By William Mackay: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer says that either World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) or WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis (27-2, 22 KO’s) are going to be next for WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KO’s), according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Schaefer says “The two most logical opponents [for Marquez] are Khan or Katsidis. It depends on the weight he [Marquez] wants to fight at.” Marquez, 36, would be asking a lot of himself to move up to 140 and face the lanky 5’10” Khan.
Marquez, 5’7”, wouldn’t have the height, reach or power to really compete with Khan in that fight. You can bet that Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach would train Khan to just use his jab for 12 rounds to avoid getting hit. But it’s a bad fight for Marquez because he doesn’t have the power to stop Khan, and without power or speed, Marquez would likely end up losing the fight. Marquez didn’t look all that good in beating Juan Diaz recently by a 12 round decision on July 31st. Marquez ran out of gas after the 9th round, and took punishment in the 10th through 12th rounds. Khan is better than Diaz, and would give Marquez fits for 12 rounds.
After Marquez fights either Katsidis or Khan, Schaefer wants to match Marquez up against 34-year-old Erik Morales (49-6, 34 KO’s), who is currently on a comeback trail and has a fight against Willie Limond on September 11th. Schaefer says “We’ve had some conversations with Erik Morales.” This is obviously just a fight to make money, because Morales has lost four out of his last five fights and looked horrible in his comeback fight against Jose Alfaro in March of this year, beating him by a 12 round decision. Morales showed no power or hand speed in the Alfaro fight, and I had Alfaro winning the bout by at least four rounds.
I think that is a waste of time for Marquez. He needs to be going after Pacquiao or at least fighting the opponents that would lead to a third fight with Pacquiao. I think a fight with Morales would be a huge backwards step for Marquez at this point and it would seem like he’s heading for retirement. Marquez needs to take on a big named fighter that still has it if he wants to get Bob Arum to take Marquez serious as a potential opponent for Pacquiao.
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