MANNY PACQUIAO is out to prove that he is as skillful a fight promoter as he is a boxer.
Pacquiao will not only take on the Mexican Oscar Larios at the historic Araneta Coliseum on July 2 but will also mark his debut as a promoter.
He announced details of the fight card at a press conference on Saturday at the Manila Hotel.
The Pacquiao-Larios contest headlines an inaugural four-bout card organized by Manny Pacquiao Promotions and co-promoted by ABS-CBN.
It will be the Pacman?s first fight in his country since knocking out Thailand?s Fahsan 3K Battery on December 11, 2004, at the Fort Bonifacio open-air arena in Taguig City.
Pacquiao?s chief handler, Shelly Finkel, who flew in from the United States on Friday with co-manager Nick Khan and trainer Freddie Roach, confirmed that Larios, the former World Boxing Council super bantamweight kingpin, was coming over for the fight.
?It was just that too many people were talking and there were a lot of annoyances. But Larios is definitely coming over,? Finkel said.
There were earlier reports that ?Chololo? would not be Pacquiao?s next foe because the Mexican was set for a rematch with Israel Vasquez, who wrested the WBC super bantamweight title from Larios with a third-round technical knockout in December.
Finkel said that by coming to Manila, Larios will earn ?his biggest payday.? Cebu-based boxing promoter-manager Rex ?Wakee? Salud, one of Pacquiao?s advisers, said the Mexican is assured of $450,000.
P1 million for PacMan
Pacquiao will have a guaranteed purse of $1 million, Salud added.
Khan said that besides the feature bout between Pacquiao and Larios, Filipino boxers Randy Suico, Ray ?Boom Boom? Bautista and Junrex Jaca, who is managed by Salud, will also be going up against Mexicans.
?We are now arranging for the Mexican foes of the other Filipino boxers. And we should know them in a few weeks,? Khan said.
To ensure fair officiating, there will be at least one Filipino judge, a Mexican judge and a neutral judge in all four fights, Khan said. The referee will come from a neutral country.
Eric Buhain, chairman of the Games and Amusement Board, who was also at the briefing, said WBC rules will apply in the Pacquiao-Larios fight since the Filipino fighter will be staking his WBC International super featherweight title.
?If there will be other belts up for grabs, then we will apply the rules of the other sanctioning world bodies,? Buhain said.
ABS-CBN glad to be involved
Peter Musngi, ABS-CBN?s sports executive, said his network was only too glad to co-promote the card with Pacquiao?s outfit, adding that they hope to generate worldwide awareness of the event through the network?s overseas cable business.
Musngi, who said the event will be called ?The War,? said the station is also negotiating to have the boxing program on pay-per-view in the United States.
So the show could be televised on prime time in America, it will start at 11 a.m. on July 2, a Sunday. There were earlier concerns that July 2 was too close to the Fourth of July US Independence Day celebrations, so Team Pacquiao had preferred a June 24 date.
But from their studies, Khan said having the later date would not hurt the pay-per-view revenue, noting that the third and last fight between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales in November 2004 still had 300,000 buyers although it was close to Thanksgiving Day.
Roach?s game plan
?Because Filipino and boxing communities in the US are eager to watch this fight, we are confident that this event will earn money,? he said.
Roach said his plan for Pacquiao against Larios ?is to make him a more versatile fighter.? He plans to start conditioning the boxer at his Wild Card gym in Los Angeles in May before they return to Manila in early June.
?Larios is a very busy fighter and he has punching power. I think he has the record for the most punches in a fight. But we will be ready for him,? said Roach.
He said Team Pacquiao might set up a training camp in Baguio City.
Buboy Fernandez, Pacquiao?s friend and trainer, said the camp would likely be at the Philippine Sports Commission?s facility at the Teachers Camp in Baguio ?because that is the only area where they have a boxing gym.?
Just the start
Eric Pineda, one of the key people behind Manny Pacquiao Promotions, said that beginning with the July card, the company will be actively involved in all of the boxer?s business undertakings.
?All of Manny?s fights whenever and wherever in the world will now be promoted by MPP. We will also be helping him in all his ventures,? Pineda said.
Jake Joson, Team Pacquiao?s chief of staff, said one of their goals is to set up a stable of boxers who will fight locally and internationally, similar to what Oscar de la Hoya is now doing with his Golden Boy promotions.
