BERT SUGAR PRE-FIGHT ANALYSIS

by Bert Sugar

No tonic, however well advertised, could have the effect on boxing fans as the chance to see potential superstars in the making. And this Saturday night, on HBO Pay-Per-View, we will have an opportunity to see three who qualify as candidates for future superstardom: Juan Manuel Marquez, Daniel Ponce-De Leon, and Juan Lazcano.

Normally boxing fans pay more attention to the heavier weight classes than the lighter ones, maintaining an interest in their efforts rivaling that of municipal bonds in a down market. But every now and then someone below 147 catches our interest--like a Julio Cesar Chavez, a Salvador Sanchez, a Marco Antonio Barrera, or an Erik Morales. But the majority of these "Big Little Men" often go as unrecognized as Whistler's Father.

That's why Saturday night's HB0 Pay-Per-View show is so important. For between Marquez, Ponce-De Leon and Lazcano, Golden Boy Promotions in association with Romanza Productions, Inc., will feature three fighters who will make you sit up and take notice. And maybe, just maybe, answer that time-honored question: "Where's boxing's new superstar?'

The first of the three featured fighters this Saturday, Juan Manuel Marquez (45-3-1, 34 KO's), is called "Dinamita." But he could just as easily be called "The Lion Hearted" off his performance two years ago against Manny Pacquiao when he gave one of the greatest comeback performance in recent boxing memory. Down three times in the first round, Marquez came back to give the heavy-handed Filipino a boxing lesson over the remainder of the fight to earn a draw. Now the former WBA and current interim WBO featherweight champion, Marquez will put his title on the line against another Filipino slugger, "The Executioner," Jimrex Jaca.

The second fighter on the card, Daniel Ponce-De Leon (29-1, 27 KO's), is one of the most exciting fighters on the boxing landscape today. A Mexican Olympian who won his first 19 fights by KO and 22 in a row, Ponce-De Leon captured the WBO super bantamweight title last year from Thailand's unbeaten Sod Looknongyangtoy. Having defended it twice--knocking out Garson Guerrero in just two rounds and scoring a spectacular one-punch first-round KO of the man he beat for the title, Looknongyangtoy--he now puts his title or the line a third time against tough Al Seeger.

And the third of this gifted triumvirate, Juan Lazcano (36-3-1, 27 KO's), is nicknamed "The Hispanic Causing Panic" for good reason. Long considered one of the top junior welters in the wor1d, Lazcano has fought some of the outstanding fighters in the division--stopping former world champion Stevie Johnson, decisioning Ben Tackie and losing a close decision to WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo. Now he takes on tough Manuel Garnica in an elimination bout he hopes will put him in line for another shot at the junior welterweight title.

Put them all together and what you have are three fighters with 110 wins and 88 knockouts. And all with an obvious disinclination to be anything but the best.

And who knows? For all those boxing fans wondering where the new rising superstars in boxing are, we may have to look no further. We may see one, or two, or three on Saturday night on HBO Pay-Per-View. You can't afford to miss the chance.