By Pedro Reyna: A sports award event took place today and was aired on the spanish channel, Univision. The event was sponsored by Tecate and Univision. In the house, Oscar De La Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Roberto Duran were all present. Julio Cesar Chavez received a legendary award, while Roberto Duran received a similar award that was titled differently. Despite the big names, the night belonged to Juan Manuel Marquez.
Juan Manuel Marquez was awarded for Hispanic Boxer of the Year and Best Hispanic Athlete of the Year. The other nominees for Boxer of the Year were Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Juan Manuel Lopez, Chris Arreola and Victor Ortiz. The nominees for Athlete of the Year were Carmelo Anthony, Cuahtemoc Blanco, Tony Gonzalez, Rafael Nadal, Guillermo Ochoa, Lorena Ochoa and Francisco Rodriguez.
It wasn’t much of a shocker to see Marquez receive both awards. However, did were these awards a tactic by De La Hoya (who was sitting in the front row and has major ties to the network Univision) to promote Marquez as a boxing superstar and assist sales for the Mayweather-Marquez fight or did Marquez truly deserve these awards or are both of these explanations reasonable?
Let me break down both of the awards. Compared to the other nominees for Boxer of the Year, Marquez did have the most impressive year. Chavez Jr certainly did not deserve the award after fighting D- fighters is entire career. Juan Manuel Lopez was very sharp and a strong nominee, although, Lopez has not fought the best of the division as Marquez did at lightweight versus Juan Diaz and Joel Casamayor. Chris Arreola, very much like Lopez, did not face the best opposition in the division. The last nominee is Victor Ortiz… mmm… must I say more? Therefore, it is logical and reasonable that Marquez deserved this award.
Athlete of the Year included several nominees that were worthy of the award. Carmelo Anthony had an excellent year, in which, he led the Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals in the NBA. Anthony needed the rest of his teammates tonight as he did this past season. Cuahtemoc Blanco, had a fascinating season with Chicago Fire, a Major League Soccer team. Though, he did not have a “Best Athlete” type of season. Tony Gonzalez is one of the best tight ends In the NFL, however, his Kansas City Chiefs were 2-14 last season. Tony may have a better chance of winning this award next year, as he has been traded to the Atlanta Falcons (a better team than the Chiefs). Guillermo Ochoa, Lorena Ochoa and Francisco Rodriguez are good athletes but needed a more impressive overall performance for the year. Rafael Nadal may have been the nominee who truly deserved the award for the Athlete of the Year. Nadal had an extraordinary year by defeating Roger Federer three times in one year (Federer is called by many, the best Tennis player ever). Tennis is not popular among Hispanics, therefore, Nadal is not nearly popular as Marquez.
The impact of these awards may not be as great as Golden Boy has planned because the majority of the audience were Hispanics. Hispanics already believe in Juan Manuel Marquez in his upcoming fight versus Mayweather. It is the rest of the world that does not believe in Marquez. Hispanics already have the PPV purchased and their tickets bought. It is the rest of the world that doesn’t want to fork out the cash. Either way, Marquez had an excellent year with a couple of superb performances against Casamayor and Diaz. The night belonged to Marquez and much appreciation was displayed from Marquez to the fans and the sport of boxing. The man deserves the awards, as boxing deserves warriors like Marquez.
“Fans can dictate the sport… so let us speak out.”
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