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Houston, we have a problem.
Willie Savannah, manager of lightweight contender Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz, evidently did not find a July 18 fight against undefeated Dominican Joan Guzman as something he wants for his charge in the wake of getting stopped by Juan Manuel Marquez.
Diaz, who just wore a mortarboard and gown as he graduated from the University of Houston, was offered a bout against Guzman on the Marquez-Floyd Mayweather Jr. show in Las Vegas.
It would have been a crucial bout as Diaz and Guzman are two of the elite 135-pounders in the world.
But Guzman’s phone went dead.
Now Guzman and Nate Campbell, who seem to be historically knotted whether they like it or not, are facing the same dilemma.
Soupy is being held to a contract by erstwhile promoter Don King and is trying to wriggle out of same through bankruptcy. Handler Terry Trekas said he rejected a fight against WBO 140-pound champ Tim Bradley because promoter Big Gary Shaw wanted options so as to have some insurance should Campbell win.
The bottom line: Soupy and Goosey are both sitting idle.
They were supposed to fight each other, back when Nate owned three lightweight title belts, but Guzman failed to make weight.
Campbell eviscerated Guzman and acted as if he thought Guzman did so on purpose.
Ironically, Campbell then failed to make the lightweight limit to fight Ali Funeka although hew beat the South African over the weight.
Right now, Soupy and Goosey are five pounds apart.
They should put their bickering aside and fight each other if they can find a suitable sponsor because likely opponents for either are scarce.
Michael is a former sports columnist at the New York Post. He was a criminal defense attorney and worked for sports legends Howard Cosell and Don King. Marley also operates BoxingConfidential.com. Email him your thoughts. He makes it a practice to always recommend Pacland and Philboxing.