Marquez Looms As Mexico’s Highest-Paid Fighter

Juan Manuel Marquez stands to become the highest-earning Mexican fighter in the event a fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao takes place in 2013, a fact that should force Marquez to postpone his retirement party to a much later date.

Marquez’s stature received a major boost following his sixth-round knockout of Pacquiao last Dec. 8 and Fernando Beltran, Mexico’s premier promoter, said only a clash with the Filipino can bring him a paycheck no other Mexican, including the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., has received.

In the fourth fight with Pacquiao, the 39-year-old Marquez got $6 million plus a share in the pay-per-view.

Pacquiao was guaranteed $23 million and also a slice in the PPV.

Chavez, in contrast, received his biggest purse – said to be $9.1 million – when he faced Oscar De La Hoya in June 1996.

Although Arum hasn’t formally reached out to the camps of Pacquiao and Marquez about the staging of a fifth fight, saying he will only do so after the holidays, reports have started to swirl that the massive Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, which can seat more than 80,000, is the frontrunner to host it.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena can only accommodate 17,000 for a big fight.

Still, Arum said Pacquiao has to get clearance from US doctors first before he can be allowed to return to the ring owing to the devastating knockout that he suffered at the hands of Marquez.

Arum wants Pacquiao, 34, to undergo a battery of tests that will be done at the renowned Cleveland Clinic, a brain center in Las Vegas.

A September date is being targeted as Pacquiao’s comeback bout because he is being advised to take a lengthy rest since he is not allowed by the Nevada Athletic Commission to fight in the next four months.

The Nevada commission also prevents Pacquiao from engaging in sparring sessions in the next three months.

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Marquez's fight future rests on his wife after Pacquiao success

He may have knocked out eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao during their recent bout in Las Vegas but if Juan Manuel Marquez wants a fifth fight against the legendary Filipino he'll need to get permission from his wife.

The Mexican stunned the world of boxing by knocking out Pacquiao in the sixth round of their welterweight contest earlier in December.

It was the first time the 39-year-old has claimed victory in four fights against Pacquiao, who many pundits regard to be the finest pound-for-pound fighter the sport has ever seen.

But with fans clamoring for a fifth bout, Marquez says the only way it will become a reality is if his wife allows him to renege on his promise to retire whatever the outcome of the fourth.

"I made a promise and I know that promises are debts," Márquez said in an interview with CNN en Español.

"I don't see a case to fight again but logically he wants a chance," he added of talk that he and Pacquiao could square off for a fifth time.

Marquez's emphatic victory offered the Mexican some redemption after he failed to win any of the first three fights against Pacquiao.

Their first encounter in May 2004 ended in a draw, while the Filipino took a points victory at the conclusion of their rematch four years later.

Continue reading about Juan Manuel Marquez future after Pacquiao success at Cnn.com!

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Pacquiao to fight Marquez in Mexico? Tax breaks could be reason

Why did Manny Pacquiao announce recently that he is willing to go to the lion’s den and face Juan Manuel Marquez in Mexico City?

Although Pacquiao hasn’t decided on who to fight on Nov. 10, the Filipino actually has no other choice but to pick among Marquez and Timothy Bradley, the unbeaten American fighter whose victory over him almost two weeks ago remains shrouded in controversy and mystery.

A few days ago, the Mexican media reported that initial talks have commenced for a possible Pacquiao-Marquez showdown in Mexico City.

Representing Marquez is Mexico’s premier promoter, Fernando Beltran, who has close ties with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.

A source told InterAKTV that Pacquiao stands to save a lot of money because he won’t be taxed if he struts his stuff on Mexican soil.

“Millions [of dollars] in taxes,” said the boxing source. “That’s a lot.”

If Pacquiao performs in Sin City, whether it’s Bradley or Marquez, his purse will be subject to taxes.

But taking the fight away from Las Vegas is the biggest stumbling block in bringing it to Mexico.

Las Vegas has unlimited resources and can match — or exceed — an offer from Mexico City.

Arum said a clearer picture of what’s on the horizon should be known next week when he and Pacquiao reunite in Los Angeles.

(Via InterAKTV)

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Marquez Begins Training In Mexico

Juan Manuel Marquez’s training for his fourth fight with Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 8 took a giant step a few days ago when he logged 13 kilometers of roadwork on the footsteps of the 15,354-foot Nevado de Toluca, Mexico’s fourth highest peak.

