Marquez-Juarez cancelled

Juan Manuel Marquez's showdown with Rocky Juarez has been cancelled after the champion picked up an injury.

Hand injury means Mexican's first defence is scrapped

Juan Manuel Marquez's world title defence against Rocky Juarez is off. The WBC super-featherweight champion has pulled out with an injury sustained in training and the entire Golden Boy Promotions show has been cancelled. Marquez suffered a cut to his right hand, which in turn developed an infection, and ended up severely swollen. It left Golden Boy supremo Oscar de la Hoya with no alternative but to scrap the first defence of the title the Mexican took from compatriot Marco Antonio Barrera in March. "The safety of our fighters comes first and it's too bad that Juan Manuel got hurt after training so hard for this fight," he said. "We are having him come to Los Angeles this weekend for further evaluation and treatment by a specialist." It is the second injury blow to hit the bout. Original opponent, Jorge Barrios, pulled out at the end of August with retina problems, leading to Juarez's late call-up. It also means Robert 'The Ghost' Guerrero's IBF featherweight showdown with Martin Honorio and the bout between Francisco Bojado and The Contender's Steve Forbes have fallen by the wayside. But de la Hoya refused to speculate on when Marquez-Juarez - or indeed Barrios - could happen again. "We are committed to brining excellent shows to our fans and with the unfortunate injury to Marquez, at this late stage our only option was to call off the show," he said.