Contrary to his earlier statements, Juan Manuel Marquez said he’d consider fighting Manny Pacquiao again. But Marquez will only approve a fifth clash on one condition: that it will be staged in Mexico.
“We offered that to Team Pacquiao and they rejected it,” Marquez claimed in Lance Pugmire’sLA Times report.
Following his sixth-round knockout win against Pacquiao last December, Marquez was adamant in fighting the Filipino boxer again.
He claimed that he had enough of Pacquiao after four fights and that he wanted to savor his victory over his nemesis.
But the Mexican revealed during the Beverly Hills stop of the Timothy Bradley fight press tour that he’d change his mind if Pacquiao’s camp gives into his demand.
“If the Pacquiao team tells me they want to fight in Mexico, yes, I will fight him.”
Pacquiao’s business adviser Michael Koncz earlier said that they have offered Marquez $13 million for the fifth bout.
The amount could have been Marquez’s biggest fight purse in his 20-year boxing career.
The Mexican, however, turned his back on the offer and chose to challenge Bradley for the WBO welterweight crown.
Marquez even said no amount of money will replace his knockout victory over Pacquiao.
“We know that [Pacquiao’s] offer will be tempting, but it isn’t worth more than the feeling, what was lived, what was acquired after that knockout,” Marquez said.
“That’s worth more than several million dollars. I would rather retire with this feeling than take a risk in whatever happens with Pacquiao [such as another controversial decision].”