LAS Vegas, NV — Bob Arum wants to put added flavor on the fourth fight of Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao and Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez on Dec. 8 as the Top Rank Promotions CEO plans to pit another Filipino fighter against a Mexican in the MGM Grand Arena that night thereby adding rivalry between the two boxing crazy nations.
“We hope to have (Mercito) Gesta against (Miguel) Vasquez,”said Arum.
The undefeated Gesta is slowly climbing up the rankings in the lightweight division after scoring two successive knockout victories this year making him a popular name among Filipino boxing fans.
Vasquez who hails from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico is the IBF lightweight champion for the last two years and his belt is a target for Gesta.
But Vasquez has to fulfill his mandatory bout first against challenger Marvin Quintero. Arum hopes that the fight between the two can be done in the soonest possible time so that Vasquez, if victorious will be ready for Gesta in December.
“We are trying to make sure that it takes place by the end of September or the beginning of October,” Arum revealed.
Quintero’s promoter Gary Shaw informed Philboxing that a purse bid for the Chavez vs. Quintero bout is scheduled to take place on Sept. 18 in the IBF offices in New Jersey.
“Whoever wins that purse bid will have the fight.” Shaw said. The promoter stated that the fight is planned for October 27th. If his promotion wins the purse bid, Shaw intends to put the fight Stateside and on HBO of which he has an allotted spot. But if Zanfer Promotions who handles Vasquez wins it, the promoter believes that the fight will be held in Mexico.”
VILORIA TOO
Shaw thinks that Arum is “running ahead” when this writer informed him of the planned Vasquez-Gesta fight on December.
“He (Arum) better take a step back and wait until Quintero fights,” Shaw stated.
But Arum has a Plan B in case the Vasquez-Gesta fight does not materialize.
“If we can’t make that fight, we’ll have to maybe do another Mexican-Filipino fight, maybe (Hernan) Tyson Marquez against (Brian) Viloria.”
WBA Flyweight king Hernan Marquez and Brian Viloria who holds the WBO Flyweight belt were supposed to fight on Sept. 29 in California, but the fight was postponed due to issues regarding venue and television network coverage. The unification bout between the two is still in limbo as of press time.
However, Arum is determined to finalize one of those fights to add spark to the Pacquiao-Marquez showdown.
“One of those fights will be in the undercard,” assured Arum. /Rich Mazon of philboxing.com