REMEMBER JUAN Manuel Marquez?
Who else could forget this fundamentallysound Mexican counterpuncher who survived three knockdowns in the first round to salvage a 12-round split draw with Manny Pacquiao in May 2004?
Well, Marquez, now 33 years old, is still hoping and is confident that he will be given the chance to face Pacquiao in a rematch sometime next year according to Paul Upham of secondsout.com.
“I am very excited about it (rematch),” said Marquez, who meets Filipino Jimrex Jaca on Oct. 21 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
“Maybe sometime next year, I am hoping the fight can happen. I want to convince the boxing public that I was really victorious the time when we fought,” said Marquez.
Like Marquez, Pacquiao has to hurdle past a major roadblock on Nov. 18. But Marquez is positive of a Pacquiao victory over Erik Morales.
“I feel Manny Pacquiao will be victorious over Morales. It is Manny’s time now. He is in his prime. He is very strong and very fast. I feel that it is (going to be) his night and he will be the victor.”
A return fight between Pacquiao and Marquez is not a far-fetched idea since both are promoted by Oscar dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) although foremost on GBP’s list of priorities right now is a rematch between Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera.
Barrera, fresh from a unanimous decision victory over Rocky Juarez, is also promoted by GBP and there are talks that he will square off with the Filipino southpaw on March 11 assuming of course Pacquiao gets past Morales.
Pacquiao recently signed a mouth-watering seven-fight deal with dela Hoya, whose outfit seems to be on the cusp of taking over big-time boxing with the acquisition of the fight game’s top attractions.
