Marquez may fight for a world title again, says promoter

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Juan Manuel MarquezJuan Manuel Marquez has been out of commission since his defeat of Mike Alvarado last October, as the former four-division world champion has been battling knee injuries, though, he was on hand to cover the Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas earlier this month. Many, including his trainer Nacho Beristain, are urging the Mexican legend to hang up the gloves and retire, but Marquez has yet to announce his retirement.

His promoter, Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions, says not to drop the curtain just yet. There is still a chance the soon to be 42-year-old Marquez, could return to the ring. Beltran laid down three options.

Marquez really, really wants a legitimate welterweight world championship. Keep in mind, he didn’t win a title when he knocked out eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in conclusive fashion with a massive overhand right in their fourth encounter. Instead, Marquez was awarded with the WBO “Champion of the Decade Belt.” Pacquiao was not in possession of the regular WBO title after suffering a controversial loss to Timothy Bradley just six months prior.

The two possibilities are: a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., or a clash with IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook. Notice how I didn’t introduce Mayweather as a champion? Well, that’s because Mayweather vacated all of his titles. However, the former five-division world champion was probably still the champion when Beltran was putting the game plan together for his fighter.

In 2009, Marquez was schooled by Mayweather. At the time, Marquez was making a transition from lightweight to welterweight for the 144-pound catch-weight fight with Mayweather, who intentionally came in at 146 pounds, and Marquez, speaking with ESPN Deportes, hasn’t forgotten about how the situation was handled.

“It was upsetting to me to see how the situation was handled, everything in favor of Mayweather, everything against me. We knew at that time that our promoter, Golden Boy, was more of a promoter to Mayweather than they were to me, but we know that does mean that he is not a great fighter.”

For coming in overweight, Mayweather was forced to give Marquez $600,000, but that still wasn’t fair, according to Marquez.

“Yes, all of the adversities were against me, including the weight. He came in at 146 and for me it [took away] an advantage because it would have been hard for him to make the weight, and I was coming up from lightweight. [Making the weight] would have made him feel diminished, but it did not happen this way. They supported him, and to this day, the entire situation of 2009 still angers me.”

Beltran added that they will search for an opponent while Marquez continues to nurse his damaged knee, speaking with ESPN Deportes.

“Right now, we are looking for an opponent. He will continue with his rehabilitation, but if he feels one hundred percent, we already have a range of offers, mainly aiming at the world welterweight title, which he and his team have long been targeting.

“He has always spoken of the welterweight title, and there are Kell Brook and Floyd Mayweather. Obviously, we would love to fight Mayweather because while they have fought each already, it took place under very adverse conditions and now things would be different. But, there is also a good chance that we’ll face Brook, who is looking for a big fight in the United States. There are a number of options at the weight.”