Solid Undercard Shaping Up for Marquez/Diaz II
It's easy to be jaded about the undercard of a boxing PPV card. Too many times, promoters simply worry about presenting an attractive main event and pad the undercard with filler fights. In many cases, these are showcase bouts for featured fighters under the same promotional umbrella designed to make them look good against lacklustre and overwhelmed opponents. In many other cases, two fighters are just thrown together without a lot of thought with a hope that maybe a good fight will happen.
Too many times, boxing promoters believe that a PPV card lives or dies on the strength of the headlining fight. If the bout at the top of the card is strong and entertaining, fans will leave feeling satisfied; meanwhile, they don't seem to think that fans will remember a fun undercard if the main event is a bust. This is short-sighted thinking that hurts many promoters – a great undercard can salvage a boring or underwhelming main event, and the combination of a solid undercard and an entertaining main event can convince people to buy more PPVs in the future.
That's certainly the approach that Golden Boy Promotions is taking in building the card to the rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on July 31. It's unlikely that Golden Boy Promotions needed to put on a strong card in order to convince many people to order the fight. After all, the first meeting between Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs) and Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs) last February in Houston was a classic. Both fighters were cut and hurt during the fight, but Marquez was able to gain control in the middle rounds of the bout for the WBO and WBA lightweight titles. He hurt Diaz in the eighth round and knocked him down in the ninth round before stopping him later in the round to end what was named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine.
Despite the interest in the rematch, Golden Boy Promotions has taken an aggressive approach in filling out the undercard, putting together several intriguing bouts which could have headlined cards on major American cable television stations. Headlining the contest will be the first world title shot for undefeated Daniel Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs) who will be taking on fellow unbeaten prospect Dmitry Pirog (16-0, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBO middleweight title.
Jacobs has been pegged for stardom in boxing for several years and his bout against Pirog will be his first opportunity to ascend to the rank of world champion. Jacobs earned his shot at the title with a string of impressive performances, including most recently claiming the NABF and WBO NABO middleweight titles on May 15 by stopping tough veteran Juan Astorga in the second round. He'll be taking on a tough Russian making his American debut in the 30-year-old Pirog, who stopped Sergei Melis in the sixth round of his last bout.
Perhaps the most exciting fight on the undercard will pit a pair of former world champions who meet with a chance at a major fight in the future on the line. Former featherweight and super featherweight champion Robert Guerrero (26-1-1, 18 KOs) will square off in a 10-round junior welterweight bout against former Cuban Olympic gold medallist Joel Casamayor (37-4-1, 22 KOs). Guerrero took a hiatus from boxing and gave up his super featherweight title to care for his ailing wife during her battle with cancer but returned in April to beat Roberto Arrieta. The 38-year-old Casamayor has won titles in two weight classes as well and is looking for one more title shot after beating Jason Davis.
Another solid fight on the undercard showcases former title contender Sakio Bika (28-3-2, 19 KOs) taking on undefeated Jean Paul Mendy (28-0-1, 16 KOs) in an IBF super middleweight title eliminator.
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