Wednesday, January 14, 2009 Pacquiao-Hatton fight hits snag By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
THE proposed blockbuster fight between Filipino ring warrior Manny Pacquiao and British hero Ricky Hatton is in jeopardy following a disagreement on the fight purse.
This, after Pacquiao turned down a 50-50 split for the bout as Hatton's camp desired and insisted it should be 60-40 in favor of the Filipino.
Pacquiao and three of his children arrived in the country Monday morning after spending the holidays in the United States with his wife Jinky and their newborn, Queen Elizabeth.
Pacquiao returned without yet signing the contract to fight Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas, indicating a stalemate in the negotiating table between him and Hatton.
Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, had announced weeks ago that the Pacquiao-Hatton fight is almost a done deal and that the only remaining hitch is the venue for the bout.
That's not seems to be the case right now as both camps clearly had not agreed on the sharing of fight proceeds.
And Franklin Gacal, Pacquiao's lawyer, even warned that if they can't get the big chunk of the fight pie they will look for another opponent.
That other opponent could be Floyd Mayweather Jr., the former pound-for-pound king who vacated his throne when he retired following his fight with Hatton.
Pacquiao himself admitted in the same television interview that Mayweather's camp is talking to them for a possible showdown between the Filipino ring sensation and the undefeated American fighter.
Pacquiao, however, did not elaborate.
The Filipino took over Oscar De La Hoya's lofty billing as the sport's biggest star when he demolished the Mexican-American via an eight-round TKO win just last December.
