Manny Pacquiao?s camp is not worried about the opinion of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official that the Filipino fighter will suffer the consequences if his fight with Tim Bradley on April 9 (April 10 in the Philippines) is aired on local television.
?We?re not worried about it and it?s just a publicity gimmick,? said Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz yesterday from General Santos City where the boxer, who is running for a Senate seat in the May 9 elections, has his training camp.?Our lawyers say there?s nothing to worry about,? Koncz said.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said that by showing the fight on Philippine TV, the 37-year-old Pacquiao will get unfair advantage over those running for office as it will give him valuable media exposure.
Pacquiao is in the top 12 according to surveys and his fight being shown will boost his candidacy, the Comelec official said.
Pacquiao, the congressman from the lone district of Sarangani, is running under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party of Vice President Jejomar Binay, the only senatorial bet of the group in the top 12 in surveys. He is No. 8.
Koncz announced the arrival of another sparring partner today to enable Congolese-Canadian Ghislain Maduma a break from all the banging he?s been getting from Pacquiao in his preparation for the fight.
Maduma has sparred twice with Pacquiao. Koncz said Lydell Rhodes will rotate with him in sparring sessions until they fly back to the Unied States in the middle of March for the Wild Card phase of the preparation.
?Manny?s doing well in training and he?s focused,? Koncz said.
The Pacquiao-Bradley fight will be shown not only on US and Philippine TV but also around the world either on free broadcast, pay-per-view, or closed circuit.
Pacquiao has declared that the Bradley bout, his third with the US puncher, will be his farewell fight as a professional boxer.
COMELEC MEETS TUESDAY
Meanwhile, the Comelec is set to discuss today a petition filed by senatorial candidate Walden Bello asking for clarification on the coming boxing fight of Pacquiao.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the petition of Bello will be one of the things that will be discussed by the Comelec en banc when it meets Tuesday.
?It?s more than a week already since the petition was filed by Rep. Bello asking for clarificiation. It went through the Law Department and hopefully their recommendation will be tackled,? he said in an interview.
In his petition, Bello asked the Comelec to determine a possible violation of existing campaign rules when Pacquiao battles Timothy Bradley on April 9. Bello expressed concern over the extensive media coverage of the fight, as well as the income that can be earned by Pacquiao, all of which, he said, will give Pacquiao a ?distinct advantage? over fellow senatorial bets.
Jimenez said the Comelec will consider a lot of different factors, such as who is promoting the fight, and where it is happening. He recalled the 2007 decision of the Comelec allowing the airing of the fight of Pacquiao, who was then running for congressman, but it cannot be used as lone basis in their decision, he said.
Substantial differences are present, he said. Back then the congressman was running only for congressman; now he is running for senator..
The Comelec in 2007 allowed the nationwide showing of the Pacquiao fight since the match was considered a ?current event? and a ?newsworthy event? that can freely be covered by the media. However, it limited the airing of the bout to General Santos City where Pacquiao was running. (With a report from Leslie Ann G. Aquino)
