Notes in search of a Thursday afternoon column:
Blessed be the peacemaker. I think it says that in the Bible and I don?t mean in The Ring magazine but the original Bible.
So blessings to Manny Pacquaio who evidently wants me to smoke the peace pipe with his feisty lawyer, Jeng ?The Jackal? Gacal. As you know ad nauseam, I had invited Counselor Gacal to engage in a three-round exhibition bout at the November WBC convention in Manila with me, a/k/a ?White Gorilla.? That?s a name Gacal bestowed on me while simultaneously calling me a racist. I never called him a jackal of any color, though, did I?
I?m still willing to cross gloves with Gacal on his home turf with charities of Manny?s choice and my choice benefiting but if the Pacman wants peace in the valley then I will defer to his wishes out of respect for him?
That web site, XM17, still has those salacious Oscar de la Hoya photos posted and a note underneath all but challenges the Golden Boy?s army of attorneys to sue them. Menawhile, conspiracy freaks are running rampant debating whether the racy pix are fake or real.
One guy says he can see the logo of the St. Regis Hotel on towels in one photo. The New York St. Regis on West 55th Street in midtown is a hotel both Oscar and promoter Bob Arum have stayed at quite often. How this whack job can deduce the logo I don?t know.
Another lunar observer says the photos are real because he sees ?white areas? above Real Oscar or Fake Oscar?s ankles and says that?s Real Oscar because Oscar would have such an untanned area on his feet from wearing short socks to play golf in Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
And, of course, the New York Post has checked in on the de la Hoya wardrobe malfunction story. Noting that GBP mouthpiece Ramiro Gonzalez calls the pictures ?doctored,? the newspaper goes on report the pix were sold to the site by ?a former Scores West stripper who met the boxer more than a year ago and role-played with him.? Said entertainer told The Post Oscar called himself ?Goldie.??
That?s it, folks, Boxingconfidential.com is done with the Golden Drag photos unless and until someone sues someone else. GNP lawyer Bert Fields does make a strong point that such embarrassments are part of the ride for someone with the superstar status that ODLH enjoys?
One final note: Oscar’s camp did immediately turn to Michael Sitrick and his damage control public relations firm for help on this one. Sitrick is high-priced but major corportations and other celebrities swear by him as a guy who fights fire with fire. I recall Sitrick being hired by Don King some years back to polish up Cannibal Mike Tyson’s image after Tyson asked Evander Holyfield to lend him an ear…
There are four, count ’em four, American officials handling the Sultan Ibragimov-Holyfield WBO title bout in Moscow Oct. 13. Joke going around is that if my good friend, Seminole Warriors boxing chief Leon Margules was still alive (they rep Iggy) this could have never happened. But Neon Leon is alive and well and he should be expecting my call for an explanation…
What with Jaidon Codrington making into The Contender finale against Sakio Bika, we should note that, after that, the ?Chin Checker? will move forward under the promotional aegis of Lou DiBella and Jeff Wald. With the back story of his father?s August suicide and his bouncing back after the devastating KO loss to Allan Green, Codrignton would loom as an appealing challenger to the Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler superfight winner?
I give Dennis The Menace Rappaport credit for making sure Oleg Maskaev has a 20 foot ring to work in against challenger Sam Peter at the Garden Oct. 6 but I just don?t recall Oleg as being a jabbing and dancing machine, do you? This show is, by the way, being completely swamped by Pacquaio-Barrera so far and the swamping figures to get worse?
