Manny Pacquiao Beats Juan Manuel Marquez: What It Means for Marquez's Career

What it means most of all is that, barring victory in a fourth fight, Marquez is now destined to go down ranked behind Manny Pacquiao in the annals of boxing history.

Sure, for another 40 years or so there will be contemporary boxing writers like myself who believe Marquez deserved at least one or more of the decisions. And there will be some record for posterity of how, in at least some of their rounds together, the great Mexican champion resembled the boxing equivalent of a Hemingway-esque matador, the pound-for-pound kingpin Pacman forced into the role of hapless charging bull.  

But ultimately the record will stand as Pacquiao over Marquez, 2-0-1, with etched-in-stone finality. The fights were extremely close and the arguments for why Pacquiao came out on top on the scorecards have merit.

And as the years pass and Pacquiao continues to be the bigger story not only in boxing, but beyond, the perception that he ultimately deserved his wins over Marquez will only become stronger. There will be a much bigger audience for books and articles about the Filipino congressman and, consequently, far more of the published accounts of their great rivalry will be more sympathetic to Pacquiao. 

But the trilogy itself, especially the third fight, will boost Marquez's overall legacy.

Manny Pacquiao is destined to go down as the greatest boxing star of his generation, even if his claim on pound-for-pound best status has some pretty strong basis for challenge. Marquez is going to be remembered as his greatest rival, his Grendel, the guy who, maybe, depending upon who you ask, just might have had his number.

Juan Manuel Marquez is one of the two primary participants in some of the most important boxing lore of this time period. There is no promotional trinket or even plaque on a wall in upstate New York that can begin to approach that for intangible value.

For the immediate future, too, Marquez's prospects have likely improved in light of his decision loss on November 5. He demonstrated that at 38, he has plenty left in the tank, and that at 140 pounds, he is still perfectly capable of fighting with the best in the world.

The promotion of the Pacquiao fight raised his profile significantly in the United States and the perception among some that he was "robbed" ensures that interest in his career will linger. If he wants to keep fighting, he should find no shortage of potential big name opponents.

He remains the lineal champion at 135 pounds; the other top fighter at lightweight, Brandon Rios, fights in two weeks on the Cotto/Margarito undercard. Rios is an aggressive, action fighter and would be a great stylistic match up for Marquez. Provided he was able to finesse the undefeated WBA champion's speed, Marquez should be able to give the 25-year-old "Bam Bam" looks he's never seen, and his first trip into the truly deep waters.  

If Marquez were to jump up to 140 pounds, I would favor him in match ups against the entire division, provided Amir Khan goes up to welterweight. Khan's significant reach advantage and very good use of lateral movement would be a very big headache for Marquez.

However, put Marquez in a fight against Timothy Bradley, who marked his return on the Marquez/Pacquiao undercard by TKOing Joel Casamayor, and I pick Dinamito. I would favor him similarly against the exciting Argentinian, Marcos Maidana.   

One fight Marquez might have particular interest in could be fellow Mexican great Erik Morales. Last April Morales surprised most of the boxing world by losing a spirited majority decision to Maidana and then followed it up in September by winning the vacant WBC promotional trinket on the Floyd Mayweather Jr./Victor Ortiz undercard. 

Morales/Marquez would have been a superfight in 2005, but with both future Hall-of-Famers continuing to turn in performances like they did this past year, it has the potential to be one of the more anticipated bouts of 2012.