All I Want For Christmas Is Hatton-Marquez —On an Undercard
November 19th, 2009
By Zachary M. Johnson: One drinks his own urine, and the other drinks entirely too much Guinness. Both are on the wrong side of thirty. Both are coming off of losses to megastars Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. And they both still think they are main event fighters, apparently, as evidenced by Richard Schaefer’s announcement that Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO) and Ricky Hatton (45-2-0, 32 KO) are currently in talks for a fight to take place in Manchester, England some time in 2010.
That depends how each man views his current career status. Marquez has made every indication that he intends to establish himself, at least for the foreseeable future, in the junior welterweight division. A win over Ricky Hatton could solidify a position for him within the division, even if Hatton does not perform up to expectations. On the other hand, a loss to Hatton, whom many boxing fans and experts have already labeled as a severely faded fighter, could push Marquez into retirement earlier than he had planned.
Hatton’s plans for the future are less clear, and until he begins to answer questions about his next fight, fans will wonder if this matchup is meant to be a less disastrous farewell fight for the Hitman or a possible push for another big payday down the road. A victory against Marquez would serve its purpose as a positive farewell match for Hatton. If he plans to pursue another monster prize fight, a victory could put him one step closer. His idea to host the fight in Manchester would seem to implicate that the former is the case, and that it would very likely be his last professional bout. In any event, one could hardly fault either veteran fighter for making a main event fight that will probably produce the biggest paycheck currently available for both men. But what about the fans?
Manny’s star power was enough to carry the night in his showdown with Miguel Cotto, but aside from the main event, the card was deplorable. The one bright spot amongst the lead-up fights was a victory outing for Israeli champ Yuri Foreman, whose style is sleep-inducing at worst, and at best still should not command a final slot on any large scale pay-per-view undercard.
Assuming that the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is made, this junior welterweight pairing is one that could go a long way toward producing a palatable undercard. If either man is still seeking to improve his legacy, the proximity to what will probably be the biggest main event in modern boxing history could be a nice career bump; a solid showing for either fighter could potentially land him a desirable rematch against the loser of Pacquiao vs. Mayweather.
To be clear, though, this fight will not happen on any undercard—not even on as grand a stage as Manny vs. Floyd could provide. Both men are seeking a main event purse, along with some relevancy, in a sport that has become Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather’s two-man show.
And that, frankly, is a shame.
No one wants to take money from the pockets of Marquez or Hatton by tucking them into an undercard, and no one truly expects these fighters to eschew top billing—especially their large, loyal fan bases. The value for fight fans that shell out fifty-five dollars to watch pay-per-view boxing, however, would be great and boxing as a whole could benefit mightily from producing a better quality product. It is all hope and speculation, and regrettably it is all futile. But in the holiday spirit, does it hurt to wish?
Tags: 31 Responses to “All I Want For Christmas Is Hatton-Marquez —On an Undercard”
Leave a Reply
please use above banner to link back to us!
exactly many hatton fights never heard of manny pacquiao till hatton fought him.
It’s funny how alot of people comment about legendary fighter when then just started watching boxing since manny became a star lol
Anbody who says these two fighters are losers
1. Are mad.
2. Obviously know nothing about boxing as a sport.
Both have been fantastic fighters, great champions and entertaing to boot. Both Hatton and Marquez have contributed a lot to the sport of boxing giving us fans many a thrilling fight true gentlemen in and outside of the ring. Fu*king arm chair fans! you know nothing!
oli i understand your opinion on the matter with hatton i respect him for tryin to beat the best thou and i think he brings alot to the table in fights revenue and win or lose hes going to bring it in the ring thats why hes so popular with fans.I think hatton would be 2 much for kahn at present but i agree bradley would be a very tough test but it wont happen like you say money talks i understand your point totally.
DELBOY- uv still missed the point. Its ok losing to the 2 P4P kings when ur being paid millions and your reputation isnt on the line.
BUT lose to bradley and uv truly been exposed
Hatton need to fight Zab before the end of the year as a comeback fight then early next year against JMM that would be great to see if Hatton deserve a shot at JMM.
Putting aside the relevancy of a Hatton-Marquez fight, I’m in complete agreement that boxing needs to be putting on better cards with big fights other than the headliner. UFC does it all the time where you get to see a whole host of big names and contenders on the same PPV.
to oli you said hatton should fight the best yeah ok fair play is floyd and pacman not the best ??? and im no expert but i would say the names above are better than khan or bradley.
MANUEL PEREZ, AS A LOYAL MARQUEZ ‘PROTECTOR’, WHY DON’T YOU SAY OR WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT HIS PROPOSED FIGHT WITH HATTON INSTEAD OF DEVOTING YOUR ENTIRER CAREER, SO IT SEEMS, IN WRITING ONLY ABOUT MANNY PACQUIAO?
why do you guys called them undercards? you guys are wrong you ****. marquez gave pacman to of his thougthest fights a remember he doesnt want a third.
