Now that Juan Manuel Marquez won’t get that third fight with Manny Pacquiao, he has to decide what his next move is. The Lightweight champ has options in his division or he could move up to 140 or 147. What will his next move be, and what can we expect from Dinamita in 2011?
Options at Lightweight
If Marquez wants to defend his title, there are options. I think Michael Katsidis showed enough that he could make a case for a rematch, even though it’s unlikely. Robert Guerrero is another possibility. Guerrero could give Marquez a serious test, but I would still lean towards Marquez to come through. Plus, Guerrero has been “groomed” a bit by Golden Boy, and has become a favorite of the folks at HBO in part because of his back story. That makes him the strongest contender to land a Marquez fight if the champion wants to stay in the division.
Options at Junior Welterweight
At 140, you have Amir Khan. The fight has been discussed before, and I think it would be entertaining, but I believe that Khan would win a decision. In his fight against Marcos Maidana, Khan showed good and bad things, but is it enough for Marquez to move up and probably go to England to fight Khan? I don’t rule it out. The main question would be how overwhelming the size advantage for Khan would be, against, of course, the slick counter-punching, timing and aggression of Marquez.
Options at Welterweight
Bob Arum believes that Marquez doesn’t deserve a Pacquiao fight until he can prove that he can beat a top welterweight. Andre Berto wants to fight an elite fighter, perhaps maybe Marquez? I think Arum would look at the fight as an elimination type fight. The winner moves on to fight Pacquiao. I don’t see Marquez beating Berto. Arum knows this, and he is hoping Marquez will slip up and disappear, so he won’t have to hear his name anymore. Look at how Arum kept Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa away from Celestino Caballero in hopes that Caballero would slip up, and he did. It happens to everyone, in due time.
The wild card fight is Erik Morales, which seems like one of the most likely to happen. Despite being a shot fighter, Morales wants the Lightweight Title, and Marquez wants Morales’s name on his Hall of Fame resume. This fight should have happened six or seven years ago. At this point, Marquez would be likely to bust Morales up and perhaps win an easy decision.
