Marquez unsure if he’ll fight Pacquiao again

By Boxing News - 05/18/2014 - Comments

marquez777aBy Chris Williams: Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KO’s) isn’t sure yet whether he’ll give WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao another fight. Last night, Marquez pitched a near shutout in defeating former WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-3, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Forum, in Inglewood, California, USA.

It was very impressive performance from Marquez, as he showed that he was the better fighter than Alvarado in every way. Indeed, Marquez was so dominant that he had Alvarado afraid to pull the trigger on his punches for fear of being countered by him. Each time Alvarado would throw something, Marquez would sting him right back with hard counters to the head and body. Alvarado’s punches rarely landed in the fight, and the final punch stats bare that out. Alvarado landed 178 of 510 punches for a 35% connect percentage. Marquez landed 278 of 627 punches for 44%.

Marquez won by the scores 119-108, 117-109, and 117-109. Other than a flash knockdown that Marquez suffered in the 9th, he dominated every round of the fight. Even in the 9th, Marquez dominated the round with the exception of the knockdown. Marquez knocked Alvarado down in the 8th round, and he would have likely knocked him out if he had more time.

“We’ll relax. I don’t know at the moment [if he’ll fight Pacquiao again]. I’ll make a decision that’s good for me, my family and for all my Mexican fans,” Marquez said.

Marquez really doesn’t need Pacquiao. He needs Marquez more because he was knocked out in the 6th round the last time they fought in 2012, and Marquez has arguably won all four of their previous fights.

It could be that Marquez is saying he’s not sure about another fight with Pacquiao to gain a bargaining advantage for the fight. Whatever the case, Marquez is in the position to ask for a much bigger cut of the financial purse than the 25% that he’s received in the past. Marquez can ask for a 50/50 purse split, and if he doesn’t get it, he can retire knowing that he beat Pacquiao.

Given what Marquez brings to the table as far as his Mexican fan base, he can ask for 50% of the purse If Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum say no to that, Marquez can walk away from the fight knowing that he was the better fighter. It’s on Pacquiao to prove that he’s better than Marquez and the only way he can do that is to try and get him in the ring again. But for a 5th fight to be made, it’s probably going to take an even purse split to get Marquez to agree to the fight.



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