Juan Manuel Marquez, they said, wasn't a superstar in his home country of Mexico. That has been argued several times, that Marquez, as great as he was, just never broke through to that status in his home country.
Well, not anymore. Mexican boxing reporter Sal Rodriguez has a different story: 37.2 million Mexican boxing fans tuned in for Pacquiao vs Marquez III on Azteca 7 this past Saturday, a 31 in the ratings. It's the most-watched fight ever in Mexico, and the first boxing event to ever go over 30 ratings points.
For comparison, Pacquiao vs Margarito last year did a 27 (about 32.4 million viewers), and Saul Alvarez's fight with Matthew Hatton earlier this year did a 24 (28.8 million viewers).
I think it's safe to say that Juan Manuel Marquez is, indeed, a superstar fighter in Mexico, and after years of living in the shadow of contemporaries like Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, and in recent times perhaps being overshadowed at times by rising young "Canelo," he has surpassed them all, and proven to be one of the great fighters in his country's proud history.