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VETERAN
promoter Bob Arum said Manny Pacquiao deserves to get at
least $8 million if ever he fights Juan Manuel Marquez
for a third time.
This was
Arum’s latest reaction when asked to comment on the
$6-million offer of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) for
Pacquiao to give Marquez a chance to regain his crown.
Arum,
who Tuesday had a lengthy telephone interview with the
daily morning show Sports Chat over dzSR Sports
Radio, however, said it will not be a good idea to pair
the two ring warriors immediately.
 “When
Manny fights Marquez again, the stakes will be going up
considerably and the interest will be going up
considerably. And I would expect that Manny could earn
anywhere between $8 million to 10 million for that
fight,” said Arum. “So the $6 million offer was hardly
something to take anybody’s breath away because between
Manny and his company, they were more than $6 million
for this fight.”
Arum
said the $6-million bait sounds like a bigger offer, but
is actually nothing compared with Pacquiao’s real worth.
Freddie
Roach, Pacquiao’s well-known American trainer, shared
the same opinion with Arum when he spoke on the radio
program Monday morning.
“That
[$6 million] figure, well, we made $5.5 million for this
fight. We want more money than that. I’m sure they
[Marquez camp] will ask for more money also,” said Roach
during the interview.
“That
offer...that’s the first time I’ve heard of it but the
thing is Bob Arum [and] Golden Boy will negotiate the
fight and if it’s worth our while, we will fight him
right away,” Roach said.
“But it
looks like [Pacquiao’s next assignment is] David Diaz
because I want Manny to go up to 135 and see how he
performs there. It’s like the last time we negotiated,
they [promoters] came up with $750,000, but then they
[Marquez camp] didn’t sign the contract, saying it
wasn’t enough money. The thing is, both guys I’m sure
want more money for the rematch and if everything’s
right, we will do it,” Roach added.
Last
weekend Pacquiao scored a razor-thin 12-round split win
over Marquez in another tightly-fought contest just like
their first encounter back in 2004 that ended in a draw.
The victory gave Pacquiao the World Boxing Council (WBC)
and Ring Magazine super-featherweight belts.
Arum
ruled out a trilogy between Marquez and Pacquiao as the
Mexican reportedly needs to heal his nasty cut on his
right eyelid up to the end of this year.
“All of
the great trilogies in boxing, there was a period of
time in each fight. First of all, as far as Marquez is
concerned, his cut is so bad and is much worse than
Manny’s that he won’t be able to fight before November
or December the earliest. There is no reason to do an
immediate rematch because physically, it can’t be done
anyway,” said Arum.
“But
that’s not to say that sometime next year when the
people are really reliving this fight and talking about
it, then maybe we will revisit a Marquez fight if that
is the most attractive fight at that time,” added Arum.
Arum
again sounded off possible marquee fight opponents
should Pacquiao beat Diaz for his next outing.
“Remember, Manny is the draw. Whoever he fights he is
the draw. Right now, I would say the biggest fight out
there for Manny is probably Marquez. However, there is
Ricky Hatton, there is Oscar de la Hoya, there are so
many other fighters who could even give Manny bigger
financial reward that it’s silly to commit anything at
this point,” said Arum.
To prove
Pacquiao’s increasing marketability, Arum disclosed the
gate sales of the fight saw an income of $3,350,000,
excluding the $60,000 sales of the closed-circuit
coverage. This amount, according to Arum, is Pacquiao’s
all-time high, eclipsing the $2,900,000 revenue for the
Filipino’s third bout with Mexican icon Erik Morales.
‘I won
fair and square’
ALSO on
Tuesday, Pacquiao told the radio program about his
willingness to give out to everyone the official
scorecards of Sundays fight to prove that he won fair
and square.
“Pag-uwi
ko diyan [Manila], dadalhin ko ’yung kopya ng mga
scorecards dahil
mali ang akala nila.
’Yung knockdown kasi, ’yun ’yung factor na nagbigay ng
panalo sa akin,” said Pacquiao.
Although
Pacquiao acknowledged the fact that Marquez connected
more punches in their 12-round brawl, the Filipino world
champion said scoring in professional boxing is not
solely about quantity, but is more on the quality of
punches.
Pacquiao
will return home on March 24 as the country’s fifth
130-lb champion after Rene Barrientos, Rolando Navarette,
Ben Villaflor and the great Gabriel “Flash” Elorde. |
