ESPN: Top Rank Offers Marquez Trilogy Fight with Pacquiao (Article)

Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will defend his welterweight title against former champ Shane Mosley next month, but promoter Top Rank is already making plans for him to fight rival Juan Manuel Marquez in the fall. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said Monday that Top Rank has made a formal, written offer for Marquez, the lightweight champ, to challenge Pacquiao for his welterweight title on a date to be determined in October if he defeats Mosley. Schaefer said the offer was sent to Golden Boy's attorney by Top Rank's attorney. Marquez's contract with Golden Boy expired at the end of February. Although Golden Boy has offered him fights and discussed a new deal with him, he has not accepted while holding out hope for a third fight with Pacquiao. But even though Marquez's promotional deal with Golden Boy expired, the company still has the right to match any offer from another company until February 2012, Schaefer said. He said Top Rank is aware of the matching rights, which is why its attorney sent Golden Boy the offer. "Last Friday, April 22, Top Rank made a firm offer to Juan Manuel Marquez to fight Manny Pacquiao in October for his WBO 147-pound belt," Schaefer said. "Part of the deal includes a rematch provision in case Marquez would win. So Pacquiao could potentially be tied up for quite awhile." Schaefer said the written offer to Marquez also contained financial terms, such as the guaranteed purse and the specifics his share of the pay-per-view profits. Schaefer would not disclose those terms. Top Rank declined to discuss the offer. "I have no comment on anything regarding Marquez," Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. "We have said that Marquez would be one of the possible opponents for Pacquiao after the fight with Mosley if he is successful against Mosley on May 7. But I have no comment. I am concentrating on promoting a fight on May 7." By offering a fight against Pacquiao to Marquez, Top Rank is signaling that Pacquiao will not be facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. this year. Two rounds of negotiations have already failed to produce a deal for that fight, likely the biggest revenue generator in boxing history. "Based on this offer, it seems like Pacquiao and Top Rank have no interest in fighting Mayweather, at least this year," Schaefer said. "If they did, I am sure Top Rank would have had language in the offer saying this was the deal unless a Mayweather fight could be secured, but it doesn't say that." Rest of the article: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=6426302uiao

Comments (20)

Mayweather serves jail time in the fall. There isn't the possibility of a fight. JMM-Pac is realistically the next best match up since a Martinez-Pac fight is unlikely to ever happen. Martinz is looking at the 168 division and Pac is looking at the 140 division. I see Pac fighting Bradley or Ortiz after JMM. The Mayweather fight is a fantasy. Floyd just doesn't want to return calls. He's still on vacation.

15y ago

champ_kw

isnt this thread about a potential match between manny vs jmm?? so u were off topic from the beginning by bringing up that guy's name... never was i defensive... Did u even read the article? Schafer specifically made a point to state that the offer didn't include any verbiage regarding a potential Floyd fight/offer. Again, u can infer that Top Rank doesn't have Floyd on their radar this year. What's so wrong about commenting on that piece of FACT that was in the article? Is it because it doesn't coincide w/ ur "Floyd don't want the fight" mantra? Of course, because the next thing outta ur mouth was an OPINION of yours that "Floyd wouldn't want the fight in the Fall anyway". Again, take ur "L" and keep it moving.

15y ago

baCCaT

Oh I see, because YOU didn't call for the fight the ship has sailed! :rofl: There are A LOT of people who want to see a trilogy. Pieced up by Katsidis? JMM won a lopsided fight and knocked him out. He got dropped but that's nothing new for JMM. He kicked his ass. And manny isn't a 154 pound fighter. You're not addressing the weight either. If in theory they fought at 154 how much do you think pac would weigh? 148-150? How much would sergio weigh? 170+ Of course this is perfectly fair to you and yet you call JMM-Pac unfair, even though only about 4-5 pounds will separate them. That's very hypocritical of you. Clottey was #5 welterweight and that's a solid first defense of his title. No one can say different. Margarito, sure it was whack that it was 150 pounds for a title, the title shouldn't have been on the line (thank the WBC for that who gives out belts like candy on Halloween). Mosley is currently number what at welterweight? #3. Not too bad either. Pac is out there fighting. If floyd is unavailable to fight unfortunately his options are pretty limited. pac is so dynamic bro. :rofl: his status as the top dog is null because he needs to go down to JMMs optimal fighting weight. or if he chooses to fight martinez he should move up. haters gonna hate man.

15y ago

champ_kw

stay on topic bro... Ur comprehension skills lost. I talked specifically about Top Rank not including verbiage about Floyd in their offer to GBP regarding JMM. YOU, instead of speaking on the one fact, you decide to dismiss it and provide an opinion (We all know Floyd wouldn't accept a fight in the Fall). Instead of taking the "L" that Top Rank isn't too gung ho about making a Floyd fight this year, u subconsciously got defensive and started projecting w/ how u THINK Floyd don't want the fight. Therefore, stay on topic.

