Top Rank: Running out of Junior Welterweight and Welterweight Matchups

Juan Manuel Marquez took care of business against Mike Alvarado on May 17. Now, it appears as though there will be a fifth showdown between Marquez and bitter rival Manny Pacquiao. The fight does bring great intrigue because of the circumstances, but these rematches get redundant at a certain point.

The junior welterweight and welterweight divisions have been two of the most prominent in the sport for quite a while now, and Top Rank does have a big list of names under their banner. Some of these big names include Marquez, Pacquiao, Tim Bradley, Ruslan Provodnikov, Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado.

Though these fighters are some of the best in the sport, most of them have already fought each other. And therefore, Top Rank is seemingly running out of opponents to pair together; thus, we are left with rematches.

Granted, there are many rematches that do spark the attention of fans. Who wouldn't want to see Provodnikov try to redeem himself against Bradley? Or a rubber match between Rios and Alvarado, who are both willing to lay it all on the line.

Even the Marquez vs. Pacquiao matchup provides great intrigue, with Pac-Man needing to redeem himself from a devastating defeat.

Although, these are rematches that have the potential to be great fights, most fans would like to see matchups that are new, different and fresh.  But the possibility for these fights to become a reality is still being hindered by the ongoing cold war between Top Rank and Golden Boy.

Golden Boy has a wealth of talented young boxers, which include Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, Adrien Broner and Amir Khan. In addition, it has two sluggers from Argentina in Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthysse who always provide an exciting night of action.

A clash between any of these boxers from Golden Boy and any of the welterweight fighters from Top Rank would surely peak the interest of the public.

Imagine if Broner got to take Pacquiao, like he insisted after his fight on May 3. Or if Porter took on a fighter such as Provodnikov. There are numerous fight possibilities that make boxing fans drool just thinking about them.

On a positive note, there have been small signs that the ongoing feud might come to a halt shortly. According to Bob Velin at USA Today, Oscar De La Hoya had this to say.

"Right now, Bob Arum has fighters and we have fighters that if we match them together,  we can make some special fights together. I believe in Golden Boy and believe in boxing, and a perfect way to start helping the sport and treating the fans is by ending this cold war."

While De La Hoya has been willing to end the feud, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has been more reluctant to do so, per Velin.

"As I said before, I'm doing my job, putting together great events, and as they say, the show must go on. And until the day where I'm either leaving or going to be fired or whatever the situation might be, I'm going to continue to do my job and I'm going to do it to the best of my abilities."

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press/Associated Press

Golden Boy does appear to have more invigorating matchups to make at the moment, with talented young fighters who haven't been paired together yet. It would be more beneficial to Top Rank, who needs these fresh matchups, to avoid redundancy.  

But overall, it would be in the best interest of boxing to bring down this barrier of animosity between these two promotional companies. As fans, let us hope that De La Hoya and Arum find a middle ground in the near future to give the public the boxing matches it deserves.