Juan Manuel Marquez clarifies why he backed out of Amir Khan meet
Juan Manuel Marquez has attempted to explain why he didn’t take up an opportunity to fight WBA junior welterweight king Amir Khan earlier this year.
Golden Boy Promotions, who promote both Khan and Marquez, wanted to pit the fighters against each other for Khan’s American HBO debut in May.
But Marquez rejected an offer made by Golden Boy that subsequently forced them to engage Paul Malignaggi, promoted by Lou Dibella at the time.
Khan ended up stopping Malignaggi in eleven rounds, after a rampant weigh-in turned into a full room brawl and essentially overshadowed the fight.
Marquez confessed to boxingscene.com, “The truth is, I had a small surgery on my back and I had just finished a very tough fight with [Floyd] Mayweather. I had to take some time off because I had the surgery. That's the real reason. That's the
real thing.”
Rumours had been circulating at the time of negotiations that Nacho Beristain, who trains and managed Marquez, thought his side was being disrespected and given the backseat to Khan, despite Marquez being universally respected as a veteran top fighter in
the world.
Tensions threatened to bubble over when Beristain reportedly indicated Marquez was being used as a “stepping stone” for Khan to gain viewership and a viable fan base in the United States.
Marquez reiterated that his decision had nothing to do with inner-management politics. “That's the truth [that I had to take time off]. Everybody can say this or that, but that's the truth. It was because of the surgery on my back.”
In recent weeks, Marquez has emerged as a possible candidate for Manny Pacquiao. The two have already had two vicious wars in the ring, with the first concluding in a draw and the second narrowly going to Pacquiao.
Many believe Marquez possesses the formula to beat “Pacman” and should be able to redeem his loss.
Tags: