Pacquiao-Marquez 5 still up in the air

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Márquez. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Juan Manuel Marquez’s convincing unanimous decision victory over Mike Alvarado Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) sets him up as a mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Organization welterweight championship held by Manny Pacquiao.

The 40-year-old Mexican boxer, though, remained non-committal on fighting his Filipino boxing rival for the fifth time.

“We’ll relax. I don’t know at the moment,” answered Marquez through a translator when asked by HBO’s Max Kellerman about Pacquiao. “Any decision I make will be the best for me, my family, and the fans.”

Top Rank honcho Bob Arum has said that Pacquiao is interested in fighting the winner of the Marquez-Alvarado match, but the Hall-of-Fame promoter cleared that Marquez could either reject or accept his offer.

“I haven’t, and there is nothing contractual with the two fighters that are fighting Saturday, but they know I will offer the winner a fight with Manny and it’s up to the winner to accept or reject it. So that’s where we stand and if I hear that the winner will be interested in fighting Manny in the fall, and Manny has agreed to fight the winner, so I would say that once we got the terms straightened out it would be a done deal,” Arum said in a story on boxingnews24.com.

If both fighters agree to a contract, the megafight could happen in Macau, China this November and not in the United States like in the previous four meetings.

Another fight gives Pacquiao a chance to avenge his stunning, one-punch knockout setback to Marquez in the sixth round of their fourth fight back in December 2012.

RELATED STORIES

Juan Manuel Marquez dominates Alvarado in victory

Pacquiao-Marquez 5th fight possible