Santa Anita Park and Top Rank Boxing have announced that Juan Manuel Marquez, who is readying for a title fight with world welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will stage a sparring exhibition at Santa Anita Park on Breeders’ Cup Classic Day, Saturday, Nov. 5.
Marquez will be joined at Santa Anita by undefeated WBO Junior Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley, who will be defending his title on Nov. 12 versus Cuban native Joel Casamayor.
Marquez and Bradley will each spar (separately) in a track-side ring between races on Saturday afternoon.
Admission to the boxing exhibition will be free, with paid admission. Santa Anita’s admission gates will open early on Nov. 5 at 8 a.m. First live race post time is 10:20 a.m., and the first televised Breeders’ Cup race from Churchill Downs is scheduled for 12:05 p.m.
A boxing ring will be transported from the trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood and will be erected on Santa Anita’s apron adjoining the winner’s circle, earlier in the week.
Top Rank will provide 10,000 Pacquiao-Marquez III posters, free of charge at Santa Anita on a first-come, first-served basis, and Santa Anita will conduct a drawing for two tickets to Pacquiao-Marquez III in Las Vegas.
“This is great news for Santa Anita and boxing fans throughout Southern California,” said Greg Avioli, the CEO of Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita.“We want to sincerely thank Bob Arum and his team at Top Rank for helping to make this happen. Bob is going to charter a plane to fly Marquez in from Mexico City on the morning of this event, and he’s been very supportive of the whole promotion. The fight has been completely sold out at the MGM for some time now, so to be able to raffle off two tickets is fantastic.
“We will continue to be forward-thinking with regard to our marketing strategy, and we’re going to continue to aggressively pursue new markets and customers.
“Marquez is very well known in this area, and we think there’s going to be a lot of interest in seeing both him and Bradley working out, inside the ropes, on the grandstand apron.
“I know our jockeys are excited about meeting both of these guys and they’re going to be able to use the Jockeys’ Room as their own dressing room. A lot of fight fans are horse racing fans and vice versa, and it should be a lot of fun.”
Marquez brings a 53-5-1 record with 39 knockouts to his Nov. 12 trilogy showdown with Pacquiao.
“My fight with Manny Pacquiao is going to be a war,” Marquez said in July.
Bradley, the current WBO Junior Welterweight Champion, will fight Casamayor on Nov. 12. Bradley, from Palm Springs, has a perfect 27-0 record, with 11 knockouts.
For weekly fight updates and pay per view information, log onto www.toprank.com.
The Breeders’ Cup World Championships return to Santa Anita in 2012. For more information on Santa Anita’s Autumn Meet or to make dining or seating reservations, fans are encouraged to visit www.santaanita.com, or to call (626) 574-RACE.
Santa Anita’s 24-day Autumn Meet will conclude Nov. 6.
