Juan Manuel Marquez is one of the greatest fighters of all time, but you can now add another notch to his gaudy career statistics as he beat the Ukrainian Sergey Fedchenko in Mexico City on Saturday for the WBO interim light-welterweight title.

The win came via unanimous decision. The three judges scored the bout 119-109, 118-110 and 118-110.

Marquez dominated this fight. He was active from the beginning and right up until the final bell. He was giving it everything he had to give his hometown fans a knockout, but Fedchenko would not go down. 

Had this fight been 13 rounds, Marquez would have almost certainly gotten his knockout. 

Marquez was trying to send a message to perennial foe Manny Pacquiao after their third fight ended with a shroud of controversy. JMM wants another shot, but he knows he would have to finish it early this time to get the win.

What It Means

This means that if Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao don’t fight in the near future, it will be a probable fourth bout with Marquez that will be Manny’s career finale.

With most people believing that Pacquiao wants out of the sport sooner rather than later, Marquez wants to get his shot at redemption. If Money Mayweather doesn’t get over his ego, the fans will probably never get that fight, which means the fight against Manny for Marquez makes itself.

Fedchenko was a solid opponent, but he was no match for Marquez and the WBO belt should be enough to make a fourth bout with Pacman easy to obtain. If he gets it, you better believe it won’t go the distance.

Harry How/Getty Images

What Happens Next

Whether it is official or not, Marquez has one goal in his mind and he needs to work harder to reach it than anything else in his life. If he wants to beat Pacquiao, he will have to bring something to the table different than in their last three bouts.

The most difficult part of this fourth inevitable bout will be the fact that Marquez cannot allow it to go to the judges. In racing terms, JMM has to go checkers or wreckers—KO or be KO’d.

If the fight with Pacman doesn’t come through because of whatever reason, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Mexican star could retire. Many boxers have retired only to return a short time later, and that may be exactly what we see in Marquez’s case.

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