Marquez Remains Undecided Over Potential Miguel Cotto Clash

By Miguel Rivera

Former four division world champion Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez (56-7-1, 40KOs) remains undecided over a possible fall showdown with Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33KOs), who also captured four world titles in four weight divisions.

Last week, Marquez said he focused on doing two more fights, tentatively in May and then in the fall. He said a Cotto fight could take place as late as November.

Marquez, 42-years-old, has been out of the ring since winning a twelve round unanimous decision over former WBO junior welterweight champion Mike Alvarado at the Forum in Los Angeles. Since then Marquez has been dealing with a knee injury and rehabilitation to properly recover.

During his most recent appearance on Golpe a Golpe, Marquez explained what he would require in terms of the weight for a potential Cotto fight.

"If they want to do the fight, it would have to be at welterweight and have a clause where he can not rise above 152,153 pounds the following day. To me that's an important point. I'm not a natural welterweight and that would help me a lot, because there would be little difference in the weight [on the day of the fight]," Marquez said.

It remains to be seen if Cotto would even entertain those terms He's has not made the welterweight limit of 147 since June of 2009 and he's not weighed less than 153.5 since 2011. The Puerto Rican fighter's trainer, Freddie Roach, says his boxer is unlikely to get down below 150-pounds.

Promoter Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions, who works very closely with Marquez, says the Mexican veteran has yet to make any decisions regarding his future.

"What I would advise Marquez to do is have a discussions with his family [about the possibility of returning. Then he can start training in the gym and he should set a one month goal to evaluate his health, the ability of his his knee," Beltran told ESPN Deportes.

"He can evaluate his performance in the gym and then take it from there - and then make a decision on whether he wants to hang up the gloves or make a few more fights. Because everything until now is just speculation. I think he has to put together his training camp and then decide whether he wants to retire or have two more fights."