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The word blockbuster is used too frequently in boxing.

Every boxing card from Albuquerque to Anchorage seems to be hyped as the latest "blockbuster" to hit town.

Golden Boy Promotions was calling Saturday's HBO pay-per-view card in El Paso a "blockbuster show," but after the cancellation of the main event, the billing doesn't fit the fighters.

Still, bigger "blockbusters" could be on the horizon if promoter Oscar De La Hoya can see the enormous potential of lining up bouts between several super bantamweights from both sides of our southern border.

In what was supposed to be the biggest boxing card in El Paso since Erik Morales and Diego Corrales headlined a show in 2000, Saturday night's "Mexican Glory" at the Don Haskins Center features three border battlers that have the potential to keep boxing fans there entertained for the next several years.

El Pasoans - who were promised Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo earlier in the year - had to settle for a lackluster Castillo vs. Rolando Reyes bout before a near-empty arena. On Saturday, the city will lose out again.

The main event between World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (35-3-1, 34 KOs) and Filipino Jimrex Jaca (27-2-1, 12 KOs) has been KO'd due to visa problems for Jaca. Marquez is arguably the best 126-pounder on the planet since Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao moved up in weight.

Instead of finding a late sub for Marquez, the promoters decided to promote a 10-round bantamweight bout between two former champions, Gerry Penalosa (50-5-2, 33 KOs) and Mauricio Martinez (31-6-1, 21 KOs), to the PPV show from the undercard.

While boxing fans might be striking the $34.95 PPV show from their things-to-buy list, El Pasoans should still attend the show for the three other featured bouts and a 10-round undercard bout that, Marquez or no Marquez, justifies a ticket purchase.

In what was the co-main, but now becomes the main event, Ciudad Chihuahua's Daniel Ponce De Leon (29-1, 27 KOs) will put his WBO super bantamweight title on the line against No. 1 Al Seeger (27-1, 21 KOs) of Savannah, Ga. In the top two featured bouts, El Paso's Juan Lazcano (36-3-1, 27 KOs) comes home to fight Manuel Garnica (22-5, 12 KOs) in a 140-pound 10-rounder; and El Pasoan Antonio Escalante (13-1, 8 KOs) defends his North American Boxing Organization belt against Omar Adorno (16-7-1, 10 KOs).

It's the addition of another 10-round bout to the undercard that should pique border fight fans' interest: In a 10-round super bantamweight bout, Miguel "Mickey Mouse" Roman (17-0, 12 KOs) from across the border in Juarez, will fight Colombian Andres Ledesma (13-4-1, 8 KOs).

World champion Ponce De Leon is a super bantamweight.

Escalante is a super bantam.

And so is Roman.

De Leon was born in Ciudad Chihuahua but has fought in El Paso and Juarez several times; in fact, he made his debut in Juarez.

Both Escalante and Roman were born in the same neighborhood in Juarez, though Escalante's family relocated to El Paso.

Can you say "crosstown rival?"

Between the three of them, you could keep El Paso fight fans flocking to the boxing shows for years provided the main events are not continually scratched.

As a world champ, the 26-year-old De Leon could be the carrot on the stick for the 21-year-old Escalante and the 20-year-old Roman to contention status.

With 14 fights, Escalante already has a handful of TV fights. His battle with Jose Andres Hernandez earlier this year on Telefutura is a candidate for "Fight of the Year."

Roman, Juarez's No. 1 draw, has lacked U.S. exposure but should soon get it. Roman and his promoter, Oswaldo Kuchle, of Juarez, have been seeking bouts against Escalante and De Leon since the beginning of the year.

While many familiar with Roman say it's too soon for him to take on either fighter, it's not too soon to start teasing the fans with an eventual matchup.

If De La Hoya is as savvy a promoter as he is a boxer, he'll forget about bringing Marquez back to El Paso, and instead line up bouts between the three top super bantamweights from the border area.

Want even more spice?

Fresquez Productions has a solid super bantam who fights out of Mexico City and Albuquerque: Cuauhtemoc Vargas (15-1-1, 10 KOs). The Duke City's David Martinez (16-2-1, 3 KOs) also could provide a good foe at super bantamweight if he decides not to squeeze back down to bantam.

And why not bring in Tomas Villa (15-5-3, 9 KOs), the man who beat both Vargas and Martinez, and who recently signed with Don Chargin?

Want a toe-to-toe slugfest? Villa vs. Roman. Want speed vs. power? De Leon vs. Escalante. Want cross-border friction? Roman vs. Escalante.

If a promoter wants to land a bounty of promising shows in El Paso, it's there for the taking.

ET CETERA: Last week, Las Vegas' Shawn Gallegos (16-3, 5 KOs) lost by eighth round TKO to former champion Randall Bailey (34-5, 31 KOs) in Hollywood, Fla. . . . Vicente "Picosito" Garcia, who was killed while a passenger in a car in Albuquerque last week, was laid to rest on Tuesday morning. The boxing card he would've headlined Jan. 5 in Albuquerque will still go on as planned. New Mexico Promotions, a new company, is working on a card in honor of Garcia. A possible headliner? Johnny Tapia.