Escorted by security personnel on motorcycle, Marquez said his whole body ached after the first two weeks of high-altitude training that included chopping wood using an ax and slamming a tire with a sledgehammer.

“After working hard in the first two weeks, my body is aching but once you get used to the training, you’ll feel like a well-oiled machine,” Marquez, 39, told the Mexican media.

Team Marquez plans to do 10 workouts in the mountains of Nevado de Toluca as part of the boxer’s rigid preparation for what will likely be the final chapter of his storied rivalry with Pacquiao.

Raul de Anda, a long-time member of Marquez’s entourage, presided over the mountain phase of the training in Toluca (altitude of 8,700 feet) as chief tactician Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Beristain is holed up at the Romanza Gym in Mexico City (altitude 7,000 feet).

Even though Marquez hasn’t scored a win over Pacquiao in their three matches, the Mexican believes he was the recipient of bum decisions in all of their encounters. The first fight in May 2004 ended on a draw while the next two were ruled close points decision wins for the Filipino.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, will report for training at the Wild Card in Hollywood on Oct. 15.

Trainer Freddie Roach said he will have no choice but to close the gym for two hours while Pacquiao is training so they can max out their preparation.

Pacquiao is actually getting warmed up for the tough grind under Roach as he has been doing his morning roadwork and doing light workouts in the afternoon.

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Pacquiao Vs. Marquez 3 Highlights 2011

On November 12th Marquez lost to Pacquiao via majority decision. Upon the results being announced, the crowd reaction was largely negative with many continuing to boo as Pacquiao spoke with Max Kellerman. Tim Smith of New York's Daily News wrote that Márquez "was robbed of a decision by judges who were either blind or corrupt." Former world champion Steve Collins and current world champion and stablemate of Marquez, Amir Khan who co-commentated the bout for British television also thought Manny had lost the fight, going so far as to saying he would now like to fight Marquez. Ringside punch stats showed Pacquiao landing more strikes, 176 to 138, and landing more power punches, 117 to 100. However the connect percent is higher on Márquez side with a 32% compared to the 30% by Pacquiao.  Marquez was once again defeated.

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Boxing News: Manny Pacquiao-Victor Ortiz fight proposed

Since a superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn't likely to happen, a member of Team Ortiz has suggested that Victor Ortiz battle the Filipino champion.

Joseph "Hoss" Janik, Ortiz’s strength and conditioning coach, told Boxingscene.com that it would be easier to arrange a Pacquiao-Ortiz fight rather than chase Mayweather.

“I don’t think Pacquiao and Mayweather are ever going to be able to come to terms because Mayweather dictates too much how he wants stuff to go. I don’t think that one is going to happen,” he said.

Ortiz recently lost his WBC welterweight title to Mayweather, who won by a controversial knockout.

Mayweather knocked out an unguarded Ortiz, who caught a couple of punches while apologizing for an intentional headbutt.

Mayweather won’t give Ortiz a rematch.

Janik said that since Pacquiao won't likely get a Mayweather bout, it might be a good idea to have the Filipino champion fight Ortiz instead.

“Freddie is a good friend of mine, Manny is a good friend of mine, I’d like to see that fight happen after the [Juan Manuel] Marquez fight, Pacquiao-Ortiz,” he said.

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Juan Manuel Marquez Finally Finds an Advantage Over Manny Pacquiao

The great equalizer that nobody accounted for may add a bit of intrigue to the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez showdown scheduled for November 12 in Las Vegas.

Coming into their match, absolutely nobody aside from Teddy Atlas and 90-year-old Angelo Dundee gave Marquez any shot whatsoever to beat his Filipino counterpart. The Las Vegas gambling books, Pacquiao’s corner, and boxing aficionados seemed to agree that the match’s result was inevitable.

However, when coming to this prognosis everyone simply looked at the dominance exhibited by Pacquiao over the last few years and, the Marquez’s noticeable decline in the same time span.

This past weekend, another factor got meshed into the equation: fatigue.

Pacquiao has been on a marathon of fights in the last few years and not taking the long breaks in action as Floyd Mayweather has enjoyed. Not to mention, Pacman is a politician in his home country.

