TIME is running out on Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao and Golden Boy Promotions president and chief operating officer Richard Schaefer wants him to stand up and do the right thing.
That means honoring the seven-fight contract he signed with Golden Boy in mid-September, which would quickly pave the way for a megabuck re-match with World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera in March.
If he doesn’t, a Barrera-Juan Manuel Marquez title fight is likely to happen and Pacquiao will be left out of a possible $5-million bout and lose the chance to win a recognized belt.
Schaefer also batted for Pacquiao to extend the contract of his astute manager Shelly Finkel, whom Schaefer described as “a legend in the sport.” “He [Finkel] is a good man, who has the best for Manny in mind,” said Schaefer.
But Viva Sports/Standard Today learned that Pacquiao is not inclined to renew the contract of Finkel, which expires on Jan. 30 and that Los Angeles boxing agent Michael Koncz, who became known only after being given an opportunity to arrange bouts for Filipino fighters, has been maneuvering against Finkel.
Koncz, who arrived with Pacquiao from Los Angeles after the Erik Morales fight last Nov. 18, has been hanging around Pacquiao like a leech and is serving as the eyes and ears of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.
It was Koncz, who also had close friend and confidant Rex “Wakee” Salud removed from the list of individuals allowed to enter the ring after the Pacquiao-Morales Grand Finale in Las Vegas last Nov. 18.
Salud, who had helped Koncz in the past, called him a traitor.
“I hope that Pacquiao will have a wake-up call and that the time has come to stand up to be a man for his people, his fans, the sport of boxing and most importantly for himself,” said Schaefer, who also wished that the Pacman is not misguided by people around, who were lying to him.
Schaefer, regarded as one of the most-respected men in boxing, said Pacquiao was on the threshold to become special and expressed the hope that he will “capture this opportunity the same way he approaches his opponents in the ring: Head On!”
He stressed that Golden Boy is there for him and would take the very talented and exciting fighter and make him a global icon, pointing out that Golden Boy had “the fights, the structure and the experience to make a fighter a legend.”
“It’s up to Manny,” Schaefer ended.
