Signed, sealed and delivered.
Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya are going to further light up Las Vegas on Dec. 6 with the Filipino fighter yesterday expressing optimism that he will get the job done before an expected sellout crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“Don?t worry,” Pacquiao, sounding overjoyed, told the Bulletin from General Santos City, obviously aware that major US media outlets The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press have announced the fight one day ahead of schedule.
“I have agreed in principle to accept the December 6 fight against Oscar De La Hoya. This will be the toughest test in my boxing career because of the reach and height advantage of my esteemed opponent aside from his great boxing skills,” said Pacquiao in a statement released late yesterday.
The Gensan fighter promised to bring the same fire and intensity, which he gamely dished out in his previous wins over great Mexican rivals.
“I will frustrate the desire of De La Hoya to avenge the defeats of the great Mexican boxers who lost to me. I am dedicating this forthcoming fight to my countrymen and all the boxing fans all over the world,” said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao had earlier turned down a 70-30 revenue-sharing proposal from Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), demanding that he was entititled to a 40 percent share of the pie being the current toast of world boxing.
But GBP and Pacquiao promoter Top Rank continued talks even after the deal went puff and both parties finally came to an accord whose details might be discussed when De La Hoya holds an international conference call late Thursday morning (early Friday in Manila).
Pacquiao likewise politely declined to say how Top Rank and GBP saved the fight from being shelved but revealed that he was satisfied with the outcome of the last-ditch effort made by Arum and Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya?s right-hand man, the past few days.
“Definitely, it?s not 70-30,” said Pacquiao, who started out as a light-flyweight (108 lbs) in 1995n but is now moving up to welterweight (147 lbs).
Under the 70-30 format that GBP originally dangled, Pacquiao would earn at least million and since he succeeded in playing hard-to-get, the amount should skyrocket.
Pacquiao, who currently weighs 155 lbs, said he leaves for the US to start training under Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Sept. 12, cognizant of his earlier vow that he needs at least ten weeks to whip himself up into shape for someone like De La Hoya.
“I plan to weigh in at 145 lbs during the official weighin and will be 150 lbs by the time I get up the ring to face De La Hoya,” said Pacquiao, who is also a multi-division champion like the Golden Boy.
Pacquiao is the reigning World Boxing Council lightweight (135 lbs) champion and had formerly held the WBC fly (112 lbs), International Boxing Federation super-bantam (122 lbs) and WBC super-feather (130 lbs) titles.
Before moving to super-feather, Pacquiao was once crowned by The Ring magazine ? regarded as The Bible of Boxing ? as its featherweight champion after his victory over Marco Antonio Barrera in Nov. 2003.
Pacquiao, who turns 30 on Dec. 17, has fought a total of 283 rounds in racking up a win-loss-draw record of 47-3-2 with 35 knockouts (67.31 percent KO rate).
