By Dan Ambrose: There’s a bright side to the potential mega fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KO’s) and Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO’s) not being made. If this fight doesn’t happen, then Pacquiao could end up fighting a third rubber match against WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO’s), who has fought Pacquiao twice already and given him all kinds of problems.
In an article at Examiner.com, Oscar De La Hoya, a former boxer and now running Golden Boy Promotions, said “If Juan Manuel Marquez wins [referring to Marquez’s July 31st bout against Juan Diaz], and it’s obviously not a guarantee, he has the option of fighting Pacquiao, he has the option of fighting [WBA light welterweight champion] Amir Khan, he has many options. It’s a matter of winning the fight in a spectacular fashion, and then we’ll talk about his future, but first things first. July 31 will not be easy. He’s [Marquez] always wanted Pacquiao. He’s always been dreaming about Pacquiao.”
Indeed, Marquez has wanted to fight a rematch with Pacquiao ever since he lost a controversial 12 round split decision to him in March 2008. Although Pacquiao won the fight, many fans disagreed with the decision, believing that Pacquiao got what is referred to as a gift decision based on his popularity and not because he did enough to win. I also think that Marquez did more than enough to get the win over Pacquiao. Despite the controversy over the questionable win, Pacquiao kept moving forward with his career after the win over Marquez, moving on to defeat WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Joshua Clottey.
If Pacquiao does choose Marquez in a rematch, it will likely be at or close to the 147 pound welterweight limit. This would put the 36-year-old Marquez at a huge disadvantage, because he looked slow and bloated when he was forced to put on weight to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. at a 143 pound catch weight last year in September. The weight gain slowed Marquez down to the point where he just wasn’t able to compete. If Pacquiao is going to fight Marquez at welterweight, then it might be better off if Pacquiao goes ahead and fights Miguel Cotto for a second time in a year or takes on Antonio Margarito, provided that he can get his boxing license back in the United States.
Marquez could end up fighting Khan next, if Marquez gets by Juan Diaz on the 31st. However, Marquez will pretty much have the same problem as he would if he had to move up in weight to fight Pacquiao. Khan isn’t about to move down in weight to fight Marquez for his lightweight belts, meaning that Marquez would be forced to put on weight to fight Khan at 140. Since Marquez looked slow and bloated at 143, it’s reasonable to assume that Marquez will be moving up in weight to get beaten by Khan.
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