America promoter Murad Muhammad of the New Jersey-based M & M Sports confirmed yesterday that chances of the reigning people?s featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao to have another megabuck fight in the last quarter of 2004 are very slim as cable giant HBO could no longer accommodate the Filipino ring star this year.
?HBO had no fight date available this year for Pacquiao even though he has a deal with the sports network,? said Muhammad in a report by Boxingscene.com.
Muhammad adivulged though that a dream rematch between Pacquiao and IBF/WBA featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico looms large in the horizon, but that won?t happen until February 2005 as what they?ve initially agreed by Top Rank boss Bob Arum, the promoter of Marquez.
Muhammad said that for that fight to materialize, Marquez needs to beat first Orlando Salido in the undercard of the blockbuster world middleweight unification bout between Bernard Hopkins and Oscar de la Hoya (today RP time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
?I would have liked to have that fight so we could have found out a real result from the draw we had last time.But I?m meeting a good guy (Salido). It?s a great fight for me and I?m sure a rematch (with Pacquiao) will come,? said Marquez, nicknamed ?The Dynamite.?
Before the fight card, Arum and HBO executives are expected to announce in a news conference any developments on the Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales III set on November 27 at a still undetermined venue.
Muhammad, on the other hand, felt that while he and business manager Rod Nazario are still firming up Pacquiao?s next fight, it would be best for the General Santos City-native fighter to go back to the Philippines to he would not be ?restless.?
Muhammad said that to keep his ward in shape, he will try to arrange a non-title fight for Pacquiao in Manila against an unbeaten Thai warrior or a championship showdown with WBA title-holder Chris John of Indonesia.
John was among those fighters who earlier expressed their interest to challenge Pacquiao, whose phenomenal rise into boxing stardom was widely credited for the Filipino?s brilliant whacking of Barrera in November last year in San Antonio, Texas.
Muhammad said he already has a couple of sponsors, including HBO Sports, for his planned Manila fight for Pacquiao, but declined to give further details.
Pacquiao is currently training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood literally for nothing as he is left with no immediate opponent as Mexican idols in Barrera, Morales, and Marquez apparently avoided his path.
