or all his recent successes, Juan Manuel Marquez still pines for a third encounter with Filipino boxing superstar and nemesis Manny Pacquiao.
Fresh off his ninth-round knockout of American Juan Diaz to grab the WBA and IBO lightweight titles on Sunday, Marquez told Philboxing.com he intends to climb to light welterweight and wait for the outcome of the Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton showdown on May 2 in Las Vegas.
Marquez readily predicted victory for the Gen. Santos City lefty who, he said, is ?the better boxer.?
The Mexican gladiator said Pacquiao?s ring savvy would foil Hatton?s aggressiveness on fight night.
?He (Pacquiao) is faster,? Marquez told Dr. Allan Recto of Philboxing on Monday. ?Hatton just fights frontal? and Manny has bigger chances to win.?
Pacquiao dethroned the 35-year-old Marquez as WBC super featherweight champion in a dramatic, thrilling fight in Las Vegas on March 15 last year.
The Mexican courageously battled back from three knockdowns to salvage a draw against Pacquiao the first time they met on May 8, 2004 in Las Vegas.
Smarting from his defeat to the Filipino in their return bout, Marquez moved up to the lightweight class and went on to beat uncrowned 135-lb king Joel Casamayor via an 11th-round knockout last September.
After his victory over Diaz, Marquez called out on retired pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. But boxing pundits believe that Marquez wanted Pacquiao more than Mayweather Jr.
Pacquiao?s trainer Freddie Roach had already said he would support a third fight between his prized ward and Marquez.
Roach was quoted as saying by websites as early as last year that Pacquiao could tangle with Marquez ?sooner than expected.?
Pacquiao seized his fourth world title in as many weight classes with a ninth-round knockout of WBC lightweight champ David Diaz on June 28.
The Filipino tornado then stopped boxing?s poster boy Oscar De La Hoya in the eighth round last Dec. 6, also in Las Vegas.
