Not even a fifth fight featuring Manny Pacquiao against Juan Manuel Marquez look feasible anymore.
With a megabuck matchup with Floyd Mayweather, who returns to the ring on Sept. 12 against Canelo Alvarez, not happening anytime soon, Pacquiao might not even get the chance to redeem himself from the sixth-round knockout Marquez dealt him last year.
Marquez is set to battle Tim Bradley on Oct. 12 in Las Vegas and Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz believes that a victory by Marquez would only make it even more difficult to sign him up as an opponent for the Filipino in 2014.
Koncz said Pacquiao had offered Marquez a whopping $13 million to meet him but Marquez didn?t bite and opted to face Bradley, leaving Pacquiao with no other choice but to take on Brandon Rios in a fight scheduled for Nov. 24 in Macau.
?If Marquez wins (against Bradley), he will ask for even more money from us,? said Koncz, who predicts that Marquez will beat Bradley.
Not only that as Marquez seems to be content with the feeling that he was able to score one of boxing?s most emphatic wins.
?Keeping that feeling would be grandiose, and to have my Mexican supporters and the whole world enjoy that feeling and say, ?Remember the best pound-for-pound fighter that was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez?? ? to me, that is worth more than all the money in the world,? Marquez, who turns 40 in August, told ESPN Deportes over the weekend.
Marquez said he has settled the issue with Pacquiao.
?I don?t think about that (fifth fight) anymore.?
Marquez admits he will be besieged with juicy offers to fight Pacquiao again but Marquez says he will know how to handle the situation.
?We know that the offer will be tempting, but it isn?t worth more than the feeling, what was lived, what was acquired after that knockout. That?s worth more than several million dollars. I would rather retire with this feeling than take a risk in whatever happens with Pacquiao.?
Even Koncz himself is aware that Marquez is no longer keen in locking horns with Pacquiao again.
?He wants people to remember what he did in the fourth fight,? said Koncz.
