Most of us thought Manny Pacquiao would hook up again with WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera, but Golden Boy Promotions is saying that Barrera will fight WBO champion Juan Manuel Marquez on March 17, 2007.
Golden Boy, according to ABS-CBN, said the Barrera/Marquez fight is almost a certainty, and would take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The WBC was supposed to have a purse bid for Pacquiao (their international super feather champ) and Barrera, but Pacquiao’s murky contract status has muddied the mix.
Is the 28-year-old southpaw with Bob Arum?
Has he signed on with Golden Boy?
It remains to be seen…
Some background: in September, Pacquiao signed a seven-fight contract with Golden Boy Promotions….
Done deal, right?
Nope.
Shortly after, Bob Arum announced the Filipino had signed a four-year deal with Top Rank.
Golden Boy thinks they have a hold on Pacquiao, and want to hold Pac Man/Barrera II in September.
The right to promote Pacquiao, now one of the top four draws in the sport, will likely fall to the judicial system.
Pacquiao’s been a busy beaver regarding the status of who promotes him, having jumped from Murad Muhammad, to Gary Shaw, to Arum, and now, possibly, to Oscar De La Hoya, in the span of four years…
Pac Man’s trainer, Freddie Roach, was reported as saying that Don King had entered the mix, and was trying to woo the Filipino into the fold, but King sent out a press release denying a courtship on Dec. 23rd…
Do stay tuned, as the wranglings involving the all-action Filipino are bound to get dirtier.
There is, after, mucho money at stake…
