Marquez not likely to get Pacquiao

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS

Juan Manuel Marquez became the pre-eminent Mexican boxer of his generation with Saturday’s virtuosic win over Juan Diaz, and he feels his impressive career would be complete after one more fight with Manny Pacquiao.

Marquez also realizes he’ll probably never get that fight — not while Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank are embroiled in a feud that essentially prevents their fighters from meeting in the ring.

Boxing’s top two promotional companies are increasingly bad-tempered rivals who just won’t work together.

Pacquiao, the top fighter in Top Rank’s collection, stands on the opposite side of that divide from Marquez, who is backed by Golden Boy.

Marquez punctuated his thrashing of Diaz with a call for a third fight against Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound champion.

But Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer responded with a chuckle when asked if he would call Top Rank boss Bob Arum about putting Marquez and Pacquiao together.

“Well, we all know Bob [Arum] wants to do the in-house stuff, and that’s his choice,” Schaefer said. “It’s clearly unfinished business there, but it’s all right.

“Marquez is not a beggar. We’re not going to go on our knees. There are so many other great fights out there.”

Arum has made the same complaint about Golden Boy in the past two years, and the companies have scarcely worked together in that time. Arum has decried Golden Boy’s cozy relationship with HBO, while Schaefer has criticized Arum for only entertaining Top Rank-backed foes for Pacquiao’s next bout, likely to be against Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13.

“We all know it isn’t Manny Pacquiao that doesn’t want the fight,” Schaefer said. “It’s his promoter that doesn’t want to fight Marquez, and that’s fine.”

There’s another very good reason for Pacquiao to stay away from Marquez, however: The 36-year-old Mexican star is the only man who even came close to beating him in the past 51/2 years.