Marquez bests Salido... Pacquaio rematch next?

18/09/2004

Marquez bests Salido... Pacquaio rematch next?

Juan Manuel Marquez defeated Orlando Salido by unanimous decision to retain the IBF and WBA featherweight titles in the chief support to the Hopkins-De La Hoya bout in Las Vegas.  Marquez won by scores of 118-110 and 117-111 (twice) and also outlanded Salido 164 punches to 105 according to Punchstat.  Marquez boxed conservatively, content to counterpunch over most of the twelve rounds and fighting toe-to-toe only when Salido forced him to.  The strategy was not popular with the crowd, but it allowed Marquez to advance to a likely rematch with Manny Pacquaio.  In fact, Pacquaio's promoter, Murad Muhammad has just informed Boxingtalk that, "Bob Arum and I have agreed to terms for the rematch to take place early next year; probably the second week of February."  Marquez, now 42-2-1 and rated #2 at 126 pounds by Boxingtalk, fought a thrilling draw with Pacquaio, the generally-recognized world champion, back in May. Salido, rated #8 by  Boxingtalk at 130 pounds, drops 20-9-1, although five of his losses came as a teenager.