IN A bid to settle the issue concerning his next fight, Manny Pacquiao is flying to the US on March 19 to meet with manager Shelly Finkel, the fighter’s right-hand man Wakee Salud told the Bulletin yesterday.
“It’s going to be just a short visit. Maybe, five days,” said Salud when asked about the status of Pacquiao’s tuneup fight tentatively set for June 18 or July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum.
“We will definitely have a clearer picture of what’s it going to be like during this working trip,” said Salud, who will accompany the GenSan slugger, the second time they are going back to America since Pacquiao knocked out Erik Morales last Jan. 21.
It had earlier been reported that Pacquiao would take on Mexican Oscar Larios in an HBO-televised fight here, but because of the political unrest, the US outfit decided to cancel its planned trip to the country.
Even if Larios decides to back out of a 10-rounder with Pacquiao, there are other worthy fighters out there to choose from, according to Salud.”
Larios is our top priority, but if he is no longer avaliable, we will try to talk to the handlers of Javier Jauregui of Mexico, who defeated our very own Randy Suico, and even Jorge Barrios of Argentina, the reigning World Boxing Organization titlist in the 130-lb division,” said Salud.
Jauregui is a clever 32-year-old from Guadalajara who holds a 51-12-2, win-loss-draw card with 35 knockouts. He is so skillful that Suico, the heavy hitter from Cebu, could not land a haymaker in the entire 12-rounder.
If a deal with Jauregui is not consumated, Salud said there is the flamboyant Barrios. Nicknamed “La Hiena” (The Hyena), Barrios sports a 45-2-1 slate with 32 knockouts.
Hailing from Tigre, Argentina, Barrios is a certified crowd-pleaser who has what it takes to give Pacquiao a taste of hell, Salud said.
Pacquiao’s decision to meet his US management team stems from Larios’ reported pull-out and even the recent statements from Marco Antonio Barrera that he wantsto slug it out with the Filipino at the soonest possible time.
