After promotional giant Top Rank formally offered Juan Manuel Marquez a third fight with his longtime rival Manny Pacquiao earlier this week, it appears Marquez’s current promoter Golden Boy is now desperate to try to hold on to him.
As per the terms of Marquez’s now expired contract with Golden Boy, they have the right to match any offers he receives until early next year, and in light of Top Rank’s offer, they appear to have done just that.
The deal offered by Top Rank for a third Pacquiao fight according to ESPN’s Dan Rafael included a $5 million purse guarantee, a signing advance and a cut of any pay per views sold over the first 700k. In short a very lucrative deal.
Bob Arum, in a conference call ahead of Pacquiao vs. Mosley, commented on offering Marquez the fight thusly:
?You take whatever Schaefer says as gospel so we?ll leave it at that. We have no comment on whether we are offering a fight, which is absurd because Manny has a very tough fight with Shane Mosley. Just carry on and listen to Schaefer all you want and write your stories accordingly.?
Note however that at no point does he actually deny making the offer.
In an interview today with Boxingscene’s Rick Reeno, Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer responded by making a matching deal to Marquez for a fight against WBC light middleweight champion Saul Alvarez.
A fighter who holds a belt a full three weight classes above a division he has ever won a fight in.
Marquez’s lone trip above 135lbs of course ended in a rout at the hands of Floyd Mayweather and he hasn’t strayed north of lightweight since, despite several offers.
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To take on Pacquiao, Marquez should be able to negotiate a catch weight around 144lbs.
Probably still too heavy for him to have much of a realistic chance of coming away with a win, especially given the fact that Pacquiao has improved since their last meeting and that Marquez at 39 is now almost certainly past his best. Advertisement
While most would give him little chance of winning that fight however, his style is still the perfect one to give Pacquiao trouble and so a somewhat close and competitive fight is a real possibility.
Alvarez isn’t the same caliber fighter as either Marquez or Pacquiao, just yet at least.
What he could be is the next big Hispanic star, a throne still somewhat vacant since Oscar De La Hoya’s retirement several years ago.
What he is now is a still improving 20 year old who Golden Boy aren’t interested in seeing lose.
And one who now struggles to make the 150lb catch weights that he has fought at for the best part of a year.
Against Alvarez, Marquez would have to go as high as the full welterweight limit at least, and that’s presuming that Alvarez can even still make welterweight.
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What we might get then is a sluggish and bloated Marquez taking on a boiled down and weight drained Alvarez, not ingredients for a great fight.
Of course, the actual fight itself isn’t often a primary concern of the promoters, so long as it sells well beforehand.
Alvarez and Marquez dislike each other, with the former having commented that he is unimpressed with the fast rising youngster and that he lacks what it takes to be a champion.
Undoubtedly the fight would prove popular, it might not prove as appealing to watch.
Why Golden Boy are so desperate to keep Marquez given that Top Rank can find an alternative opponent for Pacquiao fairly easily is also puzzling.
Arum and Schaefer are certainly not on the best of terms but retaining a rapidly aging Marquez just to spite Arum seems a costly move for Golden Boy to make. Marquez after all isn’t a huge seller, and very possibly could be retired in the next couple of years.
Raul Lopez, Pitt: “Marquez will go for the better money because he’s retiring soon, whatever deal has the better options after he loses to Pac or Canelo he will go for”
