By Jake Donovan
While Marco Antonio Rubio and his team spent the better part of the past two weeks promoting the heck out of a hometown showing against Jorge Cota, discussion of his next fight was already taking place.
Rubio looked sensational in scoring a 7th round stoppage of previously unbeaten Jorge Cota this past Saturday in Torreon, Mexico. The win couldn’t have come at a better time, as talks immediately surfaced of the middleweight contender facing another unbeaten fighter in Peter Quillin.
The fight is being groomed for a co-feature slot on a Showtime card headlined by a welterweight title fight between Randall Bailey and Devon Alexander. The September 8 show has yet to land a destination, as Bailey – who won a vacant belt with a stirring 11th round knockout of Mike Jones last month – has only stated, “Anywhere but St. Louis” as his preference, not wanting to travel to his opponent’s hometown.
Barring the card being shoved in a stale casino setting, a logical destination is required for the show to properly compete against the Andre Ward v. Chad Dawson showdown airing that same night on HBO.
Based on the success of Rubio’s homecoming this past weekend, his handlers can only begin to dream of the business to be done with an even more significant fight in place.
“I got a call from Eric Gomez (Golden Boy VP and matchmaker); he likes the idea of putting Peter Quillin against Marco Antonio Rubio,” states Oswaldo Kuchle, Rubio’s promoter. “We agree that it would be a great fight for Showtime. Rubio is ready to go. We are just waiting on an official offer.”
Rubio (54-6-2, 47KO) was coming off of a 12-round points loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. this past February. The bout was his second failed bid at a major title, having also suffered a 9th round knockout at the hands of then-lineal middleweight Kelly Pavlik more than two years ago.
Rubio managed ten straight wins between title fights, including a huge upset knockout win over David Lemieux last April in a fight that aired live on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. It was the second straight fight in which Rubio bumped off an unbeaten fighter, having also bumped off the less-heralded Wilson Santana three months prior.
Saturday’s knockout against Cota made it three wins over unbeaten fighters in the span of 18 months, with Rubio’s attention now focused on next knocking off Quillin from his perch.
Chances are, the fight will be accepted for the right offer, no matter the location. But that hasn’t stopped Rubio’s team from bringing to attention where such a fight stands to make the most money.
“Whatever Golden Boy offers, we are prepared to make the same offer for Quillin to fight in Mexico,” Kuchle insists. “Rubio’s fight with Cota sold 8,300 tickets this past Saturday. Imagine what kind of business we can do with a fight against Quillin.”
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
