Juan Manuel Marquez will reportedly fight one more time before calling it quits, but has yet to name an opponent, creating speculation that he is waiting for the winner of the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 in Las Vegas.
Marquez, who holds a 56-7-1 record with 40 knockout victories, lost to Mayweather in their nontitle fight in September 2009. He fought Pacquiao four times before. The first three ended in questionable decisions before Marquez punctuated the rivalry with a knockout win in their fourth fight in December 2012.
The 41-year-old previously said that he is not interested in facing Pacquiao again because he has nothing to prove after his knockout victory, but his former strength and conditioning coach thinks otherwise.
Angel Heredia, who helped Marquez during his fourth fight against Pacquiao, believes the Mexican boxing warrior will change his mind if Pacquiao wins against Mayweather in their upcoming super fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
"Probably so. I think so," Heredia said when asked if Marquez will consider facing Pacquiao again if his Filipino rival wins against Mayweather. "If they fought today a lot of people are going to say 'I'm not going to buy the fifth fight' yet they are all going to watch it. It's a tremendous fight, and everyone would want to see it."
However, trainer Nacho Beristain reiterated that Pacquiao is not waiting for anyone because he has already ended his rivalry with Pacquiao and was defeated convincingly by Mayweather.
"He cannot wait for any winners. History has been closed. He has nothing to prove," Beristain said.
Earlier this month, Beristain also confirmed that Marquez has decided to fight one more time before announcing his retirement, but the famed trainer does not sound too excited about the possibility of training his prized fighter again.
Marquez is being linked to a showdown with reigning International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Kell Brook. When asked about the proposed Marquez-Brook fight, Beristain expressed feat that a loss to the Briton will hurt the legacy of Marquez. He previously said that he would rather see Marquez retire.
"If we get to pick somebody, it could be the English guy," Beristain said, referring to Brook. "But we don't want for Juan Manuel to lose all that credibility and respect for the great job he's done all of his career and just throw it in the garbage can with just one fight."
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