As great a boxer as Manny Pacquiao has been throughout his illustrious career, he will be forever tied to one legendary Mexican fighter who was man enough to go toe-to-toe with him in four classic encounters.
Juan Manuel Marquez had an interview with Marcos Villegas of FightHub on Saturday, where he talked about his induction into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, his epic battles with Pacquiao and what the future holds for his Filipino nemesis.
Nevada Hall of Fame
On the surface, Marquez is just one of many great fighters coming out of Mexico. However, what makes “Dinamita” stand out from the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Julio Cesar Chavez is his accomplishment as the only Mexican fighter who captured world titles in four different weight classes.
Add the sensational six-round KO win over Pacquiao – who terrorized Mexican fighters during his heyday - to his resume, and Marquez all of a sudden has a near bullet-proof case for being called the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.
This weekend, Marquez joined former middleweight king Bernard Hopkins, Joel Casamayor, Leroy Haley, Wayne McCullough, Hasim Rahman, Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez, Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Paz, Ronald “Winky” Wright and “School Boy” Bobby Chacon as members of the seventh class of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.
Many view the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame as the first step for fighters before they get inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In Marquez’s case, there’s no disputing that he will make both given his in-ring accolades.
Friendly advice for Pacquiao
Marquez will always be linked to Pacquiao, something the Mexican admitted he’s proud of during the interview with Villegas.
Throughout the course of his boxing career, Marquez fought the best fighters in the business, including Barrera, Casamayor, Floyd Mayweather Jr, and many others. Still, he stressed that none of these fights would beat his four showdowns with Pacquiao.
The Mexican claimed that he beat Pacquiao three out of four times with the third fight winding down as a flat-out robbery.
When asked what his thoughts on Pacquiao’s latest win over Keith Thurman, Marquez said he’s impressed with how Pacman moved in the ring at the age of 40. However, he warns his archrival to look out for himself in his next fights because he’s getting hit too much, adding that retirement is an obvious option for Pacman.
“I don’t know if you noticed it but he received a lot of blows. Keith Thurman landed many punches and connected many punches with power. I don’t know what’s gonna happen with Manny for his career but he needs to care, he needs to take time and decide what’s gonna happen with his future because he received many, many punches” Marquez said in the interview with FightHub.
The next best fight for Manny
Marquez also dropped his two cents on the possibility of Pacquiao facing the winner of the Errol Spence vs Shawn Porter welterweight unification fight in Los Angeles this September.
He feels Pacquiao can still hang with these young fighters with his experience and perpetual edge in speed. But again, he’s not confident about Pacquiao taking on Spence, who he called the best fighter in the welterweight class.
He thinks Spence would be too much for the Filipino boxing champ because of his age and superior boxing skills.
As for a potential Pacman vs. Porter fight, Marquez thinks stylistically that’s the most suited fight for Pacquiao mainly because Porter isn’t known as a big puncher.
