By Chris Williams: If WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez can’t get a rematch with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, Marquez says he plans on moving up to the light welterweight division where he might take on World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0, 12 KO’s) for his title.

It sound good, right? I think it’s a bad idea for Marquez to do this because if he can’t get the rematch with Pacquiao it’s because either Pacquiao or his promoter Bob Arum doesn’t want the rematch. Both might be against it. Well, since Bradley fights for Top Rank, Arum’s company, Marquez would be doing Arum a huge favor by increasing the value of Bradley by fighting him.

I can understand Marquez wanting to fight Bradley if Arum makes a deal with him that if he does him a favor by fighting Bradley, which can possibly increase Bradley’s popularity among casual boxing fans depending on how well he performs, Arum will then let Marquez fight Pacquiao for a fourth time later on in 2012. But if all Marquez gets is a fight with Bradley, a fighter that’s not hugely popular as of yet with fans, it’s not worth it.

A Marquez-Bradley fight won’t be a huge PPV bout and there’s no upside to it other than Marquez having bragging rights with the hardcore boxing fans. In the absence of a deal with Arum involving a future Pacquiao fight, Marquez is better off moving up in weight and trying to fight former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan or the current IBF/WBA champion Lamont Peterson.

Either one of those fights will likely attract more attention than a Bradley-Marquez fight. At the same time, why should Marquez do Arum a favor if he’s decided not to give him another crack at Pacquiao? It seems like a no-brainer to me. If Marquez can’t get another Pacquiao fight, then forget helping Arum out by fighting Bradley in fight that really does nothing for Marquez and does everything for Bradley.

If I’m Marquez’s promoter, I’d only match him against Bradley if I can get a guarantee that Marquez gets a rematch with Pacquiao at some point in 2012. It would have to be in writing.