Buy or Sell: Juan Manuel Marquez v. Zab Judah and Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana Rematch

Since we talked about the confirmed return of Erik Morales on July 30, likely on HBO pay-per-view, earlier today, let's talk about another fight that could happen on the same card. It's been in the rumor mill for about a month now, but it seems like a potential matchup between lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez and Zab Judah is picking up some steam.

How do you like that fight? Marquez wouldn't necessarily have to re-up with Golden Boy to get a fight with Judah, who is promoted by Main Events, but surely it wouldn't hurt, and it would make getting the fight on HBO or HBO pay-per-view that much easier. Plus you could have a good double-header pay-per-view combining Marquez-Judah at 140 pounds and a rematch between Marcos Maidana and Erik Morales.

In the other thread, we also talked about the rumored/reported pay-per-view numbers for Morales-Maidana on April 9, which if accurate, are dismal. The number floated around is "less than 50,000," which would be disastrous for anything given HBO promotion. Still, the good press that the card garnered -- which was deserved -- after the fact would seem to make Morales-Maidana II more compelling a case for opening the consumer wallets a second time. And if paired with Marquez-Judah, you'd have to think the show would do much better numbers, though certainly not be a blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination.

I do cringe a bit, by the way, at the idea that somehow the "media was wrong" and Golden Boy heroically proved the skeptics to be fools when they talk about that April 9 card. In all candor, the only fight that actually stacked up well on paper (Guerrero-Katsidis) turned out to be a one-sided, rather ho-hum affair (as many of those skeptics expected it would), and I give Golden Boy no credit for attempting to milk the remaining money out of Erik Morales, and it frankly doesn't appear that going into April 9, there was much to milk anyway. I give Morales great credit for turning an on-paper massacre into a compelling, highly memorable evening. And I also don't give Golden Boy any credit for the spectacular dismantling of James Kirkland at the hands of 30-to-1 underdog Nobuhiro Ishida. They didn't make that fight to be competitive, they just picked the wrong opponent and/or backed the wrong horse. And I don't think any of this is being needlessly negative, it's just realistic. Apparently, the general public didn't disagree with "the media," either, as they appear to have stayed away from the card in droves.

But anyway, back to the potential July 30 show, which is better. Marquez-Judah is a fine fight, in my opinion. Marquez, like Morales, wants to be the first Mexican to win recognized trinkets in four weight classes, and fighting Judah would give him that opportunity. Morales-Maidana has some rematch appeal. Golden Boy could fill out the rest of the card easily with some of their prospects (Danny Garcia, Danny Jacobs, Sharif Bogere, etc.) or some of their veterans. I keep waiting for them to make a Paul Malignaggi-Joel Casamayor fight, for instance, though I don't mean that to say I want them to do so.

So what do you think? Buy or sell?