Manny Pacquiao Doesn’t Want To Give Juan Manuel Marquez A 50-50 Split

A lot of dominoes will fall when Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez finally announce that they are fighting each other again. Currently, three other boxers are patiently waiting for these guys to drop the charade, because their next bouts are impacted by whether or not Pacquiao-Marquez V comes to fruition.

Mike Alvarado, Brandon Rios and Timothy Bradley have all been mentioned as possible alternates for Pacquiao and Marquez should they fail to come to terms. Alvarado and Rios clearly want to fight each other again, but both would be willing to step in for others should the opportunity arise. Similarly, Bradley has expressed interest in fighting both Pacquiao and, to a lesser degree, Marquez.


Still, Pacquiao’s No. 1 option at this point is the man who beat him last December.

"My gut instinct on what is next? I want it to be Marquez, Manny wants Marquez, but Marquez wants a lot, lot, lot of money," Roach told The Sweet Science. "I think it's a little outrageous. It may not happen. We might have to go to Mike Alvarado or Brandon Rios or a Tim Bradley rematch could be made. I want Marquez right away, Manny and I both want it. But Marquez wants just about a 50-50 split. Manny brings butts in seats, pay-per-view-wise, Manny is the guy. Obviously Manny deserves more. I think a rematch will make a lot more money than the last fight. I think both sides can ask for more and Marquez deserves something, but not 50-50."

Marquez, meanwhile, insists that he isn’t interested in fighting Pacquiao. He says he wants Bradley.

"[Fighting Bradley] weighs more to me because he's a great fighter, he is the champion, so logically as a fighter you always want to fight the best and Bradley is the champion and you want the championship. If I decide to continue, Bradley would be a great opponent," he told Boxing Scene.

"I do not care about a fifth fight [with Pacquiao], after what happened in the first three fights where there were controversial decisions, controversial where we had actually won and in this fourth fight we had a great victory and I would be very satisfied to let the memory of that remain, and to keep that feeling in place for myself, and also, for the Mexicans. We must go forward, pursue new goals, new directions. And for me to have had four fights with someone they had rated as the best pound for pound - and I made it clear that he is not the best pound for pound - searching for new challenges is important."

So Marquez doesn’t want to fight Pacquiao, but he told Pacquiao he’d do it for a 50-50 split? Obviously Marquez is trying to use Bradley as a bargaining chip, much in the same way Floyd Mayweather Jr. used Devon Alexander earlier this year. Everyone knew he wouldn’t actually fight Alexander, and surely enough, he agreed to take on Robert Guerrero shortly thereafter. The same thing will happen here.

On the bright side, though, it sounds as though fans will get an answer one way or the other by the end of the week.

"...we'll have an opponent by the end of the week for Manny. I'm not going to negotiate in the media. They're all my fighters, so I'll talk to them privately, and then, we'll come to a decision," Bob Arum told Ring recently.

As soon as Pacquiao’s next bout is announced, the rest of the pieces will fall into place much more quickly.

Sources: Sweet Science, Boxing Scene, Ring

Manny Pacquiao Is Timothy Bradley’s Preferred Opponent, Not Juan Manuel Marquez

Manny Pacquiao would much rather fight Juan Manuel Marquez than Timothy Bradley, that much we know. From both a financial and legacy standpoint, a fifth showdown against his 39-year-old rival would allow Pacquiao to avenge his recent knockout defeat, all the while securing the biggest pay day imaginable. Whereas all of his bouts with Marquez have done over one million pay-per-view buys, including the last one where he was coming off a loss, Pacquiao’s lone showdown against Bradley did noticeably less in PPV sales.

While Pacquiao clearly has his sights set on a fight against Marquez, Bradley, apparently, really wants another crack at Pacquiao. Despite his pleas to the contrary, clearly the 29-year-old realizes that nobody considers his first win over the Filipino star a win – and he is looking to correct that. Coming off a very impressive victory over Ruslan Provodnikov, Bradley wants to building on the momentum by sending Pacquiao into retirement.


“I prefer Bradley versus Pacquiao over Marquez. I think he could settle a lot of things inside him, he'll beat Pacquiao good this time," Cameron Dunkin, Bradley’s manager, told ESPN recently.

