Saturday, September 15, 2007 Glory, not money for Manny
FILIPINO boxing hero Manny Pacquiao has no intention of turning his back or postponing his scheduled 12-round bout with Marco Antonio Barrera on Oct. 6 in Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in the US.
Pacquiao, who has been training at the RWS International Gym in Punta Princesa this city, since early August, has denied reports that he has any plans of postponing the much-awaited rematch as reported by Michael Marley of boxingconfidential.com.
“There is no truth to that news. I am in focus for the fight,” Barrera told reporters yesterday.
Rumors
Marley quoted some unnamed source from Barrera’s camp that Pacquiao is allegedly planning to postpone the fight because the purse money is not enough for the super featherweight superstar.
“It (money) is out of the question. I am fighting for the glory of the Philippines and there is no reason why I should cancel the fight,” Pacquiao added.
Yesterday, Pacquiao sparred for another 10 rounds—four with Mexican Raymundo Beltran Jr. and three each from Filipino Arnel Tinampay and Mexican David Rodela—reaching a total of 78 rounds.
From the ring, Pacquiao went to the double-end bag for 15 minutes, then to the speed ball for 10 minutes then skipped ropes for another 12 minutes.
Then did abdominals for 30 minutes—long after his sparring partners had cooled down, dressed up and ready to go.
“I was surprised to hear that news. I don’t know where that came from but I just talk to Bob Arum on the phone a while ago and I told him that Manny is fighting and I should know because I am here seeing everything is in the right track,” American Freddie Roach said.
Arum himself had denied reports that Pacquiao is going to cancel his Oct. 6 fight with Barrera, quoting Roach’s statement to Marley.
Rex “Wakee” Salud, Pac-quiao’s business partner and gym owner believed that the false accusations are plots to throw Pacquiao out of concentration.
“Of course that is not true. Manny is working hard to prepare for this fight. If he has any intentions of ‘wiggling’ out of the fight, he should not train that way. We all saw his dedication to this fight and followed him everyday and now here is this unfounded reports that Manny is backing out, that’s hilarious,” Salud stressed.
Prize
However, Salud admitted that as of now there is no clear details on how much will Pacquiao receive for this fight.
There were reports earlier that revealed Pacquiao will be getting no less than $3 million for this fight.
However, on top of this, Pacquiao will get a share from the pay-per-view buys, the television right for the Philippines and a share from Top Rank’s share of cut of the proceeds.
“I am thankful for Bob Arum for making this event happen. And he is also there to defend Manny when these unfortunate rumors happen,” Salud added.
Even Games and Amusement Board (GAB) chairman Eric Buhain who came together with GAB Boxing Chief Dr. Naseer Cruz for a surprise visit was not happy with Marley’s report.
“As far as I know everything is going okay. We saw today that Pacquiao is working hard. I do not know where and how this report came out but I am pretty sure during our conversations there is nothing mentioned about Manny backing out of the fight,” Buhain told Sun.Star-Cebu.
Marley’s report came in the spate of fight cancellations, one of the most recently celebrated rescheduling was Juan Manuel Marquez who was suppose to fight Rocky Juarez on this Sunday but was postponed to Nov. 3 because Marquez injured his hand. (RCM)
