Manny Pacquiao, who had been making himself scarce in recent days while obliterating his proposed junior welterweight title match with Ricky Hatton from afar, released a statement Thursday that didn?t shed all that much light on his position.
Pacquiao, who had been inaccessible to his promoter, Bob Arum, and to trainer Freddie Roach, released the statement from the Philippines through his Los Angeles-based spokesman Winchell Campos. It blamed ?undue pressure? from Hatton?s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, and especially its CEO, Richard Schaefer, for engendering his hostility to the negotiations. Much of the bad blood stems from the 32/68 split Pacquiao and Arum accepted from Schaefer and Golden Boy for the Dec. 6 bout with Oscar De La Hoya, which Pacquiao won unexpectedly one-sidedly.
Golden Boy and Arum?s Top Rank seemingly had agreed to a 50/50 purse split for the proposed May 2 bout with Hatton, but they either did so without Pacquiao?s approval, or else Pacquiao changed his mind. Either way, Pacquiao sent word through his attorneys demanding a 60/40 split, after which he rejected a 52/48 compromise. Schaefer ultimately set a Wednesday deadline for Pacquiao?s approval of the proceedings, which passed with the contract unsigned.
“I want to fight Ricky Hatton if the terms are right and fair,? Pacquiao said. ?’Let’s get it on, without the middlemen,? he implored Hatton. ?You called me out; now I say we fight.”
So I still think there will be a Pacquiao-Hatton match, with Pacquiao earning at least 55 percent, which would mean about $1 million more to Pacquiao than the 50/50 deal. Most analysts feel Pacquiao would generate at least 60 percent of the earnings from a match with Hatton. We wonder why Arum ever accepted a 50/50 deal.
But once he did, Pacquiao?s mostly uncommunicative efforts to change the deal were politically damaging. Ultimately, the ugliness of these negotiations will cost Pacquiao more than $1 million in goodwill.
Even those of us who root for Manny are sorry about that.
