Monday, April 07, 2008 Marquez asks Manny for rematch By Edri K. Aznar Sun.Star Correspondent
MANILA–Juan Manuel Marquez wants a rematch with Manny Pacquiao so bad he personally came to the Philippines to try to convince the World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight champion to agree to a fight.
But the Filipino boxing superstar’s camp is apparently still set on letting Pacquiao fight WBC lightweight king David Diaz.
Coach Freddie Roach said that after the first Pacquiao-Marquez encounter in 2004, the Mexican fighter gave the Filipino a hard time and let him wait four years for a rematch.
“Marquez let us wait for four years. So we’ll let him wait too,” said Roach.
Roach says Marquez is just in it for the money because Manny Pacquiao fights draw a lot of money. This was evident last March 16 when pay-per-view buys for the fight drew $20.2 million, a record in the smaller weight divisions, and tickets sales drew $3.3 million.
“That’s why he wants to fight Pacquiao because he wants to have a big payday,” said Roach.
Golden Boy Promotions Vice President Eric Gomez, meanwhile, wants to sign a deal with Pacquiao now and is willing to let Marquez fight at 135 weight class. He said he wants the Marquez-Pacuiao rematch held before the fight with Diaz.
“We’re ready we want him to sign now. We want to fight him before the Diaz fight, not after,” said Gomez.
Marquez attended yesterday’s “Invasion: Philippines vs. The World” boxing event and was applauded by Filipino boxing fans. When Pacquiao arrived minutes later, the cheers were louder.
Pacquiao attended the boxing event yesterday to support his friend Gerry Peñalosa.
