MANNY PACQUIAO can expect his “highest payday ever” in his third match against Mexican nemesis Erik Morales on October 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to one of his American handlers on Wednesday.
“Shelly [Finkel, Pacquiao’s manager] and I are still going back and forth with Bob Arum on the Pacquiao/Morales rubbermatch. Though the terms of the deal are confidential, I can tell you that it will be Manny’s highest payday ever,” Nick Khan said in an e-mail message to The Times.
The head of Top Rank Inc., Arum has a promotions contract with “El Terrible” Morales.
Pacquiao reportedly earned $1.75 million plus a percentage of the pay-per-view revenue in his rematch with Morales on January 21 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, which resulted in a convincing 10th-round technical knockout victory of the Filipino.
Despite the loss, Morales still pocketed $2 million from the fight and a cut from the pay-per-view income.
With talks on the third bout in its final stages, “PacMan” is expected to earn as much as—if not more than—Morales, who has vowed to redeem himself from the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the Filipino boxing hero.
Pacquiao fights Oscar Larios on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum, a bout the two-time world champion refuses to call a tune-up since his Mexican foe is a former super bantamweight champion.
As for Pacquiao’s training, Khan said, “Manny looks spectacular.”
Khan said American trainer Freddie Roach, who has been prepping the fighter since he returned to US for his match against Larios, noted, “How impressed he [Roach] is with the way Manny’s body responds to training.”
Khan added that Roach now believes “Manny cannot only go the full 12 rounds now, but he could go 15.”
Khan’s observations were confirmed after Pacquiao beat up two Russian sparring partners at the Wild Card gym Tuesday, according to a boxing website.
After four rounds each with Pacquiao, both Rustom Nugaev and Vladimir Zykov were bloodied, the website said.
“I think he is getting better and better,” said Filipino manager Rex “Wakee” Salud, who was at ringside to watch the sparring sessions in Los Angeles.
In a separate interview with ring writer Brad Cooney on Boxingtalk.com, Roach said: “Manny went four rounds, and I was happy how Manny looked. He looked explosive when he wanted to. So far so good.”
“I didn’t expect his timing to be as good as it is this early on. We start the hills tomorrow, and we’ll pick it then,” said Roach, adding that the boxer will begin sparring for six rounds on Friday.
Roach also praised his charge’s workout habits, saying “when it comes to down to training for a fight, nobody does it better than Manny Pacquiao. I was a little bit worried on the first day, but once Manny got back into the gym, he was the old Manny immediately.”
Pleased at the rate the Filipino was getting back into shape, Roach added: “I will tell you this much, Oscar [Larios] better be ready for this one.”
