Quijano: Not what the fans wanted

THERE it was in his official Twitter account a few days ago. Ominous in its seeming finality but quite specious in its dishonest denotation:

“Negotiations between team Pacquiao and team Khan have come to terms for the April 23 bout as this is what the fans wanted. #PacquiaoKhan”

The what-the -fans-wanted schtick made me cringe but hey, I have yet to hear a fighter tell the media the fans don’t want to see his next fight.

But wait, this fight isn’t even official yet, according to Bob Arum.

It seems like Michael Koncz still has to fly to the USA to finalize the discussion but methinks its as good as done.

The only issue that could potentially cause a snag is the guaranteed purse which worries Arum.

This alone lends the inference that bellicose Bob probably wasn’t as privvy to the negotiations as he would have preferred and this is why the dotting of the i’s and the crossing of the t’s has to be done in America.

FOES. I’m a fight fan just as you are, and there’s no freaking way Amir Khan was the opponent we wanted Manny to face.

There’s Canelo Alvarez, who knocked out Khan in the latter’s last fight.

There’s Juan Manuel Marquez-who seems uninterested, but the storyline for a historic fifth fight can be as compelling as it gets.

There’s the winner of the Danny Garcia-Keith Thurman unification fight this Sunday.

There’s Terence Crawford, the talented WBO junior welterweight champ who’s been pining for that Pacquiao fight.

So what about Khan? Let’s see what he brings to the table.

KHAN. He fights out of Lancashire, UK. He was a silver medalist in the 2004 Olympics.

He was a bright prospect when he turned pro in 2005 until he ran into Breidis Prescott in 2008 and was knocked out in less than a minute.

Since then questions about the durability of his chin have hounded him, even though he would go on to win the WBA super lightweight belt and defeat the likes of Paul Malignaggi, Marcos Maidana and Zab Judah.

It didn’t help his chinny reputation when he was knocked out by Danny Garcia in round 4 and by Canelo Alvarez in round 6.

Khan has hand speed, decent power in both hands and throws excellent combinations. He has a height advantage over Manny which he can capitalize on.

No doubt he is a credible opponent for Manny. But there’s no freaking way that is this the fight that the fans want.

VERBATIM. “May awa pa naman ako.” - Manny Pacquiao on LP Senators keeping posts. (www.rappler.com)

LAST ROUND. It’s on Subzero’s favorite guitar man, Loyd Dante who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!

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