SHELLY FINKEL, Manny Pacquiao’s New York-based manager, said there is still time for the Filipino fighter to change his mind and fight Marco Antonio Barrera although time is ticking fast.
“I don’t know how to turn him around. I hope he wakes up before it is too late,” Finkel told the Bulletin in an email yesterday.
Finkel also took the opportunity to question the choice of opponents of Pacquiao, who is now going to fight somebody other than Barrera on April 28 in Macau.
“What can he (Pacquiao) be thinking? I looked at the list of opponents and I laughed. This is a joke. No one knows who these opponents are, except maybe Team Pacquiao,” said Finkel, whose term as manager ends this month and is not likely to be renewed.
“How can you turn down Barrera for over million (about P250 million) to fight one of those guys. I don’t get it, what can they be telling him to have him make such bad decisions. He said Barrera needs him, that may be true but he also needs Barrera as can be seen from the list of opponents he is considering. Again, all I want is what is good for him.”
The list of opponents includes reigning International Boxing Federation super featherweight king Malcolm Klassen, reigning Oriental titleholder Nobuhito Honmo of Japan, Agnaldo Nunes of Brazil, Yusuke Kobori of Japan, Guadalupe Rosales of Mexico and Francisco Lorenzo of the Dominican Republic.
While they’re unheard of, Pacquiao’s best bet is to pick on the South African Klassen, who holds a legitimate world title.
In the event Pacquiao and Top Rank taps Klassen and succeed in beating him, the Filipino would officially become a three-division world champion after he had reigned as world flyweight and world super bantamweight king.
While Pacquiao failed to win world titles in the featherweight and super featherweight divisions, a win over Klassen will formally make him the first Asian to win three titles in different weight classes.
