Manny Pacquiao to fight Juan Manuel Marquez again
Manny Pacquiao has decided after much deliberation that meeting his foil Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time trumps avenging a controversial loss in a title fight most believe he won.
Two people close to the negotiations but unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter said Wednesday that Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 knockouts) will fight Marquez on Dec. 8 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas instead of a rematch with Timothy Bradley after their June 9 bout fell flat among pay-per-view buyers.
Pacquiao beat Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KOs) in a majority decision in November that had nearly 400,000 more pay-per-view buys than the Bradley fight, and Pacquiao and Marquez have been separated by only the slightest of margins in their 36 rounds of battle, with a 2004 draw and a 2008 split-decision won by Pacquiao.
“Manny is the consummate entertainer and showman who cares about his fans,” Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s manager, said this week as the negotiations turned to favor Marquez. “He heard the boos after his last fight with Marquez. He has a lot of fans in Mexico and loves them. He wants to bring those fans back.”
Promoter Bob Arum said this week that he plans to have the fighters sign their deal Tuesday in Los Angeles when they appear for a news conference.
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