It seems like the dream fight between Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao and six-time champion Oscar de la Hoya would not push through as every fight fan expected as both camps failed to reach an agreement on money matters.
De la Hoya refused to budge from his demand for a 70-30 revenue split while Pacquaio remained firm in his counter proposal for a 60-40 split.
In a report posted on FightNews.com, Pacquiao said through his lawyer Jeng Gacal that he finds the offer from de la Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) “unconscionable”.
“It would have been an honor to fight De La Hoya on his last fight capping a very illustrious boxing career but under the circumstances, the option left is to move on. I have already made specific instructions to my lawyer to start negotiating with Bob Arum for my next fight with any possible opponent at 135 lbs,” said Pacquaio.
Gacal said what Pacquiao wanted was a fair share of the mega fight and apparently, de La Hoya is making an offer that he knows is unacceptable.
For his part, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said de la Hoya was adamant about the split “being 70-30 or no deal.”
“[GBP CEO] Richard [Schaefer] and I had a good meeting and we resolved the other issues,” Arum in a separate report by ESPN.com.
“Oscar wanted 70-30 and Richard and I figured that there would be room for movement. Oscar was supposed to come in [to Los Angeles] this week to meet with Richard in person, but he didn’t make it and had to do it on the telephone. Oscar was adamant about it being 70-30 or no deal. Richard told me that and that I transmitted it to Pacquiao and his people in the Philippines. They told me that there was no deal and to look to make another fight,” narrated Arum.
Schaefer, however, believes Pacquaio was just ill-advised regarding the negotiations.
“Pacquiao has an adviser and lawyer (Gacal), who basically is caught up in percentages. But if you go buy a car or a house or food do you pay in percentages or in money? The answer is you pay in currency not in percentages. I hope this has properly been explained to Manny,” he said.
Because of this, both fighters are currently shopping for other opponents.
De la Hoya is now closing in on a deal to book a fight against junior middleweight titleholder Sergio Mora on December 6 while Pacquiao is likely to face another Top Rank fighter Humberto Soto.
Mora, who rose to fame by winning the first season of “The Contender” reality series, defeated Vernon Forrest for the WBC title, while Soto beat Pacquaio?s younger brother Bobby in a non title fight. With a report from Dexter Ganibe, ABS-CBN General Santos
