BOBBY Pacquiao’s career – and bank account – is surging at a dizzying rate.
Pacquiao, set to fight the wildly-popular Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez in the undercard of the blockbuster Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo rematch, will reportedly receive $90,000 (about P5 million) for the gig, philboxing.com reported yesterday.
But while a majority of Filipinos are thrilled with the development, boxing promoter Rod Nazario, who used to manage Pacquiao and his older brother Manny, thinks that fighting Hernandez may not be such a good move at all.
Nazario said that if he had his way, he would not allow Bobby to tussle with the rugged 34-year-old El Salvadoran, a professional since 1992.
“What I am afraid of is if Hernandez absorbs all of Pacquiao’s best punches without going down,” Nazario was quoted by phil-boxing.com. “Hernandez is durable and has never been knocked out in almost 50 fights.”
Biggest fight
The fight, a supporting bout in the prestigious pay-per-view event set at the Thomas & Mack Arena on Dec. 10, will no doubt be the biggest fight for Bobby Pacquiao, who has been toiling under the shadow of his more illustrious older brother.
Hernandez, a former world champion, holds a 41-5-1 win-loss-draw card with 24 KOs. All of his five defeats came on points and four came against high-profile world champions Erik Morales, Floyd Mayweather, Jesus Chavez and Genaro Hernandez.
Pacquiao, the currently Philippine super-featherweight (130 pounds) champion, made a splash in the international boxing circuit with a spectacular seventh-round knockout of Mexican World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental America super-featherweight king Carlos Navarro in California last month.
Making headlines
On top of the prestigious belt, the win enabled Bobby to make headlines in the international scene. Bobby was named by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) as its boxer of the month for June after the win, and has been flooded with lucrative offers from promoters abroad.
Bolstered by the aggressive thrust of his new management team, which consists of his superstar older brother Manny and American promoter Michael Koncz, Bobby now finds himself in a high-profile, high-paying assignment under the Corrales-Castillo superfight.
