By Don Donatello
It’s has been a long tradition in boxing that fighters use to avoid fighting a certain individual. Plain and simple, it’s called ducking. There are many ways to duck an opponent. But the slickest and most subversive way to duck an opponent is to first state that you want the fight to happen, then price yourself out of the fight by asking for an unreachable and ridiculous amount of money during contract negotiations to kill the fight.
Sugar Ray Leonard used this tactic to avoid a rematch with Thomas Hearns. In negotiations, Ray would ask for a monetary amount that was unreachable, essentially killing the deal. When Ray thought that Hearns had slowed down, he agreed to a rematch. But it took 9 long years after their first bout for the rematch to happen. In the rematch, Hearns knocked down Ray twice and beat Ray, but the judge gave Leonard a gift draw. Ray would later confess to Hearns that he had lost.
Roy Jones Jr. also used the same ploy to avoid a rematch against Bernard Hopkins. Roy would demand a very large amount of money every time negotiations came up for a rematch against Hopkins. All negotiations went no where due to Jones’ insistence for a very large pay check. When Jones was no longer an attraction 17 years later, he agreed to fight Hopkins in a rematch. Roy Jones Jr. lost the rematch this past April of 2010.
Now Marquez is using that ploy to avoid a third fight with Pacquiao. He would call Pacquiao out in the press and state that Pacquiao is avoiding him. In negotiations, Marquez would ask for an amount of money that would kill the fight. His latest demand is for $5 million dollars. He once asked for a 50% split. But everyone thought that it was so bizarre and utterly ridiculous that he dropped that idea. His latest demand of $5 million dollars is just as ridiculous.
Marquez does not really want to fight Pacquiao. What he is doing is just using Pacquiao’s name to market himself. It has worked wonderfully. With every fight, Pacquiao’s name is constantly mentioned to promote Marquez’s fights. There is not a Marquez fight where he does not mention that he beat Pacquiao twice.What foreign fighter at Marquez’s age has garnered more highly publicized fights here in the USA than Marquez? All because Marquez insist that he was robbed in his loss to Manny Pacquiao. In fact, Manny was the one who was robbed of a victory. In the first fight, during the first round, Marquez was knocked down three times. Two judges scored that round correctly by giving Pacquiao a 10-6 round. Judge Bert Clemens incorrectly only gave Pacquiao a 10-7 round. Clemens later confessed that he erred and should have given Pacquiao a 10-6 round. The corrected score would have given Pacquiao the win instead of the draw as the outcome of the fight.
Marquez has since fought five times in the span of two years after his second fight with Pacquiao. Marquez is marketing himself as the man who “ Beat Pacquiao Twice.” Of course Marquez would always invoke his selective amnesia and forget to mention that he was literally flatten on his back four times against Pacquiao; and he was also wobbled on numerous occasions too. In their two fights, Pacquiao never went down at all.
Marquez has proven that he is not an attraction. In his last PPV fight where Marquez was the headliner, his fight with Juan Diaz never even reached the 200K mark, Pacquiao’s last fight did 1.15 Million against Antonio Margarito. Pacquiao is the currently the cash cow of boxing, Marquez is one of many in line who want a fight with Pacquiao. So it does not make sense that Marquez is asking to be paid like he is a PPV attraction. Why is Marquez the one dictating at what weight the fight should take place. Why is Marquez still fighting at Lightweight if he wants to fight Pacquiao? It does not make sense at all. But it makes crystal clear sense if Marquez’s intent is to kill any fight with Pacquiao from happening. All the signs are there. It’s the same strategy that Roy Jones used to duck Bernard Hopkins. It’s the same strategy used by Sugar Ray Leonard to duck Thomas Hearns; price yourself out to avoid the fight.
Marquez knows that Pacquiao would pulverize him at 140 pounds and above. He saw a 165 pound Margarito get hammered into a pulp by Pacquiao. He saw how Pacquiao hunted down and finished off Miguel Cotto at 146. He must know that a Lightweight such as himself cannot possibly have a chance of beating Pacquiao. Even Floyd Mayweather will not fight Pacquiao. Marquez also knows why Mayweather won’t fight Pacquiao. It’s the same reason why Marquez himself is ducking Pacquiao. Still wondering what is that reason? Go ask Cotto, Joshua Clottey, and Margarito. After each one of their fight against Pacquiao, they ALL said that Manny Pacquiao is the best.
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