PROFILE: JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ

This Thanksgiving WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez has much to be thankful for and one of the things is that he'll have to work that weekend.

His has been a career of fits and starts during which he has at various times held three of the four major featherweight titles, including the unified WBA and IBF versions for 2 1/2 years before being upset by Chris John in March when he traveled to John's home island of Borneo in Indonesia and lost what he still considers a questionable decision. That Marquez had to go halfway around the world at a time when he was considered perhaps the world's finest featherweight says much about the two sides of his boxing life.

Marquez (45-3-1, 34 KO) has often been mentioned on any list of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters and he reaffirmed his place there only five months after losing to John when he stopped Terdrak Jandaeng in the seventh round to win the interim WBO title after legal and chemical problems derailed reigning champion Scott Harrison indefinitely. But for all his success, the 33-year-old Marquez has always felt he lacked the proper promotional push behind him from long-time handler Bob Arum to gain the recognition that would bring him what he craves - an opportunity to again test his skills against Manny Pacquiao or to face his fellow countryman, Marco Antonio Barrera.

On Nov. 25 he will not get either opportunity but he may move a step closer when he faces Jimrex Jaca (27-2-1, 12 KO) at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Tx. as the headliner on a HBO Boxing After Dark show promoted by Oscar De La Hoya. That Marquez has now settled in with Golden Boy Promotions may be the blessing he has long hoped for because De La Hoya also represents Barrera and has the kind of promotional clout to get Marquez the exposure that might turn him into one of boxing's heavyweight Hispanic drawing cards. That is Marquez's hope and the reason he decided not to continue his relationship with Arum.

"One of the main reasons (he signed with Golden Boy in August) was the president of the company,'' Marquez said. "Oscar is a fighter himself. He knows what the fighter goes through. Golden Boy has all the dates and all the fighters in my weight class. That's what convinced me to sign with him.''

Marquez now seems to be in position to make a final push for the big fights that have long eluded him since he showed such remarkable promise back when his brother, Rafael, won the bantamweight title two weeks after he'd claimed the vacant IBF featherweight championship by stopping five-time champion Manuel Medina. Back then Marquez said, "I was prouder of my brother than I was for myself.'' Perhaps he was but they both had much to be proud of at that point, having begun fighting at eight years old in Mexico and risen to the top of their divisions despite difficult circumstances.

Such is the breeding ground for greatness in boxing. Nearly all great fighters come from the kind of difficult family circumstances Marquez knew as one of eight children born into a tradition where boxing was the family business. Marquez's long climb began when he was eight and after a limited amateur career he turne pro at 19. Fourteen years later, he has not yet reached the level he still hopes for but he is hopeful a strong showing against Jaca will propel him to the next level. "I'm hoping one day to fight Pacquiao or Barrera or (Erik) Morales,'' Marquez said recently. "I love to face the best fighters. That's what keeps me motivated. I'm as good as any of them. I just need the fights to prove I'm one of the elite boxers in the world.''

Motivation was, for a time, an issue for him when his career failed to produce the kind of challenges he had hoped for after winning the unified WBA-IBF title by defeating then WBA champion Smoke Gainer and following that with a miraculous comeback in his first title defense, a draw with Pacquiao in which Marquez was down three times in the first round and seemed out on his feet only to rally back, settle himself and then use his slick boxing skills and counter punching ability to turn the fight into a draw so divergent that one judge had the fight even, one saw Pacquiao winning by a wide margin (115-110) and the third saw it the same way but for Marquez (115-110). Marquez had hoped for a return match that would have paid him handsomely but Pacquiao went on to face Morales and Barrera instead and make millions with them while he toiled against lesser known challengers like Orlando Salido, Victor Polo and finally John for short money until one of them beat Marquez in unexpected, and he feels unwarrented, fashion.

"People know they robbed me,'' Marquez insists of his March loss to John.

"It was a close fight but I did enough to keep my titles. I honestly felt I won 10 of the 12 rounds but with the deductions (two points for debateable low blows) it was close, but I know I won.''

Few people could say for sure because few saw the fight, his first loss in his last 16 matches (15-0-1, 11 KO). That setback probably helped lead him to De La Hoya when he became a fistic free agent and it may be a blessing because if he can dispose of Jaca in spectacular fashion a week after Pacquiao and Morales square off for the third and final time he will have made a flashy debut for a promoter who has both the dates and the star power to make fights happen.

"He's one of the most dangerous fighters in the world and a serious threat to anyone from 126 to 130 pounds,'' De La Hoya says of Marquez. "The boxing world should gear up for some exciting things from 'Dinamita.'''

Those things must begin Nov. 25 in Texas however, where he will finally face Jaca, who had to postpone their scheduled fight in October when he encountered unexpected visa problems. It is a big stage for Marquez, one he has not been on since his showdown with Pacquiao. If he can shine on it, Juan Manuel Marquez will have reminded the boxing world of who he believes he is - the guy his new promoter sees as among the most dangerous featherweights in boxing.