By Tom Nappo: As every boxing fan is aware to say the relationship between Top Rank and Golden Boy is strained would be tantamount to stating David Haye is confident both a vast understatement. As a result the third fight that most fans want to see Juan Manuel Marquez vs Manny Pacquiao will not happen anytime soon if ever.

Apparently initial proposals were passed between the two promotions, with Golden Boy allegedly asking for the same money (believed to be in the neighborhood of 4 million guaranteed and a small percentage of the PPV), Marquez received fighting Floyd. Top Rank is of the believe that Manny is the draw he holds a win over Marquez, as well as a draw in which one judge acknowledged a scoring error leading to his card being even, without the error Pacquiao wins a split decision and is 2-0 versus Marquez. Arum has gone on record asking aloud for all to hear why Marquez would think he would get more( or even the same) fighting Manny then he did against Floyd considering how bad he looked against him . Arum who is a master negotiator knows he holds all the cards in any negotiations with Golden Boy regarding Marquez vs Pacquiao. The ace in the hole is Manny’s indifference to the third fight. Some critics of Manny’s will say he is avoiding a third fight because some people feel Marquez won at least one of the fights. Supporters of Pacquiao will offer that if a third fight were to occurr Manny has beaten him twice (error in judge scoring in the first fight) so he has nothing to gain and everything to lose. While money makes the world go round I think the real stumbling block is going to be the weight issue. Marquez moved up and fought Floyd who came in 2lbs heavier 146 lbs then the contracted weight and forfeited some money to have the fight proceed. Even though Floyd was unable to stop Marquez it was definitely the worst performance of his career. Was it Floyd, the added weight, both? Freddie Roach has stated on the record Manny is going to fight his last couple of fights at welterweight no higher then 147, so if Marquez wants a third fight it will be at that weight or not at all. Again Pacquiao critics will point to Pacquiao trying to get an advantage over Marquez by forcing him up to a higher weight where he has not looked good in the past. Fans of Pacquiao will point to the fact that Manny is now a welterweight and he is comfortable at that weight. In the past critics have blasted him for fighting at catch weights, and now that he is not he is still being blasted. Finally and more importantly the Pacmaniacs are of the mind set Marquez moved up to fight Floyd so why not for Manny, the weight difference between Floyd and Marquez in the ring was about 20lbs. If and when Manny and Marquez get it on Manny would weigh no more then 3-4 pounds more then Marquez on fight night (based on Marquez’s weight for the Katsidis fight, and Manny’s against Margarito) and finally Pacquiao supporters believe if Marquez doesn’t not like the terms he is free to go his way and Manny will go fight somebody else.

Is there anything Marquez can do to secure the fight with Manny. The most obvious is to realize that he is not negotiating from a position of strength and accept the terms. Another option would be for him to pull a Shane Mosley and break away from Golden Boy (to get this fight done) knowing the history and bad blood between Arum and Golden Boy which not doubt is contributing to the prevention of the deal getting done. The third option would be Marquez to pass on the fight at this time take the step up and fight Berto win a portion of the title and a bit more leverage at the negotiating table. He could also challenge Cotto sure it means dealing with Arum again but it could lead to Pacquiao as one of Arum’s allegations is that Marquez hasn’t beat anybody at welterweight. A Fight at welterweight prior to fighting Manny is obviously a high risk high reward scenario. A final option that could entice Manny to accept the fight is for Marquez to fight and beat Amir Khan soundly. Even though he is under Golden Boy Promotions Khan is trained by Freddie Roach, and has sparred and become good friends with Manny Pacquiao. Perhaps a sound beating at the hands of Marquez might give Pacquiao motivation to accept a third fight for revenge on behalf of his protege

Marquez is somebody not driven by money but rather by honour. He can talk about beating Pacquiao twice, close fights so on and so on. But the bottom line is he hasn’t beaten Manny ( he is 0-1 – 1), and for a proud man like Marquez it has to weigh on his mind eating at him every day. He has a chance to erase that pain and in his mind right a wrong. Marquez must either choose one of the options mentioned previously, which would include swallowing a little of his pride and being dictated to. But the end justifies the means what ever it takes to get Manny in the ring for the opportunity at redemption..