By Chris Williams: Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) picked up his 4th world title on Wednesday in being elevated from the interim WBO light welterweight champion to the full champion after Timothy Bradley vacated the title in order to keep his 147 pound WBO strap.

Obviously, it’s not the way that Marquez would have liked to have picked up the title, but he’s not going to turn it down.

Marquez should have already picked up his 4th division world title in his third fight against former WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao last November when Marquez dominated the Filipino but found himself on the receiving end of a controversial decision. It was sad to see Marquez getting jobbed like that again, especially considering he’d dominated Pacquiao in their two previous fights and hadn’t been given the decision in those fights either.

Of course, no one created a big stink out of it like they did with Pacquiao when he ran out of gas and was beaten by Bradley earlier this month. Marquez is popular but not as popular as Pacquiao.

Marquez plans on fighting next month against southpaw Filipino Al Sabaupan (19-1-1, 14 KO’s) in a stay busy tune-up fight in Mexico. The fight will keep Marquez sharp just in case he gets a rematch against Pacquiao in November. I don’t see that happening, because Pacquiao will likely face Bradley again in a rematch to try and prove that his loss was just a fluke. It wasn’t. Pacquiao is starting to get old, as we saw in his fights against Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Marquez.

The old legs aren’t working like they used to, and it’s no surprise that Pacquiao lost to Bradley. Pacquiao should have lost to Marquez, so it’s no big thing that he lost his next fight. He’s getting old now, and if Bob Arum was smart, he’d cash out as quick as he can by putting Pacquiao in with Floyd Mayweather Jr.