Rafael Marquez hand injury has fight in doubt, Bradley-Alexander deal close
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Mexico’s Rafael Marquez suffered a hand injury when a car window or trunk accidentally closed on it, and will undergo a doctor’s examination in Mexico City tonight to determine whether his Sept. 18 featherweight bout against Juan Manuel Lopez in Las Vegas can still happen.
‘We don’t know the extent of the injury,’ Marquez’s promoter Gary Shaw told The Times on Thursday. ‘It could be off, we have to wait and see.’
Shaw said many details about Marquez’s situation are unclear for now. He said he should know more by Friday morning.
Shaw spent Thursday in New York moving toward a deal to make a compelling junior-welterweight bout on Jan. 29 between his champion, Timothy Bradley of Palm Springs, and St. Louis’ Devon Alexander, who’s promoted by Don King. The bout would be a non-pay-per-view bout televised on HBO.
‘HBO has presented a fair offer that both myself and Don have accepted, and now we need to take it to Timothy and [his manager, Cameron Dunkin] and Devon and his team,’ Shaw said.
Shaw said that although King would like to keep the bout in Alexander’s hometown, Shaw wants to place the fight in a ‘huge urban market starved for a big fight,’ such as New Orleans or Washington, D.C.
Shaw also said Showtime has invested into a four-fighter bantamweight series that will pit Yonnhy Perez vs. Joseph ‘King Kong’ Agbeko and Abner Mares vs. Vic Darchinyan later this year, in November or December. The site hasn’t been determined, but Southern California would appear an obvious destination given that all but Agbeko have fought or reside here.
-- Lance Pugmire
