HOLLYWOOD ? Just as hot as Juan Manuel Marquez? knockout of Manny Pacquiao last Saturday in Las Vegas are talks of a fifth fight between the two bitter rivals
Pacquiao?s promoter, Bob Arum, told the Los Angeles Times there?s no other fight out there that would generate as much interest as Pacquiao vs Marquez 5.
Not even the much-awaited, long-delayed showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
?No. 5 is now the biggest fight in boxing, bigger than Pacquiao-Mayweather,? Arum told Lance Pugmire of the LA Times two days after Saturday?s big event.
After three failed attempts, Marquez finally claimed victory over Pacquiao who was stunningly knocked out with only a second remaining in the sixth round.
It took Pacquiao more than a minute to pick himself up, but barely 24 hours later, the fighting congressman said he?s in for a another fight with his old foe.Sportshub ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
?I can still do it,? said Pacquiao.
However, Arum said it may not be possible to stage the fifth fight on April 20, the day which the ageless promoter had previously marked for Pacquiao.
?The idea we?d be ready to fight April 20 is ludicrous,? he told the LA Times.
Pugmire, always around for the big fights, also wrote that Marquez is confident he?d come out clean from any or all tests for use of illegal enhancers.
?I am a clean fighter,? Marquez was quoted as saying.
?I feel very happy with my training, I feel great about the tests. I won?t have a problem,? he told the LA Times.
Yes, April 20 may be too soon for Pacquiao.
Not because he needs more time to recover from the knockout, but because he?s also running for re-election in the May 2013 elections back home.
Pacquiao is running unopposed. But it doesn?t mean he doesn?t have anything to do during the campaign period. His wife, Jinkee, is running as vice-governor of Sarangani.
If Pacquiao decides to fight on April 20, it?s not supposed to be against Marquez. He said a few days ago he hasn?t marked that date on his calendar.
?Hindi pa naman napagusapan (We haven?t really talked about it),? he said of the date.
Arum said Pacquiao and Marquez can do the fight somewhere else outside Vegas, and that?s at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
