Arum upbeat on staging Pacquiao-Marquez 5 in Macau

MANILA, Philippines – Top Rank chief Bob Arum is confident of arranging a fifth meeting between archrivals Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, this time in Macau sometime in November.

Although still non-committal, Marquez kept alive the possibility of facing Pacquiao again after dominating Mike Alvarado Sunday in a unanimous decision win to become the No. 1 contender to the Filipino’s WBO welterweight title.

The Mexican said afterwards that he’ll mull things over before agreeing once more to fight Pacquiao, whom he has gone 1-2-1 against. Marquez had knocked out Pacquiao in December 2012 to spice up their rivalry, and the Filipino icon is raring to get back at his rival.

Arum said the ball is now in Marquez’s court.

“What he (Marquez) said was he would go back and consult with his team and analyze the fifth fight and see what he'll do. I think it's a pretty good statement,” the promoter said in a boxingscene.com report.

Pacquiao regained the WBO welterweight crown after defeating Timothy Bradley in their rematch last month, enticing Marquez to consider renewing their rivalry with hopes of winning a fifth championship in as many divisions.

“I'm fairly confident. It's up to him. It really is. Manny wants the fight. I think there is a lot of money in the fight, so we'll see,” Arum added.

Marquez earned $1.5 million in the Alvarado fight and could pocket a lot more in another showdown with Pacquiao. Arum is once again eyeing Macau for the rematch, site of Pacquiao’s bout with Brandon Rios last November.

Sweetening the deal this time, Arum said, is the existence of pay-per-view in China.

"This November we already got everything going for pay-per-view in China," he explained.