That’s only noteworthy, really, because rarely do fighters ask for guys coming off a loss when they’re coming off a win. Much less a guy coming off two losses. Clearly Bradley sees unfinished business there, and he’s willing to do away with common wisdom if it means rehabilitating his image with all the fans he lost a year ago.

Pacquiao and Marquez will fight this year, but if the Bradley folks saw against Provodnikov was the one who showed up in a rematch versus Pacquiao, it could actually end up being a pretty interesting bout.

Source: ESPN

Manny Pacquiao Isn’t Even On Brandon Rios’ Radar

Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado and Timothy Bradley have frequently been mentioned as possible end-of-year opponents for Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. While it’s widely assumed by people in the know that Pacquiao and Marquez will actually end up fighting one another, in order for both camps to retain leverage in negotiations, they have to maintain the facade that there are plenty of potential foes for their guys to choose from.

In their first few fights together, Pacquiao and Marquez had relatively little trouble negotiating terms. The latter had no grounds to demand anything; the former was the world’s top pound-for-pounder. That made discussions fairly simple. What Paquiao said would happen is what ended up happening. Whatever sum of money he wanted, he got. Marquez was just happy to get the opportunity for a big pay day and a chance to establish his all-time greatness.


That all changed with Pacquiao’s back-to-back losses – particularly the second one. Suddenly, he no longer held all the cards. Really, Marquez had tons more leverage because, if he wanted to, he could just retire without giving his Filipino counterpart an opportunity to avenge his most recent defeat. And that’s why negotiations have moved along so slowly over the past few months: Marquez wants more and, understandably, Pacquiao doesn’t want to part ways with too much.

Inevitably, though, a deal will get worked out. If for no other reason than simply because, regardless of how much less money anyone gets, it’ll still be more than what they can earn otherwise.

During a recent interview with The Boxing Voice, Rios indicated that his attention was fully on a rematch with Mike Alvarado.

“We got to do it again, do the tiebreaker. Honestly I’m a warrior, why not it be next. If Cameron wants it again, I would love to do it next. If Cameron (Dunkin) and the promotion want it next, shit I’d love to do it again next. I told Cameron Dunkin I want to fight him again immediately. He said I’m going to talk to Bob Arum and make it happen,” he said

“He wants to take me to Denver, don’t matter where, as long as I get the fight. He said he went to my backyard which isn’t true because he was training in California. We went to Vegas, which is none of our backyards, we can go to his backyard, f**k it.”

Rios admitted that he would fight Marquez if that was the fight set up for him, but his preference is clear: he wants redemption for what happened two weeks ago. That leaves just Bradley for Pacquiao and Marquez to fight over. And the reality of the situation is: Bradley generates far less in PPV sales than Pacquiao and Marquez do.

In the end, money will win out, as it always does.

Source: Boxing Voice

Manny Pacquiao And Juan Manuel Marquez Are Doing Timothy Bradley A Disservice

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez pretending as though they aren’t going to fight each other this September is fine. In theory, it doesn’t hurt anyone. Fans caught on to their little game a long time ago. The negotiators who will ultimately make this bout happen are currently hard at work doing just that, despite what either fighter says publicly. And barring some totally unforeseen catastrophe messing everything up, this thing is going down as planned at some point towards the end of 2013.

The only problem with all of this non-stop posturing and gamesmanship, really, is that it gives false hope to the potential opponents that Pacquiao and Marquez are using as pawns. Bob Arum noted that he was considering a pool of three people when determining possible alternative match-ups: Mike Alvarado, Brandon Rios and Timothy Bradley. Any of them, per the Top Rank boss, could be pitted against Pacquiao and Marquez this year. In all likelihood, though, the first two names on that list will fight each other again for a third time.


Realistically, the only real possible option for Pacquiao and Marquez if they opt not to square off against one another is Bradley. And both men are doing their part to make it seem like they’re seriously looking at him like a feasible option.

“It motivates me more to look for a fifth divisional championship. I believe that any sportsman or professional wants to achieve certain goals and that's why another belt inspires me more. And what's better than facing an opponent - who for me is a great fighter, tough and difficult, like Timothy Bradley." Marquez said during a recent interview with Boxing Scene.

