Bradley chooses Marquez

Timothy Bradley Jr. believes his best option moving forward is a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

The tug-of-war for Timothy Bradley ended Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) with Juan Manuel Marquez eventually yanking the American off the hands of Manny Pacquiao.

Revered promoter Bob Arum told the Los Angeles Times that Marquez-Bradley will be held on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas, quashing hopes of a fifth encounter between Marquez and Pacquiao within the year.

Pacquiao, who was knocked out by Marquez in the sixth round last Dec. 8, tried to lure Bradley into a rematch with a hefty $6 million guaranteed purse.

Bradley, owner of a dubious split decision win over Pacquiao last June, however, settled for a lesser amount against Marquez, who’ll become the first Mexican to hold five world titles if he succeeds in wresting Bradley’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown.

“Marquez wanted to fight Bradley and Bradley wanted to fight Marquez,” Arum told the Times.

According to Arum, the major stumbling block to a fifth Pacquiao-Marquez tiff was the eight-division world champion’s insistence that the fight be staged in Macau or Singapore. Pacquiao balks at fighting in Las Vegas again because of the 40 percent tax to be slapped on his purse.

With Marquez and Bradley out, arch rivals Mike Alvarado and Brandon Rios become the pacesetters in the scramble for Pacquiao’s next opponent in October. Roy Luarca