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A series of reports indicate that Juan Manuel Marquez has received a new -- possibly enormous -- offer to fight Manny Pacquiao in October or November of this year, and that the Mexican star recently met with Golden Boy Promotions to negotiate.
Salvador Rodriguez of Récord in Mexico reports that Marquez met with Golden Boy to talk about what he would want in order to re-sign with the company. Marquez wants a third fight with Pacquiao or the chance to become the first Mexican fighter to win a major title in four weight classes. They could definitely oblige the latter, and if hatchets are buried, it probably wouldn't be that hard to make the fight with Pacquiao happen, but the current relationship between Golden Boy and Top Rank is so sour that Marquez may have to go after that fight without Golden Boy.
And Dan Rafael reported yesterday that Top Rank has sent Golden Boy an updated offer. That offer is rumored to possibly be massive -- BoxingScene.com is floating a huge purse of $5 million from Top Rank offered to Marquez for the fight, which would be 100% unmatchable from Golden Boy's side. There is absolutely, positively no fight that Golden Boy can possibly make for Marquez where they could offer him $5 million and pay-per-view revenue. Fights with Erik Morales, Zab Judah, Amir Khan, it doesn't matter. It isn't possible for Golden Boy to match that offer from Top Rank, if true, and frankly even if the offer is for substantially less than $5 million, Golden Boy would have a hard time being able to match an offer to fight Pacquiao. Top Rank knows this.
There is no doubt that Pacquiao-Marquez III would be a huge fight, no matter how many think it might be a major mismatch at this stage. Pacquiao and Marquez are two of the most popular fighters in the world and their history is well-known, and Marquez's grudge pretty well-supported by his fanbase. If Pacquiao is successful against Shane Mosley on May 7, it looks more and more like the third fight between the two will finally happen.