Two lightweight belts at stake for Marquez

Juan Manuel Marquez normally is serious when he talks boxing. But he couldn't help but laugh when he learned of the comments that his nemesis Manny Pacquiao made earlier this week.

Pacquiao, the sport's biggest star, said he would be willing to fight Marquez a third time, but he didn't think it was a fight that fans want to see.

Marquez, who puts his WBA and WBO lightweight titles on the line today against Michael Katsidis at the MGM Grand Garden, thought Pacquiao was kidding at first. But when he was told Pacquiao was serious, Marquez shook his head in amazement.

"It was a surprise to me," he said. "People want to see this fight."

He might be right. Assuming Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. never meet, and given Mayweather's apparent ongoing problems away from the ring, it's more than a distinct possibility that a third fight with the 37-year-old Marquez does have a lot of appeal. Their first two meetings were wars. The first, in 2004, ended in a draw, and the rematch in 2008 resulted in a controversial split decision for Pacquiao.

"I believe Pacquiao wants to fight Mayweather," said Marquez (51-5-1, 37 knockouts), who lost to Mayweather at the Grand Garden in 2009 at 146 pounds. "But if that doesn't happen, sure, I would love to fight him again."

Their 2004 fight was at 125 pounds. The 2008 rematch was fought at 130, which was the last time Pacquiao fought at that weight class. He since has gone on an amazing run up the scale, winning titles at 135, 140, 147 and most recently 154 pounds, after he demolished Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13.

Marquez isn't likely to fight Pacquiao at 154 or even 147. A fight at 140 would make sense for both, but Marquez said he'd be willing to go as high as 143 pounds in order to get Pacquiao in the ring with him one more time.

But time is not on Marquez's side. He's not getting any younger, and Pacquiao, a freshman congressman in the Philippines, has indicated he's going to fight only two or three more times before retiring from boxing and devoting all of his time to his political career.

"We will see," Marquez said. "Hopefully we can make it happen."

In the meantime, Marquez needs to take care of business today against a tough customer in the 30-year-old Katsidis (27-2, 22 KOs), who will have plenty of motivation when he enters the Grand Garden ring in the wake of the death of his brother, one of his biggest supporters, last month.

"Michael Katsidis is a strong fighter," said Marquez, who made the 135-pound limit Friday at 134 and will be paid $1.4 million to face Katsidis, who is earning $530,000 and came in weighing 135. "He throws a lot of punches and puts his heart into his boxing. For this fight, I used seven different sparring partners to deal with his speed and his strength."

A less-experienced fighter might be distracted about all the discussion about a future opponent. But Marquez has dealt with this ever since his rematch with Pacquiao in 2008, and the speculation doesn't appear to faze him.

"I may talk about the future, but my concentration is on the present," Marquez said.

The undercard will be highlighted by the WBC welterweight title fight between champion Andre Berto and Freddy Hernandez. Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) also has been mentioned as a possible opponent for Pacquiao should he beat Hernandez (29-1, 20 KOs) tonight.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.