MANNY PACQUIAO laughed out loud when told about a possible rubber match should Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico comes out victorious in their much-awaited rematch on March 15 in Las Vegas.
“That is, if Marquez gets lucky,” Pacquiao, 29, told Bulletin, with strong emphasis on the word ??if.??
Under the contract that Pacquiao signed for the second meeting with the 34-year-old Marquez, a third fight is mandated in the event the Mexican scores an upset, a clause Pacquiao promoter and Top Rank head Bob Arum made sure was on the contract to protect the interest of his fighter.
Arum, however, is obviously looking beyond Marquez as he has lined up at least two more fights in June against lightweight king David Diaz of the US in Macau and British superlightweight Ricky Hatton in November either in Dubai or Las Vegas.
After capping his fourth day of training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, on Saturday afternoon (Sunday in Manila), Pacquiao went straight to a store that sells high-end video cameras.
Since it was a weekend, Pacquiao took time out from his training and purchased a video camera he said was worth almost ,000.
“I will assign somebody to use this while I am in training, attending functions and during my fight as well,” said Pacquiao, who arrived in Los Angeles last Jan. 14, and should remain there until at least a week before the Marquez rematch at the Mandalay Bay.
Pacquiao said his training will intensify this week although sparring will not take place until the first week of February. Roach is lining up four sparmates and they include undefeated super-lightweight Daniel Cervantes and lightweight Roger ??Speedy?? Gonzalez.
Although he declines to issue a forecast when interviewed on TV, Pacquiao sounded supremely confident of settling the score with Marquez, who battled him to a bloody 12-round draw in May 2004.
Marquez is likewise optimistic that he will succeed in redeeming himself from what he insists was a win that was taken away from him by the judges, who ruled the fight a split draw.
Marquez miraculously got up from three knockdowns in the first round to finish the fight on his feet, thanks to his counterpunching skills.
