There is a lot of bitterness in the Team Pacquiao camp and anger among Filipino boxing fans over what they believe was a classic double-cross by Top Rank Inc., president Bob Arum who first tried to undercut the planned rematch between legendary Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera by offering Pacquiao a chance to fight Erik Morales whom he handles and then turning around and enticing Barrera to go after Morales in a deciding third fight, leaving Pacquiao in the lurch.
As early as August 14 we ran a story in the Manila Standard based on reliable information from sources in the US that Arum was trying to undercut the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch and use the flamboyant Filipino southpaw as leverage to get Barrera to fight Morales. The subsequent developments clearly confirmed the original suspicions that Arum’s verbal committment to Pacquiao’s promoter Murad Muhammad wasn’t worth the cost of the phone call.
Now, Arum has the audacity to admit that a Pacquiao-Morales fight was a plan “B” which is something he never told Murad when they discussed a Pacquiao-Morales showdown in the first place which supports the contention that he was merely using the kid to get what he wanted. Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaeffer, despite all the tough talk about vengeance oozing from the mouth of Barrera which had been battered and bloodied by Pacquiao, struck a deal with Arum for the Morales fight. Its obvious that when Arum and Schaeffer who have some things in common got together, Murad, regarded as an outsider, didn’t stand a chance. The result was that Pacquiao was the loser.
Pacquiao, a true “People’s Champion” has always wanted to fight the best. He annihilated Barrera last November 15 in San Antonio, Texas and after Barrera’s tenth round TKO over an ageing Paulie Ayala said that while Barrera was obviously learning how to fight a southpaw he would knock him out in a couple of rounds. Pacquiao noted that Ayala caught Barrera with a few combinations and said that “if I hit with a similar combination, its goodnight.”
For all the bravado of Barrera that he wanted to avenge his defeat to Pacquiao and the excuses about his training being disrupted and his being upset over reports that he had undergone brain surgery the last time they met, the average Filipino fight fan believes Barrera is scared of Pacquiao and would rather fight Morales who couldn’t put him down in two meetings.
Arum, they believe, also found a convenient excuse not to have Morales defend his title against Pacquiao since he plans to move up to the 135 pound division after this next fight, denying Pacquiao the chance to keep his vow to burn through Mexico and get Morales, the last man standing.
Arum’s other fighter Juan Manuel Marquez who earned some sort of recognition by fighting Pacquiao and hitting the canvas three times in the opening round in a fight Pacquiao should have won if the judge scored the first round correctly, has absolutely no inclination for a rematch and has instead picked a comparative patsy for his next title defense.
Pacquiao who was scheduled to fly to Manila from his hometown in General Santos City over the weekend has now decided to postpone his trip but business manager Rod Nazario says his departure for Los Angeles to continue training under the watchful eye of American ace Freddie Roach will push through. Pacquiao’s younger brother, Philippine junior featherweight champion Bobby Pacquiao and top-rated supern flyweight Z “The Dream” Gorres will accompany Pacquiao to train under Roach.
Nazario who disliked Arum from day one is nonplused. He said its obvious the Mexicans don’t want to tangle with Pacquiao because of his devastating punching power. Now, Its back to the drawing board for Team Pacquiao because the 25 year old ring gladiator from Mindanao wants to get into the ring to beat somebody up.
Nazario is looking at staging a fight in Manila with WBO champion Scott Harrison and WBC champion Injin Chi in his sights. Nazario knows his fighter is getting restless while Murad Muhammad knows that his contract with Pacquiao ends early next year and unless he is able to get Pacquiao a fight who knows what may happen.
