By Jim Dower: Oscar De La Hoya wants Juan Manuel Marquez to fight Manny Pacquiao for a third time, and is hoping that Marquez can be inserted in as Pacquiao’s next opponent on November 13th instead of the unlicensed Antonio Margarito. However, the chances of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum listening to De La Hoya and following his wishes is doubtful. Marquez fights for De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and Arum usually likes to keep his fights in house or least that’s what he’s been doing recently. Margarito failed in his second attempt to get his boxing license when he was denied by a 5-1 vote by the California Athletic Commission on Wednesday.

Margarito has already been previously rejected by the Nevada Athletic Commission by a 4-1 vote. The combined votes against Margarito thus far by the two commissions have been 9-2, and that’s not a good sign now that Arum is going to take Margarito and try to land him a license in Texas. In an article by the Los Angeles Times, De La Hoya said “The case I want to make is that Marquez is right there, already licensed. We feel if Golden Boy and Top Rank can make big fights, it’s a win-win situation for everyone – the fighters and the fans. We’re going to do what’s best for the fans.”

De La Hoya has a point. Boxing fans, for the most part, have very little interest in watching Pacquiao fight Antonio Margarito. Arum either appears to be obvious to this or he just flat doesn’t care. He’s made up his mind that he’s going to match Margarito against Pacquiao whether the fan interest is there or not. Arum may be counting on Pacquiao’s huge fan base and the Mexican fans to come out and support this fight. However, Marquez, a Mexican like Margarito, is more popular than Margarito and would likely draw in more fans than him. It seems logical that Marquez would make for the better opponent for Pacquiao compared to Margarito. But if Arum has Margarito and Pacquiao fight each other, he is the sole promoter in that fight and doesn’t have to make any deals with an outside promoter.

That’s a big plus for Arum. Marquez would likely want a lot more money than what Margarito is asking. Margarito is coming off a recent year-long suspension and that probably makes him a lot easier to deal with than a guy like Marquez, who has been huge star for a long time and who looked good in his last fight against Juan Diaz. There wouldn’t be an 8th title for Pacquiao to go after if he fought Marquez, and Pacquiao would likely have to be the one that would have to take weight off to fight Marquez at a catchweight rather than the other way around.

It’s been Pacquiao’s opponent that has been the ones stripping off weight to fight him. Marquez has fought Pacquiao twice previously and many boxing fans felt that Marquez should have been given the decision in both fights.