Boxing: ‘I want to be a 5-division champ’

Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez claims his aim to clinch the title has nothing to do with refusing to take on Manny Pacquiao, instead he is aspiring to become a five-division champion. “My decision is firm,” said Marquez in The Record. “Most likely there will be no fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao and yes there will be a fifth championship.” Marquez’s feelings about fighting Pacquiao again are indifferent, especially after his sixth-round knockout win over the Filipino boxer last December. And, this is despite Pacquiao giving the Mexican three chances to get back at him during their eight-year rivalry. Marquez, however, made it clear that he has yet to make a final decision about the possibility of making a comeback into the ring.


Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2013.