It was announced on Tuesday night that Manny Pacquiao’s next bout will take place on May 7th and not April 16th as originally planned at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas against Shane Mosley. But here’s a thought; if this event is taking place on Cinco De Mayo weekend, shouldn’t the ?Pac-Man? be facing a Mexican, say, like Juan Manuel Marquez?
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer certainly agrees, telling Maxboxing on Wednesday afternoon from Quebec City, “I think Marquez makes even more sense and I’m still hopeful that somehow it can be done. I have not given up on Pacquiao-Marquez and I emailed Todd duBoef and said, ‘Look, if you want to go on May 7th, even though I was holding the date because you guys were going April 16th, I had the date reserved at the MGM Grand. I, of course, would be happy to give it up for Pacquiao, then go with our event on April the 16th.’
“But again, I told Todd, ‘Look, if you guys are going to go May 7th, really, the logical opponent, more so then ever, is Marquez.’ I said as well, ‘Just come to me with a deal which will be acceptable for Pacquiao and I’ll go to Marquez. If Marquez is going to want to do it, great. If he’s going to turn it down, then so be it, as well. But come back to me with something. If for whatever reason you feel what I sent you guys is not acceptable, then come back to me with something that would be acceptable.”
But let’s be real; it’s been Pacquiao-Mosley for awhile. You can put that down in ink.
Schaefer admits, “I agree with you; Mosley’s probably the frontrunner. Bob’s [Arum] going to do what he wants to do. He’s not going to listen to you, me, or, as he stated, not even to the fight fans or the media or anybody else. So then if that’s the case, then the idea would be to do Marquez and Erik Morales.”
Morales fights this weekend in Mexico.
“We were holding the MGM for May 7th, they [Top Rank] were holding the MGM for April 16th and I definitely see that as a possibility,” said Schaefer. “But there has been strong interest, as well, from Televisa in Mexico. Televisa owns the Azteca Stadium and they were talking to me about maybe doing like an all-day event where they would bring some of the most legendary musical acts to the stadium and make it a big all-day event. We’ll have to see.”
