Bob Arum doesn?t expect to immediately finalize the details of Manny Pacquiao?s next fight when they hook up soon but the Hall of Fame promoter said that meeting is crucial in charting the Filipino?s plans.
“I would like to know where he is coming from,” said Arum yesterday from his Las Vegas home ten days after Pacquiao was shockingly beaten by Tim Bradley on a 12-round split decision at the MGM Grand.
While Pacquiao has the right to demand a rematch with Bradley, the boxing star doesn?t seem to be excited by that prospect and is somewhat open to meet Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez as his opponent on Nov. 10.
Owing to the controversial ending of the Bradley fight and its lopsided outcome, Pacquiao and Arum both feel that exercising the rematch option is not a sound idea.
“I lost on the scorecards of the two judges but I won in the hearts of the people,” said Pacquiao. “And that?s what?s truly important.”
Pacquiao is busy attending to the needs of the people of Sarangani after his provinc e was devated by floods almost two weeks ago, shelling out relief goods and his hard-earned money to put a smile on their faces.
Arum said Pacquiao is returning to Los Angeles this Sunday night and they?ll meet up shortly after as the 80-year-old Harvard Law cum laude graduate will be in Tinseltown by the time the 33-year-old fighter gets there.
Bringing Pacquiao-Marquez IV away from Las Vegas and staging it in Mexico City will be extra difficult owing to Sin City?s heavy influence.
“We?ll see,” was all Arum could say when asked about the possibility of Pacquiao fighting on hostile ground.
Meanwhile, Bradley told the Desert Sun, his hometown paper, that he is more than willing to face Pacquiao in a rematch.
“I think the rematch should happen. I think the fight was really close, it could have gone either way. I?m all for it. Nov. 10, let?s do it. November or December, if he wants to do the rematch, why not? All this (controversy) would be taken away. Let?s do the rematch and settle it once and for all.”
PAY-PER-VIEW
Initial reports say that Pacquiao?s controversial split decision loss generated more than 900,000 pay-per-view buys, a number that remains impressive owing to the lack of name-recall on the part of Tim Bradley.
Pacquiao?s adviser Mike Koncz is optimistic that the figure will still increase since the counting is still being done.
The PPV success only means that Pacquiao is going to get additional income apart from his hefty $26 million purse.
The last five years, Pacquiao has headlined many HBO PPV shows that produced huge numbers in revenue.
Pacquiao?s biggest hits came when he fought Antonio Margarito (1.15 million) Oscar De La Hoya (1.25 million), Miguel Cotto (1.25 million), Shane Mosley (1.3 million) and Juan Manuel Marquez (third fight, 1.41 million).
