Pacquiao vs Marquez III Could Have Catchweight

Miguel Rivera of BoxingScene.com is reporting that a catchweight could well be part of the negotiations for a third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in November, but don't get your hopes up just yet.

The catchweight, sources say, would be 143 or 144 pounds. Since moving up in weight in 2008, here are Pacquiao's weights:

Even with full welterweight limits (three times), Pacquiao never goes all the way up to 147, and actually his two highest weights have resulted in his two worst performances, though they were very different. Against Clottey, Pacquiao was banging away at a brick wall, but against Mosley, he had some physical issues.

143-144 isn't going to be a bother to Pacquiao. Marquez, who will be 38 on fight night, has only ever fought over a 135-pound limit one time, of course, and that was back in 2009 when Marquez signed a "this one's for the retirement fund" fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Marquez had a catchweight enforced there, too. It was supposedly 144 pounds. Mayweather shrugged it off, weighed in at 146, paid Marquez for weighing in heavy, and then his team claimed that there never was a catchweight, and tried to dance around why, then, they would have to pay Marquez for weighing in a pound under the welterweight limit. This was all quite obnoxious at the time, but in hindsight is somewhat hilarious as it's a great example of "Team Mayweather" doing that thing where they think they're totally getting one over on everybody. Lots of people in boxing do this, and then get all pretend offended if everyone doesn't just believe them. It's amazing.

But anyway, while a catchweight is definitely something appropriate at this point for a third Pacquiao vs Marquez fight, I don't see this one making any difference on paper, if this is what happens. The only way I could potentially see this fight being truly competitive anymore is if they fought at 135. Marquez is even fighting heavy there, but he's still really good at the weight, or at least good enough to outbox and outfox the likes of Michael Katsidis and Juan Diaz, but I don't think I'm going to hurt any feelings when I say that Katsidis and Juan Diaz are not Manny Pacquiao. And the only reason I see it being competitive at 135 -- or, rather, potentially being a little competitive -- is that Manny would have to come down so far in weight for the first time in three years, and at 32, that's not a great idea.

Some might suggest 140, but once Marquez gets over 135, I think the chances of him beating Manny anymore dwindle dramatically anyway, and I see no difference in 140 or 143-144. Really I see no difference in 140 or 147 for this matchup. It's kind of like being a fat guy and suddenly worrying about how unhealthy your current meal is once you're four helpings of super buttery mashed potatoes into it. "Should I have four?" Well, why not? What the hell's the difference at this point? 135 is Marquez's healthy portion of mashed potatoes.