Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez 4 announced – Boxing News
Finally, the long awaited Manny Pacquiao fight on December 8 has been announced, and the Pac-man’s opponent will be Juan Manuel Marquez. Probably, all Marquez fans around the world will be sighing right now, as their fighter just got another chance to prove
his mettle against Pacquiao.
Although Pacquiao’s coach Freddie Roach was against fighting Marquez, the Pac-man decided to go with it considering fans want it more than a rematch against Timothy Bradley, the current WBO welterweight titlist.
“Because the economics for the Marquez fight were so much greater than for a Bradley rematch, that is what Manny decided to do,” revealed Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter. “It's so much greater because of the support Marquez has from the Hispanic community.
Look at the past numbers. When Pacquiao fought Marquez (in November), it sold close to 1.3 million pay-per-view. Bradley was about 900,000. That's a big difference. Plus, the gate goes from probably $8 million to $12 million.”
While Arum is looking at the pay-per-view leads, Roach is more worried about Pacquiao’s legacy. In an interview earlier this week, Roach asserted that Marquez is the only fighter who is able to neutralize Pacquiao in the ring. Therefore, it is a dangerous
road for Pacquiao to take.
“Manny knew I would prefer Bradley. I think the money was a huge factor. Bradley doesn't bring the people Marquez does. But I would have rather had revenge for that bad decision in June,” said the Hall of Famer trainer.
Pacquiao had to choose from Marquez or Bradley. He has already defeated Marquez twice previously, one via majority decision and the other via unanimous decision. The first fight between the two ended up in a tie.
On the other hand, Pacquiao lost his WBO title to Bradley earlier this year on June 9 via split decision. Since it was a controversial decision, the crowd immediately booed for Bradley, making him want a rematch to beat Pacquiao in a more dominant manner.
Unfortunately, Bradley did not get the chance to fight Pacquiao again, as the Filipino fighter has opted to fight Marquez for a fourth time.
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