MANILA, Philippines - With his impressive win over Mike Alvarado two days ago, Juan Manuel Marquez moved just one signature away from another huge paycheck.
Marquez continued to defy age against Alvarado. They traded knockdowns in the eighth and ninth rounds but the Mexican came out as the clear winner.
At the post-fight press conference, the big question was if Marquez is willing to face Manny Pacquiao for a fifth time.
The great Mexican champion who will turn 41 on Aug. 23 did not commit himself for another fight with Pacquiao but said he’ll think about it.
“What he said was he would go back and consult with his team and analyze the fifth fight and see what he will do,†Arum told www.boxingscene.com.
In the meantime, that’s what Arum wants to hear.
Marquez has fought Pacquiao four times and each time he was paid what he can’t earn for four fights against other opponents.
The last time he faced Pacquiao and knocked the Filipino out in the sixth round, Marquez was guaranteed $6 million. Against Alvarado, he earned $1.4 million.
There’s money to be made for Pacquiao-Marquez 5 and Marquez can ask for eight digits.
“I think that there’s a lot of money in the fight so we’ll see,†Arum said.
After losing to Tim Bradley and Marquez, the 35-year-old Pacquiao is back with his winning ways following successive wins against Brandon Rios and Bradley.
Marquez lost to Bradley in 2013 and also back in the winner’s circle with the unanimous decision against Alvarado.
Bob Arum of Top Rank is looking at Macau to host the next Pacquiao-Marquez showdown in November, and is looking at the Chinese pay-per-view market.
When Pacquiao fought Rios in Macau, the pay-per-view sales came short of the 500,000 mark but against Bradley in Las Vegas last April it went back up to around 800,000.