By Chris Williams: Juan Manuel Marquez (53-6-1, 39 KO’s) will be in action tomorrow night against light welterweight contender Sergiy Fedchenko (30-1, 13 KO’s) in a fight for the interim WBO light welterweight title at the New Mexico City Arena, Mexico City, Mexico. Marquez wants to capture his 4th division world title in taking on Fedchenko, but he also is using the fight to stay busy while he waits for a rematch with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, which could take place in November.

Bob Arum already has Marquez’s next fight date planned out on July 14th at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Arum has reportedly booked the Cowboys stadium already for a pay-per-view card. He’s hoping that Marquez will want to fight lightweight contender Brandon Rios in the main event on the card. However, Marquez hasn’t said whether he’ll agree to taking on Rios, because he might want an easier option before he gets a possible November rematch with Pacquiao. If Marquez declines the Rios fight, Arum is said to have unbeaten lightweight contender Mercito Gesta ready to put in with Marquez instead.

That’s obviously a lot easier fight for Marquez than having to beat the 25-year-old Rios to get the Pacquiao fight. Marquez obviously isn’t afraid of fighting Pacquiao, but he also likely understands that it won’t be an easy fight and he would have to work hard to beat Rios. It’s not a fight that you would want immediately before a Pacquiao fight, because it’s going to take a lot out of Marquez to beat Rios.

From Arum’s perspective, it’s a great fight to have Marquez facing Rios, because it will bring in decent numbers on PPV, and you get Marquez increasing the value of Rios by fighting him. Rios will be a better known fighter after a fight with Marquez. But perhaps best of all, Marquez may be depleted enough by Rios to where Pacquiao will be able to beat Marquez decisively for once instead of winning controversial decisions that many boxing fans in the public don’t agree with.

Putting Marquez in with Rios will obviously work against Marquez, because it’s a tough fight at the wrong point in his career. If I were Marquez, I’d say not to Rios. He can always fight Rios after the Pacquiao fight, but not before it. The Pacquiao is more important and Marquez needs to be fresh for that bout, not depleted.