RIGHT NOW, Manny Pacquiao?s preference for his next fight is against one of the lightweight Diazes.
Because of his being a right-hander and tendency to get hit easily, Pacquiao revealed that he is eyeing to face reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) 135-lb king Juan Diaz of the US, and not David Diaz, the current World Boxing Council (WBC) titlist in the same weight class.
“Manny told me that he prefers Juan Diaz because Juan is a right-handed and can get hit easily,” Wakee Salud told the Bulletin late yesterday afternoon from Nueva Ecija where he accompanied Pacquiao in shooting portions of his Metro Manila Filmfest entry.
“David Diaz is a southpaw like him and Manny wants to face somebody who is an orthodox fighter and not a lefty like him,” said Salud.
The past few days, there have been countless reports in relation to Pacquiao?s next fight with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum telling a leading boxing website that he wants the 28-year-old Filipino to get it on with David Diaz on March 15, 2008.
Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), owned by Oscar De La Hoya and who promotes reigning WBC super-feather titleholder Juan Manuel Marquez said there?s no other choice but for Pacquiao to square off with Marquez in a rematch.
Marquez, incidentally, is a right-hander but his being tied up with GBP is apparently the reason why Pacquiao is not too hot on such a matchup since he won?t get the lion?s share of the prize money owing to an agreement between Top Rank and GBP that mandates a 57-43 split of the purse in favor of Pacquiao.
Even WBC president Jose Sulaiman wants Pacquiao to meet Marquez in a rematch, citing that a win over Marquez will be Pacquiao?s crowning glory.
“Even Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach hinted a few days back about a possible Pacquiao-Juan Diaz rumble.”
Meanwhile, Salud disclosed that Pacquiao, his lawyer Franklin Gacal, himself and New York boxing manager Shelly Finkel are going to meet sometime during the coming WBC convention at the Manila Hotel to discuss the prospects of how Pacquiao can maximize his earning potential in his next fight.
Finkel used to manage Pacquiao but his services were surprisingly terminated in mid-2006.
