By Rick Reeno
A few weeks back, I reported that Golden Boy Promotions was looking at a possible doubleheader for Houston, Texas, in early 2009, with the main event pitting WBA featherweight champion Chris John (41-0, 22KOs) against hometown favorite Rocky Juarez (28-4, 20KOs), and a co-feature battle between former lightweights champions Michael Katsidis (23-2, 20KOs) and Jesus Chavez (44-4, 30KOs).
As predicted, John-Juarez fell apart over weight. Juarez stayed true to his word and has no desire to move back down to featherweight. John still has an upcoming defense on October 24 against Hiroyuki Enoki (27-0-2, 19KOs) at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Golden Boy would like to match Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4, 36KOs) against Juan Diaz (34-1, 17KOs) as the main event for the Houston card, but there is some doubt that Marquez will take that fight, tentative for January, without his longtime trainer Nacho Beristain in camp. Beristain is in Big Bear, California, training Oscar De La Hoya for his December 6 bout with Manny Pacquiao.
"The last thing Golden Boy told me is they wanted Marquez to fight Juan, but I heard he doesn't want to take the fight without Nacho," said Diaz's manager, Willie Savannah. "I really think he's just chasing Manny Pacquiao. We want to fight in January."
A recent report in Mexico suggests that Golden Boy is planning to place Marquez vs. Diaz in Las Vegas, with offers being made to both sides for the fight. The reports notes that Golden Boy is waiting on an answer from Marquez. I have no doubt that Golden Boy reached out to Marquez, but Diaz's manager, Savannah, is in the dark about a planned fight in Las Vegas and has yet to receive specific details about the fight with Marquez.
Savannah and Diaz still plan to move forward if an answer is not received from Marquez in the near future. They don't want to sit around and wait on Marquez to make a decision. They would like to fight at least 3 to 4 times in 2009.
