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Philippines, 01 Jun 2020 |
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MARQUEZ SAYS HE REFUSED AN OFFER OF $100M TO FIGHT PACQUIAO FOR A FIFTH TIME By Maloney L. Samaco PhilBoxing.com Wed, 20 Dec 2017  Former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7, 40 KOs) officially announced his retirement from boxing this year. The Mexican legend is now 44 years old. Last December 8 was the fifth year anniversary of Marquez's unforgettable fourth fight with Manny Pacquiao where he scored a sensational knockout of Pacquiao. For the Mexicans that was one of the biggest victories by a Mexican fighter, a sweet revenge of the previous three frustrating matches for "Dinamita." * * * Marquez and Pacquiao first clashed in 2004 at the featherweight division. Marquez recovered from three knockdowns in the first round to make a rally in the closing rounds. The bout ended in a controversial twelve round draw. In 2008 a rematch was held at super featherweight, with Pacquiao winning a controversial twelve round split decision. The third match was in 2011, with Pacquiao snatching a twelve round majority decision that was again filled with controversy. * * * In 2022, the fourth bout saw both fighters getting floored and Marquez delivered the shocking blow in the sixth round in one of the most unforgettable knockouts in boxing, hitting Pacquiao with a single devastating punch, sending him down face-first and unconscious in the dying seconds of the round. It was named Fight of the Year and Knockout of the Year by Ring Magazine, with round five named Round of the Year. After the fourth bout hitting the headlines, demands for a fifth fight circulated like wild fire. * * * Top Rank boss Bob Arum proposed several multi-million dollar offers but Marquez rejected all of them. He said it wasn't about the amount of money because Marquez agreed to fight Timothy Bradley and Mike Alvarado for too less purses than what he would have earned if he accepted a fifth Pacquiao encounter. Marquez disclosed that financiers in the Philippines offered him $100 million to travel here to face Pacquiao in a fifth bout. * * * He refused the high amount of money being offered because Marquez believes it is not proper to place himself in a situation where he could probably spoil the memory of his big KO win. "There was an offer for a fifth fight against Pacquiao in the Philippines for $100 million dollars, and I refused in order to keep my honor and the glory of the fourth fight from 2012," Marquez told ESPN Deportes. * * * Marquez explained that a $100 million prize money would not be enough to repair lost dignity if he agreed to a fifth fight and was robbed or seriously hurt in Pacquiao's own turf. "It's a lot of money - but honor, pride and what we did is more important than doing a fifth fight. Let's pretend that the fifth fight would happen. How about if I get robbed in the fight, we do not know what can happen, he's capable of hitting me with the right shot and hurting me badly. So I would place myself at risk. The glory and what we did in 2012 is worth more than that amount they were offering," Marquez said. * * * Guillermo Rigondeaux pointed to an injury to his left hand as the reason why he quit the fight with Vasyl Lomachenko at the end of the sixth round. Rigondeaux's trainer Pedro Diaz thinks his boxer was badly outclassed to continue with the fight. But Rigondeaux's former trainer Jorge Rubio believes there were a lot of mistakes made by the boxer's handlers that caused his loss. Rigondeaux had left Diaz at one point to train with Rubio, but eventually went back to Diaz. * * * "All Cubans felt their defeat, but I knew what was going to happen. I said it, I'm always going to tell the truth and it's not always what you want to hear. What happened did not surprise me, but I did not expect the injury... the hand injury that kept him from fighting," Diaz told George Ebro. "I already had six rounds against him, I'm sure if he would have fought in the other six rounds he would not be able to win - unless he got a knockout win." * * * Rubio said he does not believe Rigo would win, even if he was healthy. "I saw some things that I don't want to say, because it would be a lack of professionalism to talk about another trainer, but there were things that happened... that I heard about and heard that they did not do... and that assured me of my belief that he was going to lose. There were also the factors of age, weight, inactivity and training that became a little abrupt, because you had to increase the weight of the muscles." * * * ?The No. 1 fighter in boxing right now, hands down, is Terence Crawford,? Floyd Mayweather told FightHype.com. ?The pound-for-pound, top fighter in boxing right now is Terence Crawford.? Crawford, a former undisputed light welterweight champion, is ranked No. 1 on BoxingScene.com?s pound-for-pound list. ESPN.com ranks WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) at No. 1 on its list ahead of the No. 3 Crawford. The Ring magazine rates Crawford at No. 2 on its list, below its No. 1, unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs). * * * ?Terence Crawford, I just truly believe ? he doesn?t have to be under my company for me to give a guy props,? Mayweather said. ?I?m not like that. If he?s ever free and he wants to go to another company, I would love to work with him, because I know what I can do to take him to that next level. ? Raw talent, hell of a fighter. But there?s a lot of hell-of-a-fighters out there. And he?s one of the guys that?s ? he?s a mother*cker. And one thing I like about him is, I mean, he reminds me of a young Floyd Mayweather. He can fight his ass off. And that?s what I like about him." Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.  |
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