WBC super-featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez does not seem to mind if he fights a southpaw or an orthodox fighter this September, and he doesn’t care at all if it is Mexican or Filipino. All he wants is getting paid like a champion as he is, according to his manager Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Beristain.
The names that have been floated around as the most likely opponent for a September 15 date reserved for him by HBO include Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao and Humberto Soto as well as the Argentinian Jorge Barrios.
However, according to Marquez, based on the premise of getting the maximum economic return, Soto and Barrios seem to be out of the running, as they are considered unknown entities.
Another name that will soon be out of the equation is Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao, whom Marquez described in Boxnoticias as “terrible in the table of business, and puts himself to sign contracts as if they were autographs.”
Pacquiao is currently in the middle of a legal tug-of-war being waged by rival promoters Golden Boy Promotions, who was the first to sign up the iconic fighter, and Top Rank, who also signed Pacquiao despite the earlier deal reached with GBP.
Marquez believes that because of these legal encumbrances, Pacquiao will not be available to fight.
The Filipino icon is set to fly to the US end of this month to confer with promoter Bob Arum regarding his next fight, before heading to New York to receive his 2006 Fighter of the Year Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).
The following night, Pacquiao will be at special ringside when his younger brother Bobby dukes it out in a ten-round scrap with Mexican toughie Humberto Soto, who has been groomed by Arum to be next in line for the Pacman.
Meanwhile, Marquez promoter Jaime Quintana, in an interview with leading boxing website Boxingconfidential.com, informed that the biggest fight available out there for his ward are rematches with Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera.
“Boxing fans are not interested in seeing Juan Manuel fight with (Humberto) Soto,” Quintana told Boxing Confidential via phone. “I think the fights for Juan Manuel are rematches with Pacquiao or Marco Antonio Barrera.”
Quintana, who owns the Romanza Gym in Mexico, promotes both Juan Manuel and Rafael Marquez, arguably the most talented brother tandem in the history of the sport.
