FILIPINO boxing hero Manny Pacquiao leaves tomorrow for the United States to prepare for a battle with the unknown.
Pacquiao, whose last fight was on May 9 against Juan Manuel Marquez?which ended in a controversial draw?will be leaving Wednesday with business manager Rod Nazario, trainer-friend Buboy Fernandez and younger brother Bobby at 8 p.m. aboard a Philippine Airlines flight for California.
Exactly a day after his arrival in the US, Pacquiao will begin his rigid preparation under stern taskmaster Freddie Roach?despite the fact that he and his handlers are still uncertain who his next opponent will be.
?That?s why I started training in GenSan [General Santos, his hometown] already. Every other day I spar four rounds so I won?t be taxed too much. Freddie?s training is tough,? Pacquiao said on Sunday.
?PacMan? was at the Nazario-owned Wild Card gym to meet his fans, in what likely would be his last affair in the country in a long while as he buries himself in his buildup for his next fight.
But the 25-year-old pride of General Santos, who also goes by the moniker ?The Destroyer,? apparently has been a victim of his own success, with prospective foes shying away from him because of his fearsome reputation as an explosive knockout artist.
The latest to evade Manny?s power-packed punches were Mexicans Erik Morales, the reigning World Boxing Council super featherweight champion, and Marco Antonio Barrera, who both opted to fight each other again for the third time.
Credit that piece of behind-the-scene handiwork to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, according to Nazario, who obtained his information from Murad Muhammad, Pacquiao?s American promoter.
?From what Murad tells me, this was all Arum?s doing. Siya ang may pakana kaya hindi nakalaban ni Manny si Barrera o si Morales,? Nazario said.
Nazario said it was Arum, the man who also calls the shots for Marquez, who convinced Barrera?s camp to fight Morales rather than Pacquiao when the Mexican ?Baby Faced Assassin? was very eager for a rematch against the boxer that beat him to a pulp and forced him to throw in the towel in the 11th round in November 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Barrera, who was then regarded as the best fighter pound-for-pound in the world featherweight division, was not the same boxer after that, but his spirits were lifted by his easy conquest of former world champion Paulie Ayala early this year.
With their boxer?s renewed confidence, Barrera?s handlers?Oscar de la Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotions?decided to talk to Murad to lay the groundwork for a return bout, Nazario said.
Enter the smooth-talking Arum, who used his convincing powers so that the Golden Boy executives would have a change of heart, planting in their minds that their boxer would be best served by fighting Morales?who just happens to be under the American promoter?s wing.
Unknown to the Barrera camp at that time, Nazario said, Arum also had began talking with Murad for Morales to fight Pacquiao and, in fact, had began preliminary talks with the latter.
When ?Golden Boy? de la Hoya got wind of it, Murad was given the cold shoulder by the Barrera camp from thereon, even as Arum actively pursued the Morales-Barrera rematch, leaving Pacquiao out in the cold.
?From what Murad told me, Arum was able to convince Golden Boy that Morales-Barrera was the better deal. The option of fighting Pacquiao would always be there?but not this time, but next year,? Nazarzio said.
But Pacquiao?s business manager said that Home Box Office, the American cable TV network with whom his charge has a multimillion-dollar deal, has promised him that Manny ?will definitely fight in November.?
Nazario said he would suggest to HBO that Briton Scott Harrison be Pacquiao?s next foe.
The 26-year-old Englishman, a southpaw like the Filipino, is the defending featherweight champion of the lightly regarded World Boxing Organization and boasts a record of 25 wins, two losses and one draw.
Twelve of those victories were via the short route, including a third-round stoppage of WBO no. 1 contender William Abelyan of the US on June 19 in Wales, England.
According to the WBO website, Harrison was supposed to make another title defense on September 10 in Glasgow, Scotland with a still unnamed opponent.
?I can only recommend, but it is HBO which has still the final say,? Nazario said.
Whenever in November and whoever that boxer may be, one thing is absolutely certain: Manny will be ready.
