By Jake Donovan

Twenty-four rounds later, there is still no clear cut answer to the question, who is the better fighter between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.

If the post-fight aftermath is any indication, it's quite possible the debate remains a never ending one.

The worst-kept secret in boxing going into Saturday's rematch was that win, lose or draw, Pacquiao planned to move up to the lightweight division, most likely challenging David Diaz, the one divisional titlist under contract with Top Rank. It worked out that Pacquiao won (as did Diaz, in a 10-round decision over Ramon Montano) on the televised undercard, saving the promoter the trouble of attempting to sell such a fight following a loss. Simple enough, time to move on to June 28.

Not so fast, says the boxing public, as well as Juan Manuel Marquez and his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions. What about Pacquiao-Marquez III?

No chance, says Pacquiao and Top Rank. "Unfinished Business" was the chosen slogan for the Pay-Per-View rematch, but as far as Pacquiao is concerned, "the business is over."

So too believes Bob Arum, who already has the date (June 28) and arena (Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV, which also hosted Saturday's fight) reserved for a fight they've wanted since last year before instead first agreeing to the Marquez rematch.

All of that works for everyone under the Top Rank stable, which of course no longer includes Juan Manuel Marquez, who along with his brother Rafael split from the company more two years ago. It was Marquez' – or more specifically, trainer/manager Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain's – unwillingness to budge from what Arum viewed as absurd demands for a planned 2005 Pacquiao rematch which ultimately led to the falling out between fighter and promoter.

Both Marquez brothers – Juan Manuel and Rafael – moved on, first gaining employment under the Gary Shaw Productions banner. Rafael remains with the company to this day, while Juan Manuel signed with Golden Boy Promotions, at the time regarded as a bitter rival to Top Rank.

It was an ongoing disagreement over promotional rights to Manny Pacquaio which escalated the Top Rank-Golden Boy feud to an all-time high, before the two sides finally settled their differences, in and out of court, last summer.

Fittingly, the first joint promotion under the renewed relationship involved Manny Pacquiao, who fought in a long discussed rematch four years after the first fight. Only it wasn't Marquez in the other corner, but Marco Antonio Barrera, who was humiliated in a one-sided knockout loss in 2003, the one that put Pacquiao on everyone's radar.

The worst part of the rematch, aside from the dull nature of the fight itself, was that Barrera entered the October 2007 bout coming off of a loss against Marquez seven months prior. Marquez was instead given a consolation prize, which began with a PPV showcase against Jorge Barrios, but ultimately morphed into a Showtime headliner against Rocky Juarez. He remained on the outside looking in while Top Rank and Golden Boy would do two more shows together in 2007, in fact both coming in back to back weeks following Marquez' win over Juarez in early November.

Golden Boy immediately began campaigning for Pacquiao-Marquez II, while Top Rank had their collective eyes on David Diaz and the lightweight division. While Diaz-Pacquiao would be an entertaining fight in its own right, the fight everyone demanded was in fact the very rematch Golden Boy aggressively pursued.

The fight itself is the perfect symbol of the renewed relationship between two of the sport's biggest powerbrokers, that if they can negotiate a rematch, then anything was possible.

So it is with great irony that after such a great fight, talks of a third fight between the two fighters could instead renew ill will between their promoters.

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer was adamant in his post-fight comments, demanding an immediate third fight. He even went so far as to offer Pacquiao a career-high payday of $6 million, unheard of for the super featherweight division.

Yet, it wasn't discussion of a third fight, but Schaefer's displeasure with the two judges who scored against his fighter, that suggested the first hint of the end of the truce. Arum took the opportunity to indirectly point out the conflict of interest that exists with a top-level promoter (Golden Boy) claiming ownership to a magazine (The Ring) that awards championship belts.

The connection between the two events, or the motivation behind Arum's response, is unclear. Just as it remains unclear who is the better fighter between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao. Should four knockdowns, an improved ability in controlled aggression and 1-0-1 on the scoreboard be enough to suggest that the Filipino is the better fighter of the two (and quite possibly the best active fighter in the world)? Or is Marquez' ability to overcome such physical disadvantages and win enough rounds to even make it a debate proof that his skill set is too much for any fighter from featherweight to light weight to definitively conquer?

In a perfect world, we would get 12 more rounds this summer to hopefully provide an answer once and for all. Instead, we may have watched the two – and their promoters – do business for the last time.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Please Jake can be reached for comments at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.