Plans are slowly taking shape for Manny Pacquiao to gun for the WBC super
Featherweight belt for the king of
featherweight Juan Manuel Marquez in March next year. Pacquiao who pummeled Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera into retirement two months ago. Dethroning Marquez would give the Filipino hero his third world championship. He had been the World Boxing Council Flyweight title holder and International Boxing Federation superbantam king. What they failed to resolve in their first showdown Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will try to settle when they clash anew in a grudge rematch slated in March 15 2008 at the Mandalay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The megabuck title fight between Marrquez, the Mexican WBC
super featherweight champion, and Pacquiao, the Filipino ring superstar and number 1 contender, was jointly announced Thursday by Golden Boy Promotions, and Top Rank, in association with Romanza Boxing Productions, and MP Promotions, through GBP vice president Eric Gomez. Mandalay Bay was also the venue of Pacquiao’s bout in October against Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera, whom he beat by unanimous decision. The announcement for the Pacquiao-MarquezII, to be shown on HBO Pay-Per-View, ended weeks of speculations as to who will be Pacquiao’s next opponent. Among those mentioned were Mexican David Diaz, the WBC lightweight champion; Venezuelan Knockout artist and WBA super Featherweight titlist Edwin Valero and even retired great and GBP boss Oscar De La Hoya. In their initial encounter on May 08, 2004, Pacquiao and Marquez battled to a controversial draw and both fighters have expressed interest in putting a close to that encounter. That sensational duel, held at the MGM Grand also in Las Vegas, saw Marquez recover from three first round knockdowns to bring the fight to Pacquiao. Pacquiao had earlier demanded that he be paid a bigger purse. Marquez, meanwhile, practically get himself in the equation by agreeing to a purse cut. Although Marquez holds the belt, Pacquiao’s camp, led by multi-awarded trainer Freddie Roach, believe’s that the Filipino ring hero is main draw and deserves the bigger share of the prize pie. Paquiao is set to fly to the United Sates to hold the fight’s first press conference on December 20 2007.