FILIPINO boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao is expected to see action early next year in another marquee fight.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao?s trainer, said it would be in the fans? general interest to watch Pacquiao challenge current super-featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico.
?That?s what the people want to see. It would be tough but Manny?s a much better fighter now than he was the first time he fought Marquez,? said Roach.
Pacquiao?s friend and international promoter Rex ?Wakee? Salud is cynical about a Pacquiao-Marquez return engagement. Salud said it wouldn?t be easy to convince Marquez to get a smaller purse compared to Pacquiao.
?Malabo pa ?yan kasi hindi pumapayag si Marquez na mas maliit ang purse niya. He?s been insisting that he is the world champion and he wants a purse deserving of a champion,? said Salud.
Weeks after Pacquiao fought Marquez in May 2004, American promoter Murad Muhammad, the former promoter of Pacquiao reportedly offered Marquez $900,000 for the rematch which the Mexican turned down, arguing that he deserves to get a purse higher than Pacquiao.
The ludicrous choices saw stubborn Marquez toil in second-tier fights and even traveled to the backwoods of Indonesia for a paltry $30,000 in a failed bid to regain the WBA title that was stripped away from him.
A clamor for a Pacquiao-Marquez II will intensify only if Marquez beats American Rocky Juarez in their WBC title encounter on November 3 in Las Vegas.
Yesterday, Pacquiao reportedly met with Top Rank executives to discuss tentative plans for next year. Salud and Filipino lawyer Franklin Gacal joined Pacquiao in the meeting, while Top Rank was represented by its president Todd Dubeof.
?Nag-usap lang kami pero wala pa naman sigurado. Mag-enjoy muna ako kasama ang pamilya ko,? said Pacquiao in an overseas interview with BusinessMirror.
Roach, meanwhile, said he expects more challenges from all kinds of fighters but the Hall-of-Fame trainer plans to give his prized ward a much-needed break the rest of the year.
Pacquiao will celebrate his 28th birthday middle of December and those around him are expecting a major shindig.
As for the challenges that will come Pacquiao?s way, Roach said their promoters would seriously consider other super-featherweight top-tier campaigners namely World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Joan Guzman, World Boxing Association ruler Edwin Valero and Humberto Soto, the conqueror of Pacquiao?s younger brother Bobby.
During the postfight press conference, Guzman told reporters that he will take on all-comers and he made it clear that he feels Pacquiao is avoiding a fight with him.
Roach also expressed his satisfaction when asked about how big a factor was their decision to stage their training camp in Cebu.
Pacquiao is said to be contemplating in campaigning in the lightweight division and challenge WBC champion David Diaz.
Pacquiao is coming off a brilliant 12-round unanimous-decision win over Marco Antonio Barrera Sunday at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Marquez, 33 and currently the WBC?s 130-lb ruler, forced Pacquiao to a 12-round split draw in May 2004 in Las Vegas.
In their epic encounter for Marquez?s World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation featherweight tiaras, Pacquiao floored Marquez thrice in the first round, but Marquez managed to stay on and send the fight to the scorecards.
Country of cheaters?
MEANWHILE, an article in the Los Angeles Times about Pacquiao?s failed political campaign may have inadvertently depicted the Philippines as a country of cheats.
The article, written by veteran sports scribe Bill Dwyre, appeared in the October 6 issue of the revered US daily.
?According to the Pacquiao camp, the election was rigged and Pacquiao was beaten for the seat in the second district of South Cotabato, which includes his hometown of General Santos City,? Dwyre wrote.
?In politics in the Philippines, when you lose, you are not actually losing. You are just cheated,? Jake Joson, who has introduced himself as Pacquiao?s chief of staff, said.
In the same article, Pacquiao compared the US electorate to the Philippine setup.
?Elections, they are fair here [in the US]. In the Philippines, it is different. You are cheated,? he said.
Kyla impresses picky PacMan buffs
A SIMPLE rendition of the Philippine national anthem was all Filipina pop singer Kyla needed to win the adulation of the usually pernickety fans of Pacquiao.
Before Kyla was officially chosen to sing the national anthem, www.mannypacquiao.ph, Pacquiao?s popular web site, was bombarded by disparaging statements about the performance of Filipino singers who previously sang the anthem.
Getting the brunt of the criticism was young singer Jennifer Bautista whose tone went off-key in Pacquiao?s rematch with another Mexican great Erik Morales.
Kyla is also set to sing the ?Lupang Hinirang? during the opening of the 33rd season of the Philippine Basketball Association.