He added: “My family has the last word [on my future]. I am not a puppet for anybody. I will not allow myself to move forward based on what a promoter or other [industry] people say. My decision [regarding the future of my career] is firm - if it is no then it is no and if it is yes, then it is yes. The surest thing is that there will not be a fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao, and yes there will be a [fight for a] fifth championship.”

Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s long time advisor, said something very similar regarding his guy’s next bout: "[Timothy] Bradley had a very good showing his last fight out, and maybe [Mike] Alvarado, and there are some other guys out there. We haven't really sat down to finalize an opponent, because we're still working on the venue."

The reality is that neither of these guys will fight Bradley next. While the 29-year-old put up a valiant effort versus Ruslan Provodnikov, there is something to be said for his lack of PPV appeal. His bout against Pacquiao didn’t come close to doing what Pacquiao-Marquez III and IV did, and it’s unlikely that a showdown against Marquez would result in anything different.

At 34 and 39 years old, respectively, Pacquiao and Marquez need to maximize their paydays right now, not minimize them. Which means that while they’ll happily use Bradley for leverage as they're negotiating against one another, the odds of either fighting him right now are slim.

Bradley shouldn’t be used as a pawn in this little game Pacquiao and Marquez are playing. He is coming off a big victory and needs to capitalize off that with another good fight. If he and his reps are smart, they’ll come out and reject matches against both Pacquiao and Marquez right now, and they’ll look to set something up that will allow him to keep his hot streak going.

Abner Mares Says Nonito Donaire Will Beat Guillermo Rigondeaux

Nonito Donaire will take on Guillermo Rigondeaux this weekend in front of what will probably be a massive Radio City Music Hall audience. Given how close this bout came to not happening, or at least how close both fighters made it seem like it came to not happening, you certainly can’t blame folks for being excited about what they’re about to see.

That being said, regardless of how pumped you are about this showdown, it’s understandably difficult for some to view it as anything more than what it really is: a consolation prize.


The guy that everyone wanted to see Donaire fight following his back-to-back thrashings of Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce was Abner Mares. Unfortunately, because of boxing’s ongoing promotional wars, the match could not be agreed to. It will likely still happen at some point, but not yet. And because of that, instead of actually fighting Donaire, all Mares can do at this point is analyze his fights against other foes.

During a recent interview with Ring TV, Mares broke down what he expects to see this weekend.

"It is an an intriguing fight. I would be lying if I said that I was not at all interested in the result of that fight," he said.

"It is going to be a very, very interesting fight. Rigondeaux, though, the feeling is that he doesn't have the experience as a professional. He brings in a great, great amateur resume though, having fought something like over 300 or 400 fights. That's a lot of fights, so he brings in all of that experience."

And that experience, ultimately, coupled with his power, is what Mares thinks will propel Donaire to victory.

"I think that at the end of the day, Nonito's power and his ability to move and his general professional experience is going to get the best of Rigondeaux that night," said Mares. "I see Nonito winning by knockout. I estimate a seven-round knockout by Nonito if Rigondeaux doesn't just run and box all night."

Source: RingTV

Manny Pacquiao And Juan Manuel Marquez Continue To Posture, Dismiss Each Other

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will fight each other this September, but that hasn’t stopped them from pretending as though they won’t. Despite the fact that the public caught on to their little game a while ago both, both men continue to act like they are seriously contemplating fighting other opponents this year.

The really funny thing about all of this horrible posturing, of course, is that they essentially have the same talent pool of alternatives to choose from. They can fight Timothy Bradley, Mike Alvarado and Brandon Rios. That it. Those are the options right there. And at the moment, in spite of what’s been said, an Alvarado-Rios rematch still looks very likely. That means Bradley is only real option available – and it’s a proven fact that he doesn’t bring in all that many PPV buys.


The question then becomes clear: will Pacquiao, 34, or Marquez, 39, fight Bradley and take less money, or will they fight one another and squeeze the biggest PPV total sales figure imaginable out of their next bout.

Obviously they’ll fight each other.