So, what does all this mean for Marquez? Well, while it probably doesn’t give him an edge over his opponent in their coming match, it does put him in a better position than he otherwise would have been. Pacquiao is an amazing fighter, but he’s not superman.

What do you think? Will Marquez give Pacquiao a fight?

Credit: Alex Groberman

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Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao will make an estimated $30 Million from his bout with Juan Manuel Marquez

It now takes more than $20 million to get Manny Pacquiao fight someone inside the ring.

The Filipino boxing icon has confirmed that he’s getting more than $20 million (P840 million) for his Nov. 12 bout with Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez.

“Mahigit pa dun (It’s more than that),” he told scribes a couple of days ago on his way back home to Manila from a whirlwind press tour.

But Pacquiao didn’t go farther than that except that for this one he’s getting more than what he received for the Shane Mosley fight held last May.

“Mas malaki na (It’s now bigger),” said Pacquiao.

He was talking of the guaranteed purse, meaning that by the end of the day, when everything comes in, he stands to get more than $30 million (P1.2 billion).

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Freddie Roach on Pacquiao-Marquez "This fight is a little more personal"

"Manny is a completely different fighter, a more complete fighter than he was back then," Roach said.

Roach said Pacquiao's strategy will be to avoid Marquez's counter-punches by not being overly aggressive.

"This fight is a little more personal because Marquez did come to the Philippines in a press tour with T-shirts that said, 'We got robbed.'

"It was a slap in the face to Manny and he will get payback for that," Roach said.

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Juan Manuel Marquez - "The Mexican people around the world tell me, 'You won the fight.'"

Currently, Marquez is the WBA, WBO and The Ring Lightweight World Champion. Ring Magazine currently rates Márquez as the number four pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

On May 10, Márquez accepted an offer from Top Rank to fight Pacquiao for his WBO Welterweight Title at a catchweight of 144 pounds. On May 18, Márquez signed the deal to fight Pacquiao for the third time on November 12 in Las Vegas.

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Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, round three

Even though Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez have fought twice before, their score remains unsettled.

The fighters' 2004 featherweight title bout resulted in a draw. When they met again in 2008, Pacquiao won a super-featherweight title by split decision, thanks to judge Tom Miller's 114-113 score in favor of Pacquiao.

Marquez thinks he was robbed.

The fighters and their posses gathered at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Wednesday to promote their third fight which will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on November 12.

"This is the answer of all the doubts of the past two fights with Marquez," Pacquiao said.

That is perhaps the one thing the fighters agree upon.

"I don't like the decision for the last two fights," Marquez said. "The Mexican people around the world tell me, 'You won the fight.'"

Marquez said his speed and strength have improved and he feels confident he will win.

Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum called Marquez the "greatest counter-puncher that I've seen."

"It probably is the one thing in boxing that takes the most skill," Arum said. "You have to allow your opponent to throw a punch at you and hit him in such a way and at such an angle with the counter that it reaches the opponent before his punch reaches you. That is hard and it takes nerves of steel."

On the other hand, Arum that Pacquiao is "all aggression."

"He's a fighter that takes his fight to the opponent," he said. "He is the antithesis of a defensive fighter."

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Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in Mexico

By Pepe Rodriguez/WBC

There is great anticipation for today’s visit to Mexico City of Filipino superstar Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao on the final leg of his international promotional tour for what will be his third match against the Mexican hero Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez, to be held November 12 in Las Vegas. Many Mexican fight fans have asked for time off at their jobs or simply will not attend school to attend this unprecedented event at 1PM at the Monumento a la Revolución, where an estimated 50,000 fans are expected.

The art at the right is the work of Eduardo De La Cruz, a Mexican artist who in the United States is known for his lithographs of various personalities of sports and entertainment. Most recently at the 48th WBC Convention which was held in Cancun, Mexico, Eduardo was named “Artist of the KO.”

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From HBO Sports: Check out Juan Manuel Marquez's Greatest Hits

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Pacquiao accepts challenge from Mexico City native, Marquez

Manny Pacquiao and has an official challenger. For the third time, Pacman will take on the reigning lightweight champion, Juan Manuel Marquez. According to Yahoo-Deportes, the fight will take place on November 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The promoter Top Rank, which represents Pacquiao, met on Tuesday to close the deal and sign contracts.

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