazquez said.
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingvester@gmail.com
