MANILA, Philippines ? All three proposals from candidates being eyed to face Manny Pacquiao on April 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas are in the hands of Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.
?It?ll be up to Manny who to fight,? Arum told the Bulletin from Los Angeles on Friday noontime (Thursday night in the US ).
Arum already had proposals from Shane Mosley and Andre Berto the past week or so and had just gotten hold of Juan Manuel Marquez?s offersheet because he had to wait for the result of the talk involving his stepson Todd DuBoef, who is the Top Rank president, and Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) Chief Executive Officer Richard Schaefer.
?Richard sent their proposal by email,? said Arum, who doesn?t hide his preference for Mosley over Marquez and Berto since it is ?the fight (with Mosley) that makes the most sense.?
Still, Arum cautioned that Mosley doesn?t have a deal in place since it will all depend on Pacquiao.
Arum, who turns 79 next week, will be in the country from Dec. 14 to 19 to attend the 32nd birthday celebration of Pacquiao in General Santos City and he is confident that he will have something concrete by the time he returns to the US.
Pressed to comment on the Marquez proposal, Arum suddenly sounded flat and lifeless.
?I don?t want to comment on that,? said Arum, who is known for his high-pitch rants that features the classic New York drawl whenever he is being interviewed.
But speaking to veteran fight scribe Mike Marley in another instance, Arum opened up a bit.
?It?s just not realistic,? Arum told Marley that he was surprised that GBP wants a hefty guarantee saying that Marquez?s recent triumph against Australian Michael Katsidis was not that impressive and that the Mexican had suffered a lopsided loss to Floyd Mayweather last year.
Arum also cited Marquez?s limited drawing power, noting that against Katsidis, less than 5,000 fans watched the fight at the MGM Grand.
