It's been over two months since Juan Manuel Marquez knocked Manny Pacquiao out cold, but it appears Pac-Man is wisely considering a rematch with the 39-year-old.
According to Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times, Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, has already speculated that a fifth installment of the Pacquiao-Marquez series could take place later this year:
I told Bob Arum [Pacquiao's promoter] that I didn't want Manny back in the ring as soon as April," says Roach, who adds that Pacquiao fought him at first on waiting that long. "I think a fifth fight with Marquez in September is the right fight. I think that makes more sense now than ever.
Even boxing promoter Bob Arum agrees, per the same report:
"That fight may be bigger right now than a [Floyd] Mayweather fight."
Well, I'm not sure it would be that big, and it's obvious Arum is just doing his job to hype this potential rematch, but another Marquez-Pacquiao fight would draw a ton of attention after the knockout heard 'round the world.
Marquez fans will be clamoring to see him repeat his sensational performance of last December. Meanwhile, Pacquiao fans will flock to their television sets in the hopes that Pac-Man can avenge that brutal loss he suffered after being viciously dropped to the canvas.
And, of course, any pay-per-view with these two headlining will make a boatload of dough on the back of the stunning result of their last fight.
So, why exactly does Pacquiao need to take this fight?
The first simple answer is that Pacquiao cannot make his way back up the ranks of the welterweight division (or any division for that matter) until he defeats Marquez and gets back to his winning ways.
Pac-Man has now lost two fights in a row and some respect of experts and fans around the sport. Granted, his loss to Timothy Bradley last June was a joke, but the loss to Marquez was no laughing matter.
If Pacquiao does nothing else the rest of his career, he must erase the memory of his lifeless body laying on the mat.
For such a great career to come to an end in that fashion would be a shame, and it can also be said that Pacquiao can never move forward with what's left of his career until he gets some payback.
After four fights, Pacquiao leads this series 2-1-1. Another victory for Marquez will even the win totals at two, while Pac-Man can put to bed any debate about who is better by notching his third victory in what would be a five-part series.
Once he gets past Marquez, Pacquiao can then continue on his road of vengeance against Bradley. It remains to be seen if Bradley will entertain the idea of a rematch with Pacquiao, but the pressure will be overwhelming for him to do so.
If Bradley can win his next fight against Ruslan Provodnikov, then it will be perfectly set up for Pacquiao to be the next in line. The simple yearning for Pac-Man to rightfully regain his crown would be massive, thus creating a ton of buzz around that potential fight regardless of what anyone says to the contrary.
Once Pacquiao successfully avenges both of his previous unexpected losses, the conversation for a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao fight can commence for 2014.
I don't even need to explain what a win against Money May would do for the legacy of Pac-Man's career.
That has been and will continue to be the fight that everyone wants to see, but the road to such a dream bout and potential immortality begins with a win over Marquez later this year should the fight even take place.
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