MANNY Pacquiao, beltless people’s world featherweight boxing champ, is in California training very hard.
He’s also like a kid who has gone to market with no idea what to buy.
No, it’s not exactly hopeless. He could place a call for instructions.
But there’s a bigger mess. The fellow who sent him out is similarly at a loss.
It’s like this. Pacquiao has reported back to Freddie Roach’s world-famous Wild Card Boxing Club.
He has resumed a punishing regimen: long runs in the morning and killer gym work in the afternoon.
Sorry, but suddenly he no longer has an idea whom he will be fighting.
Pacquiao is not unlike a seasoned traveler who has hit the road with no definite destination.
* * *
It’s not very funny how Pacquiao had been made to believe by Murad Muhammad, his US promoter, that he would be clashing again with Marco Antonio Barrera.
Barrera, who fell in fragments after being crushed by Pacquiao last November, has somewhat regained respect and following after he stopped the aging Paulie Ayala earlier this year.
The Pacquiao-Barrera rematch, initially slated this November, had promised to be a tremendous draw, mainly among Latinos and Orientals in the USA.
But before Pacquiao could leave for California, Murad called to say the rematch with Barrera was off.
Bob Arum, the sly and influential American boxing guru, has decided Barrera would instead meet undisputed world super featherweight king Erik Morales for the third time.
* * *
Just like that. Murad was caught with his pants down, but he could not do anything.
Murad next scrambled and ticked off a list of lesser lights, including former world junior light champ Joel Casamayor.
You’re free to suspect a conspiracy. But it has become clear that, after they had split their two previous encounters, a third Morales-Barrera clash would be hard to beat at the gates.
Then there’s the pay-per-view market, lionized by fans in Morales-Barrera 1 and 2, where Pacquiao has yet to prove his fame.
Anyway, latest word from under the table bared that the expected blockbuster between the two Mexican ring legends was not yet final.
Boxing expert Salven Lagumbay reported from Cebu that Barrera demanded parity and asked for a bigger purse.
* * *
Pacquiao, meanwhile, has started to get restless.
For sure, Arum would be lining up whoever wins between Morales and Barrera against Pacquiao.
But at least, Pacquiao, who’s ready to kill himself to stay at peak form, must have an idea of his next opponent.
This is Murad’s job, to sign up a worthy foe. Unfortunately, the failure of the sleek and glib promoter to nail down a big outing for the Filipino world boxing celebrity could cost him his job. Murad’s contract with Pacquiao expires in February.
Yes, Murad who again has been outwitted by Bob Arum, is twice as lost as Pacquiao.
Naturally, fight fans here at home have also started to feel insulted at how Arum & Co. have snubbed Pacquiao.
They cried foul and claimed US promoters were avoiding Pacquiao because of his proven hitting power.
That should be enough to lessen Pacquiao’s current frustration.
But how do you beat this report that RP’s Diosdado Gabi, the WBC International flyweight titlist, has been scrapped out of his scheduled world championship clash with Thailand’s Pongsaklek Wonjongkam?
It’s true. In the red-light-district sport called boxing, deals are rarely finalized over the table.
* * *
(BYE, SIR: Bert Corvera, a first-class craftsman and one of the true gentlemen of Philippine journalism, passed away Monday after a lingering illness. Corvera, 67, who had served in the old Philippine Herald, was a respected editor who helped mold many of today’s senior mediamen in the country. He also served as editor at the We Forum in the run-up to the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos. His remains lie in state at the Mount Carmel Parish Church [Bahay Carmelo] on Road 8, Visayas Avenue, Project 6, Quezon City. Interment will be announced later. Please pray for this great friend.)
