By Michael Lieberman: The last three years has been frustrating for Juan Manuel Marquez, as he’s been trying repeatedly to get a third fight against Manny Pacquiao to prove that he’s the better fighter, but hasn’t had much luck. It’s either he wants too much money or he’s not fighting at the same weight.
Recently, Marquez opted not to fight a worn Erik Morales, and there’s talk that Marquez may be leaving Golden Boy Promotions to possibly try and get a fight against Pacquiao. The one way that Marquez may get a fight with Pacquiao is if he signs with Top Rank, the same company that Pacquiao is promoted by. Bob Arum, the president of Top Rank, often likes to match Pacquiao up with fighters from Top Rank and has kept Pacquiao busy in the past couple of years fighting one Top Rank stable fighter after another.
At 37, Marquez doesn’t have a lot of time to wait around and hope that he’ll get a fight against Pacquiao. He’s got to use desperate measures to get the fight, and Marquez had to have noticed how Shane Mosley was able to get a fight with Pacquiao by going outside of Golden Boy Promotions to line up the fight.
If Marquez signs up with Top Rank, he will be that much closer to getting his dream fight and his golden parachute into retirement. It would be the perfect way for Marquez to end his career, whether he wins or loses. There is not losing when you fight Pacquiao because of the huge money that his opponents get to face him.
Arum has to know that Marquez is the better option for Pacquiao compared to Timothy Bradley or a rematch with Miguel Cotto. Boxing fans don’t want to see Pacquiao fight Cotto again, because Cotto still faced anyone good enough for fans to see him as having a chance in a rematch. Cotto defeated Yuri Foreman and now he’s facing 37-year-old Ricardo Mayorga. That’s not enough for fans to forget how badly Cotto was beaten by Pacquiao.
Marquez will be better off with Top Rank, because the Pacquiao fight will be a much more likely to happen, because Arum is running out of Top Rank opponents to put him in with. Marquez would add another name for Arum, and a better one than some of the guys that Arum has been putting Pacquiao in with.
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