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Thursday, March 24, 2005
Pacquiao cries foul...again
MANNY Pacquiao has had enough with Murad Muhammad.
In a television report last night, the Filipino expressed his dismay over the alleged mishandling of his blockbuster fight against Erik Morales by his former promoter.
Top in the grievance list was the failure to give Pacquiao a share of the pay-per-view income, which is reportedly well over $2 million, on top of his guaranteed purse of $1.75 million.
Pacquiao told ABS-CBN news that it was not fair for a promoter to earn more than what a boxer earns, as in his case.
Muhammad speaks
In a separate interview, Muhammad said it was Pacquiao who should be grateful. The outspoken promoter cited Pacquiao’s monumental rise to pay-per-view status in boxing, which he claimed to be his handiwork.
Pacquiao’s first fight under Muhammad – and first in the US – was a sixth-round stoppage of IBF super-bantamweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba, where he received his first big-time paycheck worth $50,000.
He fought four more times before his career took a big leap in November 2003 when he won by an 11th-round stoppage over Mexican hero Marco Antonio Barrera. He then fought to a draw another Mexican champion, Juan Manuel Marquez, powdered former flyweight champion 3K Battery before the highly-anticipated fight against Morales.
According to Muhammad, without him all this – and all the money that came with it – wouldn’t have happened.
However, the big fights against the Mexican warriors had been tainted with allegations of dishonesty on the part of Muhammad.
Gloves
Aside from the money issue, there were also minor issues that were raised, like the gloves used in the Morales fight, which Pacquiao lost by a unanimous decision.
Pacquiao’s chosen brand has always been Cleto Reyes, which has less padding favoring heavy hitters like him. However, the Winning brand was used in the fight as stipulated in the fight contract Muhammad signed.
Meanwhile, it appears Morales has heard enough of Pacquiao’s excuses.
Morales disclosed his ill feelings for the well-publicized excuses made by the Pacquiao camp about the gloves used in the fight, and declared that he won the match fair and square.
“The gloves mean nothing. The result would still be the same,” Morales, whose favorite brand of mitts – the thickly-padded Winning Gloves – were used in the fight, was quoted by Sam Rozenberg of Boxingscene.com. “My promoter Bob Arum and Pacquiao’s promoter both agreed to the choice of gloves in the contract. If there was a problem with the gloves then they should not have agreed to the terms of the contract.”
Admiration
It was heard all around the world that immediately after the fight, a disgusted Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, complained that the gloves used in the fight were “like pillows.” Pacquiao himself blamed his loss to the gloves.
And although the Pacquiao camp never gave him credit for his win, Morales nevertheless admired Pacquiao for his speed and power.
Explaining his mindset in the 12th round, where he inexplicably switched to a southpaw stance, stood in front of Pacquiao, and engaged in a slugfest that eventually cost him the round, Morales said: “My promoter always says that I make the fights very difficult, but they’re not difficult; they’re fun for the public.
“If the people want me to fight him again then we will fight again. It was a great fight, the people loved the fight and if they demand that we fight again, then of course, we will fight.” (GCM)
(March 24, 2005 issue)
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