Report: Rafael Marquez injured, fight with Lopez off

According to El Nuevo Dia, Rafael Marquez injured his thumb when he closed it in the door of his truck. He won't be allowed to fight for six to eight weeks, which means that he will not be facing Juan Manuel Lopez. No word yet on whether Lopez will keep the date and face someone else, although on less than a month's notice, it's unlikely they'll be able to find a good replacement opponent. This is quite disappointing as, on paper, this was looking like one of the better fights of the year. -- Brickhaus

* * *

The story was first reported in Mexican newspaper Record. If Lopez does keep the date and defend his title on Showtime, it won't be against much of an opponent, because as Brick says, it's about a month's notice. With the 6-8 weeks off for Marquez, plus fighters generally liking to be sure that they aren't coming back from an injury too soon, it's probably unlikely we see this fight take place before the end of 2010.

This leaves fight fans without something else, too: An alternative to that rotten Mosley-Mora PPV on 9/18. There were a lot of things to love about Lopez-Marquez on paper, and that was up there, to be honest. We had a great option to sit back and watch a potentially excellent fight instead of dropping any coin on a fight that to most has no real meaning whatsoever between faded Mosley and Mora, who has never captured anyone's interest. It's a big blow to the September schedule if the fight is indeed off. -- Scott