15y ago

the_gent

15y ago

William_Blake

Last fight night weights Marquez 145 Pacquiao 148 Martinez 168 Translation= Pacquiao is a coward for not moving up to face Martinez. Pacquiao is a coward for not moving down so he won't weigh 3 pounds more than Marquez. This is silly. If Martinez is so brave, why doesn't he go fight the big boys at 168 like Froch, Ward, Bute, Kessler, etc....why does Martinez need to fight another smaller guy. The last guy he fought was ranked 8 in the junior middleweight division....i love to watch martinez fight, but he is a middle weight pure and simple...to call Pacquiao a coward is unfounded.

15y ago

William_Blake

I'll take a third Marquez fight all day. As for Floyd, he's turned down 50 mill, denied he was in negotiations, demanded 100 mill, won't answer calls, etc. etc.....where is floyd? oh yeah, he said he has retired. Why should Manny wait around for a guy who doesn't even fight anymore?

15y ago

champ_kw

if u honestly think floyd will accept a fight with pac this coming fall then ur dumber than i thought LOL... Stay on topic. This thread is about the offer Top Rank sent to GBP. There was no language in there stating anything about Floyd. Therefore, we can make the inference that a fight with Floyd isn't on Top Rank's mind right now. Leave ur hypothetical scenarios of what Floyd will and won't do. For the purpose of this thread, we know what Top Rank ISN'T doing. And that's not trying to fight Floyd this year.

15y ago

Horvo

15y ago

tacuso

Why is Manny making this LW come up two divisons to fight him but cant go up one division and fight Sergio? He realized his limit when he fought Marg?

15y ago

champ_kw

damn flomos are so fukkin dumb... wifebeater still has legal troubles don't he? it would be dumb to send an offer to fight wifebeater in those circumstances. damn flomos are mofos Pull your skirt down, your exposing yourself. Didn't Floyd have legal issues when the so called "Top Rank countdown clock negotiations" took place? So it makes sense for them to try to make a fight then, but not now? Keep believing whatever Arum sells you.

15y ago

VWEBB

I don't get the uproar for this fight. Pac sparks JMM now at any weight. This is what all you guys were *****ing about when the Mosley fight was made and now you get it. Its your fault so don't complain now. :lol1: :lol1: Whenever Manny is involved, its always someone else's fault.

15y ago

KnockoutKings

15y ago

Prime_407

LOL at all the ppl hyping up Marquez but then subsequently mocking him by saying he's **** above 140, so let's weight drain Pac instead. Bunch of hypocrites.

15y ago

the_gent

The weight doesn't matter at all. Pac will still not go above 150 during the night of the fight, whether it's 140 or not. When they fought at 130 Pac was still 143-145 in the ring so it's really not that big of a deal to me. JMM should look at it as a 140 bout and fight at 138-140ish. It's the only relevant fight since Mayweather is a mystery. Still a huge fight to me. People can play up the first couple of fights as fights JMM should have won. I think the public will buy it. Good ****. Yup..I was thinking the same thing. So what if they say the fight is at 147, doesn't mean he has to come in at that weight. JMM can stay at a comfortable weight if he chooses.

15y ago

TheSurgeonMDMPH

This will be so enjoyable to see the sheep eat this farce up also! The spin will be unbelievable. Good ole top rank smoke and mirrors.

15y ago

jjbj2

The reason why JMM has no problem agreeing to fight Manny at welterweight is because Manny's offering to put his WBO belt up for stake. JMM wants to be the first Mexican to win titles in four divisions anyway. In my ideal world, Manny would challenge JMM for his lineal title at Lightweight, but that won't happen. ---- As for Floyd, he could seriously try to take a tuneup fight this summer before his court date in September. It's not like he's really mentally affected or doing actual work in the meantime. The guy's selling lottery soda and clubbing ffs. Seriously, I think Pacquiao fighting JMM for his lineal belt is a lot better than JMM fighting for his WBO strap. He would become the 1st person to be a 5 time lineal champion in 5 different divisions. Also, in my ideal world after JMM, Pac will fight Martinez again for the JMW strap. I don't mention PBF since guy is afraid of Pac and obviously will forever run from him. Lastly, in my ideal world Pac fights Maidana or Timothy Bradley. Maidana and Bradley at 147lbs since Pac already had the lineal belt and a strap (IBO) at JWW.

15y ago

S_H_A_R_K_B_O_Y

The only consistent person here. I swear all the guys in here *****ing were the same one who just 3-4 months ago were crying that Manny should fight Marquez instead of Shane, now that he is... http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KI9gcT8Agi4/TNchF90jSKI/AAAAAAAAAno/jqCQA7frG4w/s1600/glenn+beck+crying.gif And Arum and people here need to stop making believe that Manny has made ANY indication he's trying to make a Mayweather fight or has any interest in actually fighting a live dog. He turned down $50 million guaranteed and Roach will tell anyone who'll listen that his boy fighting Floyd is suicide. Stop it already. Fixed this post and made it believable.

15y ago

Rocky_Rode

I'd rather pay for Marquez-Zab Judah on PPV...I thought that was the fight Marquez had planned for the Summer anyways? Would he fight Zab in July then Pac in October? I don't think Marquez would want to be inactive for 11 months... Especially since this will be the biggest fight of his career.

15y ago

tibbar

all smoke and bull pacroid wants no part of Marquez Marquez will school and eventually KTFO pacroid will you stop being stupid already, its not funny anymore, LOL!

15y ago