Pacquiao vs. Marquez: Why Rematch Would Be a Terrible Idea for Pac-Man

The common sentiment seems to be that Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao cannot beat Juan Manuel Marquez. That is despite the fact that he was a majority-decision winner on Saturday night, and that he had defeated Marquez on one occasion previously.

Even so, Marquez has given Pacquiao everything he could handle in all three contests and could have realistically been given a win in any of those matches. He has gotten the short end of the stick, though, as all he has to show for it is two losses, a draw and plenty of complaints.

While another fight with Marquez would be very dangerous for Pacquiao, his trainer Freddie Roach seems to think Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV is an inevitability. This is despite the fact that Roach has no desire to see Pac-Man take on Marquez another time.

Roach's apprehensiveness is quite telling as it shows that Marquez could have easily been awarded at least one of the three fights to this point. Because of that many will say that Marquez absolutely must be granted a rematch, but I think Pacquiao needs to steer clear.

Pacquiao doesn't really owe Marquez anything. Regardless of how close the fights have been, Pacquiao has picked up two wins and a draw. Normally for a trilogy to continue both fighters need to have picked up a victory. That simply isn't the case here.

While granting Marquez yet another rematch might be the honorable thing to do, it wouldn't be the smart thing. The fight would probably bring in yet another good pay day, but Pacquiao is going to get paid regardless of who he fights.

Pac-Man has the easy out in this case as he can say that he has already beaten Marquez twice. The Marquez camp may insist that Pacquiao is ducking him, but I can't say that I've ever heard of a fighter ducking another after they have already fought three times. I think the ship has sailed on those accusations.

Pacquiao no longer has any obligation to fight Marquez and there is simply no reason to risk losing to him. There are plenty of big fish still out there for Pacquiao to tangle with. The biggest of them all, obviously, is Floyd Mayweather.

Mayweather may give Pacquiao problems with his defensive style much like Marquez did, but it would still be a new challenge for Pac-Man. The fight would be bigger than Pacquiao vs. Marquez by a mile, the money would be great and the hype would be incredible.

If Pacquiao is going to risk losing a match, then he should go down in a blaze of glory against Mayweather rather than struggle through another bout with Marquez.

People can say all they want about Pacquiao owing Marquez another fight, but the results say Pacquiao won the trilogy, so it should be over and done with.