BOBBY Pacquiao has been lurking behind the shadow of his older brother Manny, but today he attempts to emerge and create his own legacy when he faces Mexican Humberto Soto in one of the featured events when the Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto defends his WBA welterweight belt against the Brooklyn native Zab Judah at the historic Madison Squad Garden in New York City.
The card, which is promoted by Top Rank, has reportedly sold 19,000 tickets.
However, Soto, one of the feared fighters in the super-featherweight division, is determined to eliminate the younger Pacquiao out of the way to earn a possible big money fight against Manny himself.
“But it seems more and more apparent, regardless how he wins, as long as he gets that W from Bobby Pacquiao, Soto is a sure bet to meet the Pacman. Bob Arum planned it that way. And he already has the “revenge angle” all designed and ready to go,” said Filipino noted dentist Los Angeles Ed de la Vega in his report posted at philboxing.com
Match
Both the younger Pacquiao (27-12-3, 12KOs) and Soto (41-5-2, 41KOs) weighed 131 pounds during the weigh-in held yesterday.
Bobby has been successful in his stint in the US under the close watch of Freddie Roach, he had three straight victories but lost his last fight to Hector Velazquez by disqualification on the third round in November last year in Las Vegas.
He was stripped of the WBC Continental Americas super-featherweight title after failing to make the weight.
Limelight
The younger Pacquiao created a stir when he defeated the highly regarded Carlos Navarro by knockout on the 7th round in June 2005 followed by a split decision win over Carlos Hernandez in October 2005 and a knockout win on the fourth round over Kevin Kelly in June last year at the Madison Square Garden.
However, Soto who has been hungry to earn a big fight, is no pushover as he racked up 19 straight wins since he lost to Kelly in July 2002 for the North American Boxing Association (Naba) 130-pound championship.
Soto, who stands 2-inches and half taller than 5-foot-5 Pacquiao, also has one no-contest in his record against Jorge Solis back in September 2004.
Meanwhile, Manny Pacquiao has received his Boxer of the Year Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America in a dinner held at the posh Copacabana restaurant in New York.
But instead of Englishman Joe Calzaghe, it was the legendary Jake Lamotta who handed the award to the Filipino boxing idol in the place of the absent Calzaghe.
