By James Slater: Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez may feel as though he has earned the right to call the shots pertaining to a fourth fight with archrival Manny Pacquiao. Fully believing he has won all three classic encounters with Pac-Man, “Dinamita” told gathered members of the media yesterday that Pacquiao must sign to fight him by the end of 2012 at the latest or there will be no fourth meeting.
“After the first Pacquiao fight I had to wait four years, and after the second, three more years passed,” Marquez said yesterday in Mexico City as quoted by Boxing Tribune. “That’s why if the fourth fight isn’t singed in 2012, there won’t be another fight.”
I think Marquez is being fair enough. Most experts agree with him regarding his having done enough to have won the third fight back in November, and it’s now up to Pacquiao to do the right thing and fight the man who has so severely tested him once again. Marquez has made it plain enough, but will Pacquiao look for another high profile opponent or two next year instead?
If this does turn out to be the case, Marquez says he may well make the move up to the talent-rich 140-pound weight class. At age 38, Marquez is still more than capable of winning a major belt as a light-welterweight and there are a number of quality fights that could be made for him. Fans have long since wanted to see a Marquez-Erik Morales fight; with this particular match-up being the most obvious all-Mexican meeting that should have happened and hasn’t.
Marquez has, it seems, had a change of heart regarding his retirement. Shortly after the razor-thin points loss he’d been handed by the judges in Las Vegas, Marquez said he’d either fight Pacquiao again next or flat out quit the sport. Now, having calmed down and reflected, the future Hall of Famer realises there are plenty of other big fights out there.
But does the sport need another Pacquiao-Marquez fight, so as to (hopefully) determine once and for all who the best man really is? Another close, hard-fought affair will likely be the result if the two greats do meet again, but Marquez sure deserves another go. And, in light of how much slower Pac-Man was in the third meeting, and in light of how much easier he was to hit, maybe Marquez will decide to fight more aggressively in a fourth fight.
I wonder, years, even decades from now; when it comes to splitting these two rivals, which guy will the historians rate as the best lower-weight fighter of this era: Marquez or Pacquiao?