Juan Manuel Marquez was in danger of turning into boxing's Captain Ahab, obsessively chasing pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao through the years and across weight divisions in a futile quest for redemption. After stopping the previously unstoppable Joel Casamayor on Saturday night, Marquez finally seems ready to move past his fixation on Pacquiao, who fought him to a draw in 2004 and earned a narrow split-decision victory in the rematch last March. “That third fight isn't happening because of the people behind boxing,” Marquez said. “But I went to 135 pounds to do better things, and I'm doing them. I did my part.” As Casamayor learned when Marquez sent him to the canvas twice in the decisive 11th round at the MGM Grand Garden, Marquez's preoccupation was no distraction in his 135-pound debut. In fact, this Ahab just turned himself into the white whale for the rest of the loaded lightweight division. Marquez became the linear 135-pound champion by beating Casamayor, and his combination of technical skills and drawing power will be a target for every other big-time lightweight's harpoon. Casamayor already wants a rematch, while Juan Diaz and Nate Campbell are likely to jostle for the next shot at just the fourth Mexican fighter to win championships in three divisions. Even Vernon Forrest, who reclaimed his 154-pound title belt from Sergio Mora earlier in the night, wants a piece. “Since De La Hoya is fighting Pacquiao, why not let me fight Marquez?” Forrest asked, drawing laughs even from the Golden Boy himself. “We're leaving the doors wide open for any challenger for Juan Manuel Marquez,” said Oscar De La Hoya, who has a day job as Marquez's promoter. “He jumped up to 135 pounds and made a huge statement in this division. I believe Juan Manuel Marquez will take a little break, and then we'll sit down with the champion and see what's in store for him, but I believe the future is very bright at 135 pounds.” Marquez would be wise to take on Diaz or Campbell - and perhaps both, to decisively clean out the division - instead of worrying another minute about Pacquiao, who has the WBC lightweight belt, but can make bigger money by getting bigger. His fight with De La Hoya on Dec. 6 is more likely to be followed by a brawl with Ricky Hatton than a dangerous third fight with Marquez. “There's no way (Top Rank promoter) Bob Arum and Pacquiao are going to fight him again,” Golden Boy Productions chief executive Richard Schaefer said. “I don't think Pacquiao wants anything to do with Juan Manuel Marquez any more. Juan Manuel Marquez will fight anyone. He's never turned down anyone. Have you ever heard him turn down any opponent?” Marquez's most logical matchup is a fight with Diaz, the former three-belt lightweight champion who trounced Michael Katsidis last weekend in Houston. Diaz, who lost his belts to Campbell last March, fights with an aggression that would sell tickets – and Diaz also is a Golden Boy fighter, making the match easy for De La Hoya. But Campbell also should be eager to risk those three belts. The 36-year-old veteran is overdue for a lucrative defense, particularly after Joan Guzman decided he didn't feel like fighting Campbell in Mississippi on Saturday, scrapping the champion's $300,000 payday. At 37, Casamayor finally is on his downslope, yet his long list of accomplishments will keep him on the biggest stages for a while longer. Though his sunglasses at the post-fight news conference hid obvious damage, Casamayor conceded little in defeat, saying he had taken more punishment in his previous losses to Acelino Freitas, Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. “He's not as big a puncher as those guys, but he's a big combination puncher,” Casamayor said. “He caught me with a good shot in there. He got my feet off the ground. It was a good, big-time shot.” – AP __
