Bob Arum has everything in place for promoting Manny Pacquiao?s next fight on June 28, but the trouble is the Filipino fighter, who is drowning in a sea of local commitments, may not be around for the planned promotion.
“I have scheduled one-day city tours of San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Seattle and Chicago and a press conference will be held at noontime on May 3 in Los Angeles,” Arum said yesterday from Las Vegas.
“Oscar (De La Hoya) is fighting in the evening (at Home Depot Center in nearby Carson) and all the press will be here,” said Arum, whose outfit Top Rank is staging Pacquiao?s bout with World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
When Arum said “all the press,” it meant every media outfit of merit since only a De La Hoya headliner draws them for a boxing contest.
Under Arum?s plans to achieve the full earning potential of the Pacquiao-Diaz showdown, the city tour will take place on a Wednesday “when Pacquiao doesn?t have sparring.”
“I am finalizing the contract right now with Jeng (Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal) and everything?s going fine,” said Arum.
That is on Arum?s side of the promotion. But will Pacquiao show up in early-May as scheduled?
Pacquiao, meanwhile, has reportedly been invited by the Chinese government to tour the Olympic venues for this year?s Summer Games as well as the Great Wall and is penciled to leave on April 29 and be back on May 2, according to close friend Wakee Salud.
The problem is that his schedule doesn?t stop there.
“Manny has committed to visit the town of Pinamungahan in Cebu which is the hometown of his father on May 4 so the holding of the press conference on May 3 in Los Angeles does not jive with his schedule,” said Salud.
Salud said that Pacquiao told him that “he would like to conduct light training here for one week in Cebu before proceeding to Los Angeles” to start training with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card.
Salud said Pacquiao made his commitments to different groups before Top Rank came up with the itinerary that Arum spoke about.
Roach told Filipino mediamen three weeks ago that Pacquiao ought to report for training at the Wild Card “eight weeks before the (Diaz) fight.”
“Manny has to take care of business here,” Arum said when asked about Pacquiao?s planned trip to China.
Since Pacquiao?s MP Promotions is involved in the Diaz fight, it is imperative that he fulfills his obligations to drum up interest for the event, said Arum, who will be leasing a private plane for Pacquiao?s whirlwind one-day tour of various California cities teeming with Filipino migrants.
Over in Cebu last Tuesday, Pacquiao assured fight fans that he will not take his training for granted and is poised to spend training camp in Los Angeles beginning May.
