By Mark Vester
According to Nacho Beristain, trainer and manager of WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, a potential September meeting between Marquez and a returning Floyd Mayweather Jr. is in trouble due to weight. Mayweather's team has been negotiating with Golden Boy Promotions to make the fight, but the talks have hit a wall over the weight. Mayweather wants the fight to take place at the welterweight limit of 147, and Marquez, still at 135, is not willing to move up that high in weight. Marquez feels that anything above 140-pounds will put him at a huge disadvantage.
Beristain told ESTO that Marquez will return in September, in Las Vegas. Recently Marquez was being called out by WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero. Beristain tells the paper that Marquez has "no interest in fighting Valero."
In something very odd for a number of reasons, Beristain told the paper that Marquez could end up in a fight with Erik Morales at 140 - if they can't finalize a fight with Mayweather. Morales has been retired since August of 2007. Mayweather has been away since December 2007, but Morales lost his last four fights and Floyd is undefeated.
Over the last two years, Morales has promised a return to the ring, and called for a fight with Marquez. The return never happened and Morales looked very heavy during a recent public appearance. A few months back he promised a ring return by July. He appeared to be weighing at least 160-pounds, and it's likely he could lose the weight by September but what does Marquez gain by beating him?
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