Juan Manuel Marquez has no interest in fights with Ruslan Provodnikov or Mike Alvarado

Juan Manuel Marquez is an all-time great fighter, a no-doubt Hall of Famer, and a intensely passionate, somewhat crazy fellow who tends to dig his feet in and lock down on one idea in recent years. His current ideas are as follows:

• He will not fight Manny Pacquiao again. Ever.
• He wants to fight again, but only against Timothy Bradley.
• He sees no value in doing anything but winning a title at welterweight, and Bradley is the only option there since the division's other belts are held by Golden Boy or GBP-associated fighters (WBC is Floyd Mayweather, IBF is Shawn Porter, WBA is Marcos Maidana).

Marquez says that potential fights with Ruslan Provodnikov and Mike Alvarado aren't necessarily bad fights, but they do nothing for him, and he's not interested.

"Neither Alvarado nor Provodnikov are in my plans. I'm going forward. They are great fighters, and I'm not putting them down, but I gain nothing by fighting with them. If I beat Provodnikov I win a title that was already mine and Alvarado is not a champion. I have nothing to prove. I want a fifth world title and that's my goal," Marquez said.

Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KO) lost to Bradley (31-0, 12 KO) in October 2013, but as usual pitched something of a fit about the judging. The only fight Marquez has never complained about losing was his 2009 fight with Floyd Mayweather, where he was severely outclassed. And to be fair to Marquez, in most of his other losses, he had a pretty good argument, at least. The Bradley decision, however, resulted in very little public outrage -- it seemed to most that Bradley had done his job, won the fight, and that was that.

That's not to say there's no interest in a rematch, but it would appear that Bradley is going to face Manny Pacquiao in an April rematch of their incredibly controversial 2012 bout, now that it's more salable to the general public, with Bradley having a great 2013 and Pacquiao, frankly, having just about no other option (given that Marquez isn't interested).

Marquez also still has the idea that he's going to bring one of these major fights to Mexico, which just isn't going to happen. You can sell 50,000 tickets in Mexico City and flat-out just not make the money you can selling 12,000 in Las Vegas. It's the way it is. Everything about Vegas is easier for promoters and TV people, too, as they're familiar with every setup there. It's going to be hard to get anything like Bradley-Marquez II out of Nevada, and Mexico is a great idea in terms of atmosphere, but why would Bradley go there, anyway? It doesn't stand to do him any favors.

Anyway, Marquez is still sticking to the same guns he has been for months. Bradley or bust. Given that he's soon going to hear the news that it's not happening, most likely, we'll see what he does from there. He's 40 years old and by all accounts, financially set. He could just retire.