GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines ? Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum agree that British superstar Ricky ?The Hitman? Hatton is next in line. It?s only the date of the fight that they have not settled. ?Five months …? Pacquiao said, then paused. ?Let?s see. We haven?t talk about it yet.? Pacquiao, preoccupied with the celebration of his 30th birthday here Wednesday, was referring to Arum?s announcement that he was talking with the Hatton camp and that the bout had been tentatively set for May 2 in Las Vegas ? not in England as international fight fans want. Arum, the top honcho of Top Rank, arrived in Manila Tuesday morning. He said he had not formally conferred with Pacquiao about the details of the negotiations for the Hatton showdown. As in Pacquiao?s previous fights, including his phenomenal eighth-round stoppage of Oscar de la Hoya on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas, Arum does all the negotiations but makes it a point to consult with his prize ward on the final details. For his part, Pacquiao gives Arum all the leeway to broker deals, stressing that his job is to train and fight any opponent that comes his way. Lower pay-per-view income Even though Wembley Stadium can accommodate 60,000 people ? a lot more than the arena at MGM Grand or Mandalay Bay can seat ? pundits say the Pacquiao-Hatton fight cannot make it big on pay-per-view because the bout will have to be held early in the morning. The PPV buys constitute a block of the income bigger than live gate receipts. This was shown by the Pacquiao-De la Hoya ?Dream Match? which reportedly amassed about 1.4 million PPV buys, translating to about $75 million ? the biggest for any sports event in the United States this year. Inactive Mayweather Other than his drawing power, Hatton was given preference over Floyd Mayweather Jr. because, according to Team Pacquiao insiders, the longer Mayweather remains inactive, the better will be Pacquiao?s chances of tainting his unblemished record. Mayweather, who has beaten both Hatton and De La Hoya, earlier announced his intention to come out of retirement to tangle with Pacquiao and find out who is really the world?s best pound-for-pound fighter. Meanwhile, the World Boxing Council has named Pacquiao as its Fighter of the Year, according to a Philboxing report Wednesday. Pacquiao?s selection was expected considering his split decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez and his stoppage of David Diaz and De la Hoya, respectively.
