MANILA – Deal or no deal.
This was the firm stand of Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao as he insisted on a 60-40 sharing in his favor in connection with his fight with British “hitman” Ricky Hatton scheduled in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 2.
Pacquiao made known his stand in a telephone interview from General Santos City in Mindanao to dispute the announcement of Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions that he already agreed to a 50-50 deal.
With Pacquiao’s agreement, Arum claimed that the megafight with Hatton in Las Vegas is already a done deal.
Arum also said the 50-50 sharing has assured that the bout will go through following warnings from the British boxer’s camp that they would sue Pacquiao in court if he continued to insist on 60-40.
But on Thursday night, Pacquiao said in Filipino: “I won’t agree to a 50-50. That can’t be.”
He added he feels he deserves more than what is being offered to him. He did not clarify, but he was apparently referring to the fact that he can now dictate his terms because he is acknowledged as the best pound-for-found fighter in the boxing world today.
This came about when entering the ring as a heavy underdog, he nevertheless demolished the legendary Mexican-American boxing idol Oscar de la Hoya in their recent bout in Las Vegas.
In this light, Pacquiao said he is giving the Hatton camp until the first week of February to agree to 60-40.
If they don’t agree, the Pacquiao camp said they would look for another opponent who will be more “worthy” than Hatton.
The Pacquiao statement put a damper on Arum’s optimistic prediction that everything’s back in order when the “People’s Champ,” as the Filipino boxing icon is also known, had agreed to 50-50 with Hatton.
Arum said that after a day of confusion about money matters, negotiations for the May 2 Pacquiao vs Hatton Fight looked rosy as before.
“Yesterday was disarray,” Arum told the LA Times in an interview on the issue. “Today, everything’s back in order.”
From the looks of it, however, it’s back to a day of disarray – what with Pacquiao’s firm stand for 60-40.
(Photo courtesy of www.telegraph.co.uk and www.pacquiavideo.com)
Pacquiao vs Hatton: Who Will Win?
- Pacquiao by TKO (78%, 354 Votes)
- Hatton by TKO (13%, 57 Votes)
- Pacquiao by Decision (6%, 27 Votes)
- Hatton by Decision (3%, 13 Votes)
- Draw (0%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 454
Loading ...
[...] Pacquiao-Hatton fight updates showed that Pacman is giving boxing promoters, particularly Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions a [...]