Some of you guys seem to have missed the point. Of course these guys are capable of selling out a venue, and I would pay to watch it on PPV. But don’t pretend that you hate the idea of a stacked undercard. This isn’t a knock on either of these fighters. It’s about a preponderance of anemic undercards, even for huge fights. I think some of you didn’t like the title at the top and never bothered reading the last paragraph.
Stan13–Well put. I think Angulo may be THE undercard fighter of the year (even though he’s done at least one main event this year), but I pull for the guy and I would hate to see him fight Foreman. Angulo has trouble with boxers (ala the Cintron fight). But if the card you suggested was tacked onto the bottom of a Pacquiao Mayweather main event, are you saying you wouldn’t be excited as hell to see it?
It’s just a WISH, guys. Don’t take it so personally.
It should be the main event on HBO boxing after dark.
I’d like to see Cotto v Hatton next year fighting in Madison Square Garden at 147. Hatton’s killing himself trying to make 140.
On an undercard? Are you mad?
That’s two exciting boxers in the same ring, and with Hatton’s popularity too?
Take a step back when you write!
I’d love to see that fight.
Hatton v Marquez is a good fight… isn’t it?
Perhaps we would like to see Hatton beat Bradley (which he would, by KO) or Marquez face Valero but boxing is an annoying sport at times.
I would be happy to see Hatton and Marquez in the ring together. I think it makes for an interesting match-up. Saying it should be an undercard is insulting.
under card? i think thats a little harsh..when fights like chad dawson vs glenn johnson get to be on the main event, this would certainly quaify
To the idiot at no:1 You could never slap Oli in your queer career, Oli would kick u so hard in the face your nose would be on the back of your head.
To the tight scotsman- Nobody said khan was anywhere near an elite fighter
To Nothing: Your a perfect example of whats wrong with hattons fans, you lack knowledge and ur a bell end
stop complaining about hatton fans, no1 cares about your opinion and you have already felt the need to say it twice
hatton beat tyzu when people labeled him one of the best p4p. make excuses all you like because i don’t really care what you think he was a great fighter.. and if you don’t like him why comment on this
Let the BEST loser win!
Marquez is still an elite fighter, hatton not so much, think this would be a bad fight for hatton to say the truth. Hatton is 2-2 across the pond and JMM is a supreme counter puncher, intelligent boxer that gets better as the fight goes on, we all know Hatton fades, JMM was #2 p4p in September until his mismatch fight with Pbf, other than that he KO’d Casamayor, Diaz, and in my opinion and any one who knows anything about boxing he beat Pac twice. So Hatton should fight Amir to make him look good in a farewell fight and call it quits.
WHY IS KHANS NAME BEIN BANDED ABOUT? not long ago he was branded over rated now some idiot up there considers him an elite fighter F****n joke.
hatton would fatten him after he stopped runnin as he has no endurance
got luck ricky whatever u decide to do. u deserve it mate
name says it all, such a loser with you rconstant hatton bashing. grow up you mug!!
This could be a good match.
theres only 1 ricky fatton
Ofcourse they are main event materiel.
Its not about what level its at, if its for a title, that they have both just been beat, that they are over 30, out of shape, bla bla and bla.
Its about bums on seats and tv interest. And Hatton fans have gone nowhere, they will sell a place out STILL to watch Hatton, especially against such a huge name like Marquez.
I understand that its far from a mega fight but Hatton sells and he sells well.
If anyone thinks this money making sham is actually a meaningful or relevent fight then you must be seriously stupid. Then again hatton fans are the worst in the world.
Why dont the pair of them try fighting the belt holders in the division? surely thats more meaningful since neither of these two are the best in this division anymore
They are not at the top but, they are a lot closer to the top than they are to the bottom! This should be a main event, and it is not about the best in the sport, but it is an exciting STYLE matchup. Instead of wishing for them to appear on an undercard of a MEGA FIGHT; wish for their fight to be a main event combined with a strong undercard, say Alfred Angulo vs. Yuri Foreman or any top contender junior middle. And another fight with exciting styles with ranked fighters. Then throw in a couple of prospect fights.
I hate to say it but Don King used to put together much better PPV cards than Top Rank or Golden Boy are putting together these days. He had great undercards to go along with Tyson fights. I was never a fan of Tyson or King but from top to bottom King’s cards were better.
Same old ricky hatton, aim lower and be realistic with who u fight. You are not an elite fighter. fight bradley, khan or another 140 belt holder you stupid clown when will u and ur brain dead fans learn
WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY would this be a good fight?
Hatton laughably still must consider himself a top drawer fighter, and marquez is fat and slow and old at anything above 135. If either of them are still fighting for honour then both should be trying to fight tim bradley or at least amir khan instead shouldnt they?
idiot… an undercard??? you are a joke.
Too bad for quality fighters to be labelled as such-loosers. Hope they can rebound back to being important boxers again