By: James Blears
The much anticipated ring clash between Scott Harrison and Juan Manuel Marquez for three of the four featherweight belts, looks set to take longer than expected.
Marquez’s Manager Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, has confirmed that Juan’s next fight will be against Fahprakkorb Rakkiatgym of Thailand, who’s the highest ranked challenger the IBF can muster.
Beristain says that the mandatory defense is due to take place in August, and that the superfight will have to follow this, because Juan must comply with IBF rules.
It ha previously been reported that the negotiations to clinch the Marquez V Harrison bout were close to agreement.
Marquez holds the WBA and IBF versions of the belt, and Harrison is the WBO’s champion.
Beristain also said that after his next fight, Juan has completed his contract with Top Rank and is a free agent.
Marquez and Beristain are looking for big paydays, and have been pretty hard nosed in previous negotiations. They walked away from a return fight with Manny Pacquiao, arguing that Juan’s cut of the purse was not enough, especially as he’s a double world champion.
The chances of enticing Marquez to Scotland, look remote, unless Frank Warren could come up with a financial package not too dissimilar from the Tszyu appetizer. The more likely venue is Las Vegas, but as things stand today, the end of the year is a reasonable time frame estimation.
