Vy Vitali Shaposhnikov: As expected, Juan Manuel Marquez will be in Las Vegas this coming Saturday, and will likely be attending the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley bout. Marquez’s intention is of course far from simply attending the fight and enjoying the entertainment that Sin City has to offer; he will be there to discuss a potential fourth fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Somehow I am confident that he will be meeting with Bob Arum to try and convince the promoter to arrange for another bout against his worldwide sensation of a fighter. The timing is as good as ever, since Mayweather Jr. will not be able to negotiate for another couple of months. Truthfully, there is no other deserving fight out there for Pacquiao, and them taking on a sub-par opponent will most definitely promote serious dislike for the entire team. Thus, it has to be either Marquez or Mayweather Jr.
As far as Bob Arum goes, I don’t expect him to go for it. Arum knows well enough that Pacquiao not only struggled against Marquez, but according to many boxing fans, he had lost. As a matter of fact, Arum was recently quotes as saying: “If Manny performs the same way that he did in the [Juan Manuel] Marquez fight, Bradley will beat him.” (http://www.examiner.com/article/bob-arum-says-bradley-wins-if-pacquiao-fights-the-way-he-did-vs-marquez)
To me, this is an exceedingly direct way of admitting that his fighter not only underperformed against Marquez, but also lost the fight in the eyes of many. Putting Pacquiao inside the ring with his kryptonite would be a very risky move, and Arum will do anything to avoid losing his cash-cow before too soon.
Still I am curious to hear what Marquez will be able to achieve with his trip to Las Vegas, and what Arum will tell him if they end up meeting.