Sometime last week the idea of a third bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was floated around. Marquez drew and lost to Pacquiao in the first two bouts although they were both close encounters and some think the first should have gone the other way. Marquez has been desperate for a third fight since the bell sounded to end the last one, and has been vocal about the matter at every chance he got. Since Pacquiao has also moved up to welterweight and Marquez looked terrible against Mayweather at a similar weight, it would probably also be an easier fight for Pacquiao this time around as well. Since the fight with Floyd Mayweather was on rocky ground at the time, it looked for a moment like the fight might be made, after all, Marquez should have been easy to deal with if he wanted the fight that badly. In actual fact though, Marquez insisted on a 50/50 purse split and blood testing for Pacquiao the same as Mayweather had,
Manny out in the cold? (AP Photo) The reason for this obviously strange term was probably that Golden Boy were insisting on it rather than Marquez himself wanting it. The first two fights were fine with just the usual NSAC testing of Representatives from Golden Boy said during the negotiations between Mayweather and Pacquiao that all of their fighters would require the extra blood testing as a situlation if Pacquiao wanted to fight them. Effectively using strong arm tactics to cut all of them off from ever fighting Pacquiao. Now there are some who welcome this, as it gives them the perfect excuse to duck any fighter they don’t want to fight, but most must surely be annoyed that their promoter is deciding who they can and cannot fight on principle, without their say. The move is especially odd because of course at the moment Golden Boy still have a share in the money that Pacquiao makes, and so it’s in their best interest if he fights often and does big numbers. Withholding all of their fighters from facing him only hurts them in the end rather than hurting Pacquiao, because they make less money.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum (AP Photo) If the insistence on extra drug testing for all fighters to fight Pacquiao stays in place, it could lead boxing down a dangerous road. What happens if one of Manny’s teammates who eats the same food and takes the same supplements wants to fight a Golden Boy fighter? Would Golden Boy keep up the same rules for Amir Khan for example, somehow I think not. What happens if Top Rank now says that any Golden Boy fighter has to agree to a smaller purse share to fight any Top Rank fighter? The precedent is now there for Top Rank and Golden Boy to deny all of their fighters to face someone promoted outside the company, and if that happens, either it will damage boxing, or both Top Rank and Golden Boy will eventually collapse. For Pacquiao this shouldn’t be too much of a problem either way, given his next opponent is Joshua Clottey and that he plans on retiring in the near future. Similarly Floyd Mayweather will probably retire soon enough, but the damage might last a lot longer than the careers of the pair.
