By Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines–The World Boxing Council has issued another call for super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico to defend his title against Filipino star Manny Pacquiao in his next fight.
Marquez is slated to defend his title against Rocky Juarez on Nov. 3, and should he come out victorious, WBC president Jose Sulaiman wants him to stake his 130-lb title against Pacquiao.
If Juarez pulls off an upset, Sulaiman said he would also be mandated to defend against the Filipino boxing icon.
Sulaiman told Boxingscene in an interview that he believes that Marquez and Pacquiao are willing to fight each other again despite failed efforts to bring both fighters together in the ring.
“If he (Manny) declines for a third time, then I think he doesn’t want to fight Marquez, and we have to go our way,” noted Sulaiman.
Sulaiman said the Marquez-Pacquiao rematch should be held in the first quarter of 2008 “because there are no other television dates for the rest of the year, and they cannot do without the television, because it’s a big money fight. So I believe that’s going to be a great opportunity at the beginning of the year.”
The WBC had also ordered Marquez to fight Pacquiao in a mandatory defense after his dethronement of Marco Antonio Barrera early in the year.
But the Marquez and Pacquiao camps couldn’t agree on the purse and the Filipino ended up fighting Barrera again and winning their rematch by unanimous decision last Oct. 7.
Marquez came back from three knockdowns in the first round to forge a draw with Pacquiao in his defense of the World Boxing Association-International Boxing Federation featherweight title in 2004.
Meanwhile, Sulaiman also announced that after the WBC Convention in Manila, the WBC is going to hold two separate tributes to acknowledge the brilliant careers of Erik Morales and Barrera.
For Morales, the plan is to hold the celebration in his hometown of Tijuana in Mexico.
Barrera wants it either in Mexico City or Guadalajara, which is his current home.
The WBC has made it a point not to hold both affairs in one venue owing to the bad blood between the two boxing legends.
“If they don’t like each other, and there is so much controversy between them, I believe that it would be cynicism if we do the ceremony for both at the same time. So definitely the events will be separate,” explained Sulaiman. Salven L. Lagumbay, Contributor
