MANILA, Philippines — Promoter Bob Arum Thursday claimed a Manny Pacquiao fight against World Boxing Organization super-featherweight champion Joan Guzman could be “just a phone call away.”
All it takes for the fight to materialize is a call from the two handlers of Guzman — Golden Boy Promotions and Sycuan Ringside Promotions — which co-promote the undefeated Dominican Republic fighter, Arum said.
In an exclusive interview with the website Boxingconfidential, Arum stressed that, although he is locked in a legal battle with GBP, he would be more than willing to work on the project.
“Don King and I co-promoted fights when we were suing each other, so what’s the problem?” asked Arum.
Golden Boy and Top Rank, according to a Boxingconfidential report, “may be in sync because a source with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday night that GBP’s Richard Schaefer and matchmaker Eric Gomez have plainly said they do not want to hold back Guzman if he can get a big-money date against the Filipino national idol.”
“We’ve got a date and we’ve got a venue,” Arum said. “I spoke to the people at the venue late this morning. We’ve got Vancouver for October 6.”
Both Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach have reportedly “green-lighted” Guzman as next in line for the Filipino boxing hero.
The unbeaten New York-based Guzman (27-0, 17 KOs), was originally scheduled to face Australia’s Michael Katsidis last May 26, but was injured in training.
Nicknamed “El Peque?o (The Small) Tyson,” and rated an elite fighter, Guzman, 31, has been calling out Pacquiao for a mega-fight.
Pacquiao, slated to arrive in the United States on Friday, will confer with Arum on his next fight before flying to New York to receive his Fighter of the Year award and watch younger brother Bobby take on Humberto Soto, who is also being eyed as possible foe for the Pacman.
Arum failed to make it to Thursday’s press conference in Los Angeles for the June 9 Pacquiao-Soto fight after his plane suffered engine trouble in Las Vegas.
The affair was held at a restaurant called El Paseo Inn in Old Town Los Angeles, a predominantly Latino-populated area, apparently to connect the fight to the Mexican crowd, reported philboxing.com correspondent Ed de la Vega.
“I respect Soto as a fighter and it’s nice to know that he respects me, too,” Bobby Pacquiao said. “I hope he really looks past me. Then he will find out why certain Mexican boxers bring out the best in the Pacquiaos.”
The June 9 event, dubbed “X-plosive,” will feature World Boxing Association welter king Miguel Cotto defending his title against Zab Judah with the winner moving on to face the winner of the Antonio Margarito-Paul Williams showdown in a unification duel.
Meanwhile, topnotch American lawyer Judd Burstein, who represented Manny Pacquiao in his $33-million suit against Murad Muhammad, has joined the legal team of the Top Rank rival Golden Boy Promotions.
