Barring any last-minute changes, Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao is set to fly to the United States on Wednesday to confer with promoter Bob Arum and ink the deal for his April 28 showdown with South Korean In jin Chi in Macau, China.
Pacquiao was originally slated to depart last Friday to be at ringside for yesterday’s Jorge Arce fight in Anaheim, California, but sources said he was feeling a little under the weather due to numerous commitments Thursday evening.
Pacquiao, sources say, will be accompanied in the trip by his wife Jinkee, lawyer Geng Gacal, and advisor Michael Koncz.
Renowned international referee Bruce McTavish, who had talked to Pacquiao this week, also confirmed that the GenSan lefty is indeed leaving on Wednesday to confer with Arum.
Another source, however, indicated that Pacquiao might just feel the urge to leave and decide to fly tonight on a Philippine Airlines flight to Los Angeles.
“Manny is always like that. If he feels like travelling, he’ll do it. If he feels like things are not conducive for a trip, he’ll just scrap it altogether,” said a source who requested not to be named.
Earlier, promoter Bob Arum had announced to American media that Pacquiao would be ringside for his pal Jorge Arce’s fight in Anaheim against Julio Ler, which Arce won on a one-sided unanimous decision yesterday.
Pacquiao is slated to sign the fight contract for the April 28 showdown with Chi, and sources said he will sign the dotted lines after January 31 after the lapse of his managerial contract with American Shelly Finkel.
Meanwhile, Filipino Mercito Gesta’s fight against Mexican Barbaro Zepeda was scrapped in the last minute yesterday due to unknown reasons.
An American scribe who went to the fight to see Gesta said he could not tell why the Filipino’s fight was taken off the card, although the match-up was included in the list of fights distributed by Top Rank only last week.
