THERE’S REALLY very little to appreciate in Manny Pacquiao’s scheduled next fight.
The foe being a Korean featherweight, there definitely will be kimchi on the side.
But how good is Injin Chi?
Going to Macau on April 28 would be like coming to a grand dinner where the guests are made to wonder about the main course.
There’s always the risk of the chef coming up with stale meat, or maybe a flat fish course.
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Of course, we have reason to complain this early.
There was that sure chance of a first-class course that had to be skipped due to a promotional snafu.
Marco Antonio Barrera, reigning world super featherweight champ, would’ve been real tamale.
We don’t know how hot really, but the boxing world need not be told that, against Barrera, Pacquiao will have to rely on both fists — use both spoon and fork, if you please.
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Again Chi?
Pacquiao might have to tie one hand to his waist in order to make the fight interesting.
Who’s Chi?
It’s a shame, swears Shelly Finkel, outgoing Pacquiao manager.
Rants Finkel: “That is what it comes down to — an old featherweight for the right price.”
Finkel was the same seasoned fight hand who has helped push Pacquiao to the top of the prizefight world with that classic trilogy against Erik Morales.
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Writes the Bulletin’s Nick Giongco, the ringside sniper who drew those peppery quotes from Finkel: “Chi is the reigning World Boxing Council 126-lb champion and a holder of decent 31-3-1 win-loss card with 18 knockouts, but ringsiders believe Pacquiao would feast on the Korean as though the 33-year-old slugger were a plate of kimchi.”
Giongco likewise notes that Finkel was “instrumental in rescuing Pacquiao from the claws of New Jersey promoter Murad Muhammad in 2006.”
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There’s reason to raise the issue of relevance in the case of Pacquiao’s next foe.
It’s also easy to suspect Finkel’s displeasure after he had been junked by Pacquiao as manager after all he had done for the RP boxing celebrity.
But knowing Finkel, he was greatly bothered that the fans, including the immeasurable horde that worships Pacquiao in the Philippines, stand to be shortchanged.
Of course, Pacquiao has been assured of a juicy $5-million purse.
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Finkel is however certain that, in the give-and-take prizefight world, it’s what you give to the audience that counts most.
While Pacquiao had to rage like a howler, a Pacific Storm, against great opponents, a sneeze would appear strong enough to please the gullible that, in this case, includes Steve Wynn, who’s bankrolling the Macau feast slated on April 28.
Mr. Wynn may no longer have the healthy eyes to view and discern a good Korean dish.
But this next one definitely does look a distant cousin of a relevant $5-million Mexican dinner, complete with tequila, taco and tamale.
The price is not right for this suspect kimchi.
