Wednesday, January 14, 2009 Manny willing to fight another opponent
IF British slugger Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton won’t budge in the share of the fight purse for his mega bout with Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, the Filipino boxing superstar will be forced to look for another opponent in May.
Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin “Geng” Gacal said the Filipino boxer, who is currently the world’s pound-for-pound king, believes he should have the bigger share because he is the bigger draw.
“We have informed Bob Arum that we are not signing the contract. Manny is not contented with what is laid on the table. If the figures won’t move, we will look for another [challenger],” Gacal told ABS-CBN.
The 30 year-old world champion wants 60 percent of the pot and won’t sign the contract if Golden Boy Promotions and Hatton, who wants a 50-50 split, don’t agree with his proposition.
Pacquiao is scheduled to fight 30-year old British champion on May 2 in Las Vegas.
Top Rank big boss Bob Arum, who handles Pacquiao, said in an interview posted at BoxingTalk.com, that the fight is on and it will be announced at the end of the week or early next week.
“Richard (Schaefer) is coming in to New York tomorrow, and we’re going to figure out the PPV distribution, and various other things. Then we'll figure out when we want to announce the fight,” said Arum. (EKA)
