Juan Manuel Marquez has already accepted Top Rank’s revised offer sheet to fight Manny Pacquiao in November last week.
Now, Top Rank President Todd duBoef has told media that Marquez signed the contract pitting him and Pacquiao for the third time.
It would be fought at a catch weight of 144 pounds and barring a gargantuan offer elsewhere, it will be held at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, where Pacquiao vs Marquez I took place and where Pacquiao scored an easy decision against Shane Mosley on May 7.
In 2004, Pacquiao dropped Marquez three times in the first round of their featherweight championship fight, but Marquez battled back to claim a draw that many believed he won. In 2008, they met again for the junior lightweight championship, and Pacquiao won a similarly controversial split decision.
Mexico’s Marquez, 37, has wanted a third fight with Pacquiao for years and is poised to land it because Golden Boy, his longtime promoter, declined to match Top Rank’s offer. Marquez’s deal with Golden Boy expired earlier this year, but it retained the right to match any offer through February 2012.
Top Rank and Golden Boy, involved in various lawsuits, are bitter rivals. Their bad blood stems from a legal fight over Pacquiao’s promotional contract, which Top Rank now controls.
Arum said Golden Boy declined to match his offer to Marquez on Monday during a face-to-face meeting in Los Angeles that included Arum, Top Rank president Todd duBoef and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer.
Golden Boy apparently was unable to come up with an opponent for Marquez that would meet the terms of Top Rank’s offer: $5 million in guaranteed money, upside on the pay-per-view profits and a guaranteed $10 million plus pay-per-view upside for a rematch in the event Marquez wins.
Marquez will have a tune-up fight against former lightweight titlist David Diaz on July 2 in Mexico City. Diaz previously lost his title to Pacquiao via a lopsided ninth-round knockout in 2008.
The only question remaining now is, what pay-per-view network will cover the fight, HBO or Showtime?
[UPDATE: HBO Boxing will present Pacquiao vs Marquez III]
Showtime produced and distributed Pacquiao vs Mosley after Arum took Pacquiao away from HBO, which had done all of Pacquiao’s previous major fights. Showtime got the fight because its sister network, CBS — which is in roughly 115 million homes — was heavily involved in the marketing and promotion of the event.
Manny Pacquiao is expected to sign the contract himself in the next few days.
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