Boxing
Pacquiao camp confirms Marquez as next opponent
AFP/Jay Directo
Manny Pacquiao has finally broken his silence and will be facing Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time on December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“It’s Marquez,” Pacquiao’s adviser Mike Koncz said yesterday from Las Vegas after meeting and finalizing the deal with Top Rank chief Bob Arum.
The official announcement will be made on Tuesday at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles with Arum and Pacquiao and Marquez in attendance. The succeeding stops of the tour will be Mexico City and New York City.
Pacquiao was actually given three choices–Miguel Cotto, Tim Bradley and Marquez–and the future Hall of Famer chose the Mexican not because he packs a lot of wallop in pay-per-view sales but he believes that there should be a closure to their celebrated rivalry that began in 2004.
Cotto signed up to face Austin Tout on Dec. 1 in New York, leaving him with Bradley and Marquez.
But probably because Pacquiao and the rest of the world thought that Bradley was just plain lucky to be declared winner by split decision last June 9, Pacquiao picked Marquez owing to the daunting challenge.
Pacquiao has always enjoyed being challenged and pushed to the limit.
