COMMENTARY | Mexican legend and future Hall of Famer, Juan Manuel Marquez, realizes that there’s not much career left in his 40-year-old body and that the time is now for one last legacy-defining accomplishment to cap off a stellar twenty-one year career.
Rumors have been flying as to what may be in store for the counter-punching genius, but as of right now, Marquez is focused on finishing his career with at least two more main stage fights. And, based on what he has told the media, bouts with Ruslan Provodnikov and Mike Alvarado are not fights he would consider at this point.
“Neither Alvarado nor Provodnikov are in my plans. I’m going forward,” Marquez recently told Boxingscene. “They are great fighters, and I’m not putting them down, but I gain nothing by fighting with them. If I beat Provodnikov I win a title that was already mine and Alvarado is not a champion. I have nothing to prove. I want a fifth world title and that’s my goal.”
Also out the window is a potential fifth encounter with Manny Pacquiao. Marquez has, so far, stood firm on his refusal to reopen the Pacquiao chapter in his career after capping off the controversial series with a devastatingly decisive sixth round knockout of the Filipino icon in December of 2012.
Marquez has not been shy about his desire to become the first Mexican five-division world champ and that’s where his focus remains. A losing bid for Timothy Bradley’s WBO welterweight title last October has not deterred him from his goal and he has spoken frequently about wanting a rematch.
However, time is running out for Marquez and he knows it. Aside from unlikely rematches with Bradley and Floyd Mayweather, Marquez’s only 147 lb. title options look to be with new IBF titlist, Shawn Porter and new WBA champ, Marcos Maidana. Both Porter and Maidana, though, are under contract with Golden Boy Promotions while Marquez remains under contract with Top Rank and it’s not likely that the promotional turf war between the warring companies will be resolved any time soon. So, forget about any sort of temporary truce for the sake of Mexican fight history.
“Right now I’m knocking on the door of retirement, but I want to have two more fights,” Marquez continued. “But, behind that decision is my family, my team, the people who are with you always. Some people who I consider friends, they tell me to stop boxing, and if I decide to do that at this point – I will retire satisfied.”
In a perfect world, 2014 would be the last year of Juan Manuel Marquez’s stellar career and he should retire with his legacy as one of this generation’s very best already etched in stone. But will the drive to make history and stay in the spotlight keep Marquez in and out of the sport until his pursuit of a welterweight title becomes little more than a sad pipe dream? Generation after generation of boxing history tells us that this could very well be the case; Marquez says differently.
Here’s hoping that Marquez either accomplishes what he sets out to accomplish or that he has enough sense to bow out gracefully if things don’t go according to plan.
