NEW YORK–The envelope, please…and the winner of the October 6 Manny Pacquaio Derby is…nobody!
Promoter Bob Arum, who seems to be leaning heavily to his own fighter Humberto Soto, would not name Megammanny’s October 6 opponent before or after Top Rank’s humungously successful “X-plosive” card Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Certainly, though, the Mexican Soto did not hurt his chances with his beatdown of Manny’s less talented fighting brother, Bobby “Sniper” Pacquaio.
“On Pacman, we’re going to wait on naming the opponent,” a smiling Arum said after his Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto stopped a gutsy Zab Judah in 11 dramatic rounds in the main event. “We won’t name the guy until the site deal is finalized.”
It’s no secret that the proposed site is Vancouver, British Columbia, where it is said about 140,000 Filipinos reside. Vancouver could also draw from the large number of Pinoys in the Seattle area, only a few hours drive or a shorter plane flight away.
Boxingconfidential.com has learned exclusively that the key man in Vancouver is Geoffrey Hughes, a businessman who just happens to be a friend of fight promoter Lou DiBella. DiBella said that his pal is serious about landing a Pacman fight for his city and is not really concerned about who the opponent is.
Boxingconfidential.com also reported exclusively on Friday that Team Pacquaio would hold a sitdown meeting before the Saturday show which packed 20,658 fans into the Garden. The meeting was held in a hotel room and Arum, trainer Freddie Roach, adviser Michael Koncz and Megamanny exchanged ideas and thoughts about who the next ring foe should be for Manny. There seems to be zero enthusiasm for taking on the WBO junior lightweight champion in the Pacman camp.
From what I hear, those comments weren’t helpful for aspirant Joan Guzman. Not only is the unbeaten Guzman not promotionally connected to Top Rank, Roach and Koncz have told Pacman they believe the Dominican’s fast feet and faster hands pose strategic problems which you don’t get from the walk right at you Soto. The 48-bout veteran from Los Mochis has won 41 bouts but lost five and had two draws.
So, if this was horserace, I’d say that Soto is ahead of Guzman by about three or four lengths coming down the stretch. In Guzman’s case, it’s a matter of his being too good for his own good.
