by David P. Greisman

The next fight for the winner of next week’s pay-per-view bout between Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez won’t be clear immediately afterward, according to Bob Arum of Top Rank.

More on that below from Arum, who spoke with BoxingScene’s David Greisman on Oct. 4.

BoxingScene.com: Where does the winner of the fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley go next?

Arum: “First of all, if Marquez wins, does he continue fighting after he’s now won yet another world title? I don’t know. And Bradley has a lot of options. I have learned now that when I do fights, I concentrate on the fight that I’m doing, and tomorrow takes care of itself. So I have no idea. We have to see [Mike] Alvarado with [Ruslan] Provodnikov. We have to see Manny [Pacquiao] with [Brandon] Rios. And after that, we’ll sit down and decide who’s going to fight who.”

BoxingScene.com: So the future depends on the other results…

Arum: “Yeah, it’s stupid to say I’m going to put A with B, when A hasn’t fought C yet and B hasn’t fought D yet. Who knows how these fights go? They’re all competitive fights.”

BoxingScene.com: Are you thinking that Marquez might retire?

Arum: “It’s a possibility. He’s 40 years old. He’s saved all his money. And he went to school to be an accountant.”

BoxingScene.com: But as his promoter, would you prefer him not to retire?

Arum: “It’s up to the boy whether he wants to retire or not. That’s a decision that he has to make. It is something that I would only get involved with if the guy was taking beatings, and I felt he ought to retire for health reasons. And I certainly don’t feel that way with Marquez. But if Marquez decides that it’s time to retire, I will support him.”

Pick up a copy of David’s new book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com