“It motivates me more to look for a fifth divisional championship. I believe that any sportsman or professional wants to achieve certain goals and that's why another belt inspires me more. And what's better than facing an opponent - who for me is a great fighter, tough and difficult, like Timothy Bradley. My family has the last word [on my future]. I am not a puppet for anybody. I will not allow myself to move forward based on what a promoter or other [industry] people say. My decision [regarding the future of my career] is firm - if it is no then it is no and if it is yes, then it is yes. The surest thing is that there will not be a fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao, and yes there will be a [fight for a] fifth championship," Marquez said during a recent interview with Boxing Scene.

In an effort to not be one-upped, Pacquiao’s advisor, Michael Koncz, said this of his guy’s next bout: "[Timothy] Bradley had a very good showing his last fight out, and maybe [Mike] Alvarado, and there are some other guys out there. We haven't really sat down to finalize an opponent, because we're still working on the venue."

Translation: We’re still working out the financial terms with Marquez’s camp.

The real question at this point isn’t whether or not these two will fight each other in 2013, it’s when they’ll drop this pointless, stupid charade.

Source: Boxing Scene

Manny Pacquiao, Freddie Roach Offer Thoughts on Floyd Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez

When you are dealing with an established rivalry like the one Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez have, there are very few new storylines to work with. Fans know the players. They know the history. They understand the stakes. The reason that every quote Paquiao and Marquez have uttered to date sounds nearly identical to the ones they have repeatedly uttered before is because they are the same. (Their last two bouts, that is; obviously they’re very different from 2004.)

In nutshell, here is everything you need to know about this pair’s fourth showdown: Marquez thinks he was robbed on three separate occasions, but especially in last November’s bout against Pacquiao. The Filipino champ, conversely, thinks that it’s a bit insane for Marquez to suggest that he was robbed not once, not twice, but three times – particularly when mathematical, undeniable evidence exists suggesting that it was in fact he who was robbed by incorrect scoring on the first-go-round. Beyond that, though, Pacquiao has a certain desire to prove his naysayers wrong in this one – largely because he realizes that he didn’t perform to expectations in his last two bouts.

On Tuesday, Pacquiao, Freddie Roach and Bob Arum hosted a media conference to promote Pacquiao-Marquez IV. Some of the responses that Pacquiao and Roach offered were particularly interesting. (Big thanks to Fight News for transcribing.)

One of the major discussion points in the lead-up to this bout has been the question of Pacquiao’s intensity level. Would he go for the early knockout? Would he at least try to be more aggressive than he was last November, when he appeared to sleepwalk through the entire match? The Filipino champ and his trainer addressed that point head on yesterday.

“Right now my mind is focused on being more aggressive for this fight. If there is a chance in the ring during the fight, why not make the fight easy (knock him out) if I have the opportunity?” Pacquiao replied, when asked if he would seek out a knockout.

When pressed regarding whether he was concerned about Marquez’s strength, Pacquiao replied: "Our strategy for this fight is to be more aggressive. Develop strength more and focus on speed. I am not worried about his strength”

Freddie Roach echoed those sentiments.

“The thing is Marquez fought the fight at a slow pace the last time. We plan to fight the fight at a much faster pace this time like we did in the first fight in the early rounds – that’s where we had the most success. Going by all the tapes we have watched, we do our best when we are more aggressive. More hand speed. We are going to use a lot of that,” he said.

“I don’t think it is a factor. I don’t think muscle-men have a better chin. If anything, I think if you put a lot of muscle he will be a little slower than he used to be and we are going to take advantage of that.”

Pacquiao was also pressed on whether he was feeling any additional pressure heading into this one. Predictably, he kept his answer short and sweet: “No.”

Roach, thankfully, expounded on the point a bit.

“No, I just do the job the best I can to get Manny ready for this fight. I thought Manny won the last fight [against Timothy Bradley] 11 rounds to 1 so I don’t really consider that a loss. So it’s just business as usual.”

And finally, to the inevitable “if you can’t get Floyd Mayweather into the ring next year will you continue to fight?” question, Pacquiao had this response: “Yes, I will continue to fight through next year.”

There you have it. Regardless of what happens, barring a total massacre by Marquez, Pacquiao is sticking around to fight past this year.

(Kudos Fight News)