LAS VEGAS ? Golden Boy Promotions has offered Manny Pacquiao $6 million for him to face Juan Manuel Marquez a third and last time.
?I?m putting $6 million on the table,? said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer during the post-fight press conference that got a little out of control due to the building controversy following Pacquiao?s close win.
?Come on, Bob (Arum),? said Schaefer as Arum sat, watched and listened to the offer being made by his co-promoter in the highly successful ?Unfinished Business? card at Mandalay Bay.
It was so successful that Arum reported a record $3.3 million in gate receipts, something which Arum said he has never experienced while handling a Pacquiao fight.
And calls for a third fight should start mounting by the day.
?There is no better fight out there than have these two guys fight again,? said Schaefer.
But Arum would not budge. He is keen in pitting Pacquiao next against WBC lightweight champion David Diaz on June 28 also at Mandalay.
?And if Manny wins the 135-lb title, then that?s the title that we?re going to defend. If we beat Diaz, then why can?t he (Marquez) be the challenger at 135?? Arum added.
Jaime Quintana of Team Marquez said their boxer would be willing to face Pacquiao at 132 or 135 lbs. But they want it soon, probably in June, and not by the end of the year.
Quintana then had some words with Arum when Nacho Beristain, who manages and trains Marquez, said the outcome of the fight was an insult to the sport and the fans.
?You saw it, Manuel was the better boxer. This is not good for the sport,? said Beristain through Quintana.
That?s when Arum banged the table, rose from his chair and asked Quintana to shut up.
?Be man enough to accept the verdict of the judges,? Arum, visibly irked, told them.
Then Team Marquez walked out of the room.
