THE PLANNED mammoth confrontation between universal featherweight champ Manny Pacquiao and WBA/IBF featherweight king Juan Manuel Marquez will not push through after all.
The Inquirer learned from the camp of Marquez on Thursday that the Mexican known as Dinamita (Dynamite) has just received a notice from Top Rank boss Bob Arum to first face Armenian fighter William Abelyan sometime in February in Las Vegas.
The fight with Marquez, which would have guaranteed Pacquiao a one million-dollar payday, was being arranged to be held either in late March or early April.
Pacquiao’s American trainer Freddie Roach had criticized the Filipino’s planned title date with Marquez, saying it was a high-risk, low-return proposition for the conqueror of Mexican featherweight great Marco Antonio Barrera.
