Marquez signs contract to fight Pacquiao

CEBU, Philippines - It's official. Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao will fight reigning lightweight titlist Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time on November 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fighthype.com cited a report by LA Times that Marquez met with Top Rank president Todd duBoef yesterday morning (PHL time) at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles where they hammered out the deal, which came into fruition after Golden Boy Promotions couldn't match the terms by Top Rank big boss Bob Arum.

A separate report by Michael Woods of thesweetscience.com said the contracted weight of the epic trilogy will be 144 pounds or less, while Steve Kim of badlefthook.com bared that Marquez is guanteed US$5 million, with a $10 million paycheck for a fourth fight if he scores an upset against the Filipino ring superstar this November.

Pacquiao and Marquez's previous two encounters were dogged with controversy. They battled to a bloody draw in 2004 at the MGM Grand. The Mexican dynamite survived three knockdowns in the first round to engage the Pacman in an action-packed, 12-round tussle.

In their March 2008 rematch, the judges awarded Pacquiao a split decision following a super close contest at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Since then, the 32-year-old Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38KOs) snatched three world titles in three weight divisions, easily destroying celebrated fighters bigger than him in the likes of Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and most recently Shane Mosley.

Marquez, on the other hand, nailed two straight victories since losing by unanimous decision to Flloyd Mayweather, Jr. in 2009. In his last tour of duty, Marquez dropped Michael Katsidis in the ninth round to annex the WBA super lightweight crown.

Prior to taking on Pacquiao, the 37-year-old Marquez will have a tuneup match against David Diaz on July 2 in Mexico City.  - THE FREEMAN