CEBU CITY -- A close associate of Manny Pacquiao isn't pleased with the development of Pacquiao's fall fight where it is now reported that Mexican Humberto Soto would take Valero's place on November 15.
Speaking on condition of anonimity, the source said that if Arum could not make a meaningful fight for Pacquiao in November, it is better to forego the fight and wait for the result of the fights involving Hatton-Malignaggi, Campbell-Guzman, Casamayor-Marquez and Diaz-Katsidis to make for a more compelling fight for Pacquiao sometime early next year.
"If Pacquiao-Diaz did not do well in the gate and in the PPV sales, what more with the Pacquiao-Soto pairing? It is a dry fight, high risk and very low reward kind of fight that I think Manny should not take," the source said. "I also feel the same with the Valero fight -- that fight will not really sell."
When told that there are reports that the WBA-WBO-IBF lightweight champion Nate Campbell is willing to ditch his fight with Guzman if a fight with Pacquiao can be arranged, the source said "if that fight could be made then that is the fight that Pacquiao should take -- for the money and for historical reasons."
"I know that Arum is the best promoter out there but I just feel that he should not do the Pacquiao-Soto fight right now," the source concluded.
Soto was coming off from a controversial disqualification loss agasint Francisco Lorenzo last June 28 and had been schooled by Joan Guzman over twelve rounds during their fight last year. The only compelling angle for a Pacquiao-Soto fight is Soto's knockout win over Pacquiao's brother Bobby in June last year but that probably is already too distant a memory for most of the fans.
Undoubtedly Pacquiao's biggest fight out there would be against British superstar Ricky Hatton if Hatton gets past Malignaggi in November. Hatton was quoted as saying that he would like to end his career fighting in front of 100,000 of his fans in Britain. A Pacquiao-Hatton fight could presumably make more than $20M for each fighter.
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