By Dan Ambrose: If 38-year-old WBO light welterweight interim champion Juan Manuel Marquez wants to ensure that he continues getting paydays into his next fight on July 14th, then he’s going to have to take a well known opponent such as Erik Morales for his scheduled fight a the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Marquez has a number of options available to him for that fight, but only a couple that will bring him a big payday that he’s been accustomed to getting. Morales is one name that Marquez could fight, although he’s not a southpaw like Manny Pacquiao, and would likely not be a good opponent to help get Marquez get ready for what he’ll be facing when he steps inside the ring with the Filipino star. However, when has Marquez ever fought anyone that remotely was similar to Pacquiao in the past? Marquez has always taken the Pacquiao fights when offered to him, and his preparation before hand was never what you would call adequate in picking tune-up fights to get him ready for facing Pacquiao.

Of the options that Marquez has available to him, they’re pretty much boiled down to these fighters:

Mercito Gesta
Erik Morales
Brandon Rios

If Marquez wants to get the biggest paycheck possible, he’ll have to take on the 35-year-old Morales, because he’s the only one that will draw in the state of Texas. A fight between Marquez and Gesta won’t likely draw flies. And by the same token, Marquez will have to pick Morales if he wants to get good pay-per-view numbers. Choosing Rios would be slightly better than facing Gesta but not by much. Rios isn’t a draw in Texas, and he’s likely not well known by Mexican fans in the Texas and Mexico area. Rios is from California, and that’s where his fan base if. Rios isn’t a PPV attaction, and after his last fight against Richard Abril, I’m not sure that he ever will be.

Marquez needs to take the fight with Morales, and be happy with whatever money he can get for the fight. It might not be what Marquez is looking for in terms of a relevant opponent, but it is the biggest fight Marquez can get unless he wants to take on someone like Amir Khan.