Sunday, December 31, 2006 GBP refuses to talk with Arum
IF Bob Arum thinks he can get a good deal with Golden Boy Promotions for the Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera rematch, he needs to think twice.
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer recently announced they are not willing to talk or negotiate with Arum and his Top Rank Inc. for the possibility of a Pacquiao-Barrera II.
Schaefer maintained that Arum has no business in representing himself as Pac-quiao’s promoter since GBP has the rights of promoting the Filipino ring icon, despite the declaration of Pacquiao to honor his contract with Top Rank and not with the Oscar De La Hoya-owned Golden Boy Promotions.
Schaefer then gave Pacquiao until Monday to either accept or reject the offer to fight Barrera.
Pacquiao shot to fame in his first fight with Barrera in 2003. In that fight, Pacquiao forced Barrera’s camp to wave the white flag in the 11th round.
“Manny must assert his right as the Boss in Team Pacquiao. We are giving him only until Monday to accept or reject the offer to fight Barrera. We challenge him to fight Marco Antonio Barrera, one of the best fighters of his generation,” Schaefer said as quoted in a report posted at Philboxing.com.
Split
Golden Boy offered a 50-50 split on the prize purse for his rematch with Barrera, scheduled on March 17 held at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Arum, on the other hand, also challenged Barrera to fight Pacquiao in a match that will guarantee both boxers $2.5 million and a percentage of the pay-per-view buys. Arum wants to stage the fight in Macau on April 28.
“If Arum truly cares and wants only the best for Manny, he should not involve himself in this event since we offered to put the promotional profits for Manny in an escrow account until the court decides who is the rightful promoter of Manny. If he wins, then let it be all his, but if he doesn’t it’s otherwise,” added Schaefer.
If until Monday, Pacquiao could not decide whether to fight Barrera or not, Golden Boy will promote the Barrera-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on the same date. (RCM)
