Pacquiao vs. Marquez
Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines rises from the canvas after being knocked down by Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico in the third round of their welterweight fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada December 8, 2012. Reuters

Ever since demolishing Manny Pacquiao in December of 2012, Juan Manuel Marquez has only fought once every year in 2013 and 2014. At 41-years-old, there is no question that the Mexican is selective in his fights and his next one will be coming in 2015 according to Mexican promotor Fernando Beltran, who handles Marquez’s fights.

The report came from a RingTV.com report published last Saturday.

“Obviously, that’s his decision, but he would like to come back sometime early next year. There are a lot of fighters out there for him,” said Beltran in the article. “But he would like to fight the IBF champion, Kell Brook. Or another good fight for him would be the rematch with Timothy Bradley. We think that would be a good fight.”

When asked if a fifth Pacquiao fight still has appeal for his ward, a non-committal Beltran admitted that he doesn’t know and “that would be up to Juan Manuel”.

Marquez has a win-loss-tie record of 56-7-1 with 40 knockouts— none more special and devastating as that against Pacquiao. Marquez’s last two bouts were a split decision loss to Bradley (113-115, 112-116, 115-113) and a unanimous decision victory over Mike Alvarado (119-108, 117-109, 117-109). Overall however, Marquez still trails Pacquiao with just 1 win and 1 draw in the four meetings against the Filipino pugilist.

Pacquiao has lined-up his next fight— a bout against unheralded and unknown Chris Algieri in Macau on Nov. 22. The undefeated American has a record of 20-0-0 but is not known in the boxing mainstream like Marquez, who has fought the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Marco Antonio Barrera, Michael Katsidis, Juan Diaz and the likes.

Marquez might eventually need Pacquiao to get his last hefty payday; after all, the Filipino is still one of the bigger draws in pay-per-view boxing. By his lonesome, Marquez won’t get huge fight purses from the likes of Brook or Bradley.

However, Marquez might want to end his career on a high note too— at least with regards to the Pacquiao vs. Marquez saga— and dropping Pacquiao cold in the canvass might just be the last memory the Mexican wants imprinted on the boxing fans’ minds for eternity.

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