Juan Manuel Marquez's Loss to Manny Pacquiao: What It Means for His Career

No matter what fans believe should have happened on November 12, the fact is that Manny Pacquiao walked away with a unanimous decision in his favor.  

Some fans believe it was deserved.  Some believe it was a robbery.  Others believe it was a close fight that could have gone either way.

In such a close fight it shouldn't matter who got the victory, but it does.  In boxing it always seems like it is more important about who won than who was perceived as the winner.

Marquez's last fight with Pacquiao is a great example.  

Regardless of whether Pacquiao really deserved the nod or not, his hand was raised and in doing so it kept a potential fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. alive.

This happens in boxing all the time, and most of the time fighters don't get a chance at a rematch after losing very close fights.

Sometimes boxing has severe robberies that don't get a 10th of the attention this fight has, and the fighters who "lose" don't get any measure of redemption.  The ledgers record that they lost, and after a while, fans accept it as gospel.

If Marquez had won the fight, or at least gotten the decision, where would he have gone?

He wouldn't have been able to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch.  That fight happened and there was no doubt who the victor should be.

As for a fight after Pacquiao?  Who would be able to pay Marquez even close to the amount that he made facing Pacman?

The answer is no one.  

And Marquez might not want to take a pay cut after getting such large checks for his last few fights.

Who could blame him?

Boxing is a dangerous business and he is literally risking his health and life every time he steps into the ring.

If Marquez does get a fourth fight with Pacquiao though, he will get that large paycheck.  He'll also get another chance at finally winning the big one.

It is something that has alluded Marquez for years and the last loss to Pacquiao couldn't have made it any easier.  No matter how far he has come, the Mexican boxer seems to always be one step shy away from being the greatest.

No doubt he has thought about this plenty of times himself.

And yet those fights were easier to argue in favor of Pacquiao than this one.  In this fight it seemed like Marquez really might have done it, and yet the rug was yet again pulled out from under him.

In a sense the loss has re-sparked Marquez's career, and should he choose to take a fourth fight with Pacquiao, he might see more interest and money from the fight than he ever has in his career.

And so Marquez may have been given a rare gift that is rarely seen in boxing.  

He might not have won the fight, but he gained enough attention from the media and the fans that his "loss" just won't go away.

It's up to him with how he chooses to deal with it.