Juan Manuel Marquez Next Fight: Floyd Mayweather Is Logical Target for Marquez

Congratulations, Juan Manuel Marquez, you finally beat Manny Pacquiao—way to go.

The above could be read as genuine praise. After a draw and two lost decisions against Pac-Man, Marquez finally got over the hump and earned the signature win—nay, knockout—of his career.

But the first line could also be read sarcastically. After all, with one punch at the end of the sixth round, Marquez destroyed the possibility of a superfight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. That dream is over, or at least far less intriguing now.

And because of that, the next logical fight for both Marquez and Mayweather is to face one another.

While I think it's crazy, some folks are pining to see Marquez and Pacquiao fight a fifth time, as Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times found out after the match:

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"Everyone's asking me about the fifth fight," said Todd DuBoef, president of Top Rank, which promotes both fighters. "Great fights, great fighters become synonymous with each other. And when you're entertained like that, how can you not make another?

"You can't script fights, but when you look at the body of work, it's the most engaging series of fights in the last 50 years."

"

I wouldn't go that far. As Pugmire notes, there was the Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier trilogy, and I'm inclined to throw the Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward trilogy into the mix as well.

Besides, you have to think Mayweather's camp is intrigued by the idea of fighting Marquez now. Besides Mayweather himself, who is currently a hotter name in boxing? Which other active contender can lay claim to knocking out Pacquiao?

The two fought in 2009, when Mayweather won a unanimous decision. But this is a bigger and stronger Marquez now—one Mayweather would probably want to administer drug tests to himself, seeing how much bulk Marquez added—and the fight would surely draw huge numbers. 

Think of it: Could the man who knocked out Pacquiao be the first to defeat Mayweather? Could the boxer who has aged like a fine wine give the top boxer in the world a run for his money?

Because let's be honest, the luster has gone from a fight between Pac-Man and Mayweather. The latter will never give the former a decent split now. The notion that this fight would be between the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world has been dispelled. 

The man who has never lost would now be facing the man who lost his last two fights. That's a harder sell than this fight would have been a year ago, when it should have taken place.

But it wouldn't be a hard sell to get fans to buy a Marquez vs. Mayweather bout, and if the fight between the two was close—or Marquez actually managed to win the fight—it would set up a natural third fight for the two.

It makes the most sense, so logically it won't happen. We'll probably get a fifth Paquiao-Marquez fight.

Yippee.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets would have arranged the superfight while the iron was hot.