Great tripleheader 10/1: Nishioka vs. Marquez, Gonzalez vs. Soto, Kamegai vs. Munoz

At the MGM Grand, there will be two world titles and a contending future on the line as a trio of Mexicans overcoming recent roadblocks chase down three men standing between them and glory - two Japanese and their pal from Nicaragua.

Toshiaki "Speed King" Nishioka brings his WBC 122lb title to the ring against Rafael Marquez, moving back down in weight for the first time since the second loss to Israel Vazquez (and final chapter of their trilogy). Nishioka has Marquez's old belt, that he held oh so briefly after beating Vazquez in their first meeting. Nishioka has managed to keep hold of it much longer - over three years. Marquez no doubt wants to bolster the five months of possession currently logged in the record books. Both men have awesome power for their size. This is an excellent match-up.

Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez will dangle the carrot of his WBA 108lb title in front of a hungry Gilberto Keb Baas - who is far better than his record and will be looking to outfit himself with some new gold after just recently losing his own WBC title to a longtime rival that just has his number. This is another terrific match-up.

Yoshihiro Kamegai is a massive puncher building up a fearsome reputation at home but perhaps most well-known for a bizarre accident wherein he knocked out a referee, and for pummeling Jose Alfaro into submission a year back on another split bill with Nishioka and Gonzalez. He is just now fighting outside of Tokyo for the first time. His first opponent abroad is a doozy - Jesus Soto Karass, who gave top welterweight prospect Mike Jones 24 rounds of hell (the first twelve in particular). Unlike the other two match-ups there is no title on the line, but as a possible last chance for JSK and one-and-only chance for Kamegai - not to mention their styles - fireworks are plausible, downright PROBABLE. :good

For some reason this is only being carried by Fox Sports. :? Don't get me wrong - at least it's being televised. That alone is something to be thankful for. Why isn't this BIG event at the mecca of boxing on a larger network, though?

OK, fair enough - HBO is already airing the middleweight doubleheader of Martinez-Barker and Lee-Vera II that night. Fine. They are off the hook.

Why exactly isn't this card good enough for a Showtime Championship Boxing, though??? There are after all two world championships on the line. They have no other commitments that night in all of combat sports - it isn't even like they have a Strikeforce event to take programming precedence. For whatever reason, Showtime is just taking a pass on the first Saturday in October rather than jumping on this goldmine.

Shame on Showtime for dropping the ball here. This would be a great opportunity for them to widen their horizons and viewer base by showcasing both the lower weights and the international scene in one stroke. They are missing out on putting their stamp on a very entertaining show, and these six great talents will have to settle for a much narrower audience than they could have been exposed to. :verysad

 

Damn, I just realized I like all six of these guys. My disappointment will be threefold no matter what happens, as losses here will be quite damaging to pretty much any of their careers.

On the other hand, this is going to be so ****ing

 

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BRB, lurking on the Australian Freshwater Turtles forum for a few [FONT=&quot]days[/FONT]... weeks.

edit: FFS, ESB. Buggy vBookie, glass jawed server, and you don't even have BASIC freaking modifications to vBulletin BBcode?

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What are all those ad banners and BN24 paying for, anyway?

 

According to their website:

$50, $100, $200 (incl tax)


Compare to "Star Power" a couple of weeks before:

$1,250 (plus a $46.25 Handling fee) $1,000 (plus a $38.35 Handling fee) $600 (plus a $31.15 Handling fee) $300 (plus a $24.15 Handling fee) $150 (plus a $13.45 Handling fee) :scaredas:




The cheap seats for Mayweather-Ortiz are almost as much as ringside for Nishioka-Marquez...