|
Filipino
boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao said he fears no one
atop the ring, and will fight whoever his promoter sets
up for him.
Pacquiao
gave a lengthy interview on dzSR’s Sports Chat Monday
morning, where he reacted to several insinuations that
he now fears facing Juan Manuel Marquez a third time.
“I’m not
afraid of anyone, except God. I’m just a boxer who
prepares hard in training. I have my promoter whose job
is to get me the [proper] fights,” said Pacquiao.
 Pacquiao
admitted that he is now struggling to make 130 lb but
quipped he can still make the weight if his promoter,
Bob Arum, will sign up another marquee fight for him in
the division.
“It’s a
struggle to move down to 130 but my aim is to get that
135 belt. I want to give more honor for my country by
winning the lightweight championship of the world,” said
Pacquiao.
In the
same interview Pacquiao said he has a copy of the
official scorecards and is willing to show it to anyone
who continues to question his victory over Marquez.
“That
knockdown clearly gave me the win. I know it was a close
fight but I know I did everything I needed to do to win
that fight,” added Pacquiao. “I don’t want to dwell on
that issue but I am happy, because I know most of our
countrymen are happy with my win.”
Duane
Ford and Jerry Roth separately scored 115-112 for
Marquez and Pacquiao. Tom Miller’s 114-113 was the
difference, which, if it weren’t for the third-round
knockdown, would’ve been a 114-all score, which meant
the rematch would have ended in a split draw, like the
Pacquiao-Marquez I in 2004, where Marquez retained the
title.
Pacquiao
will arrive Monday morning and will lead a motorcade
that will go around the metropolis.
“We will
have a motorcade in
Manila,
Quezon City, Pasay, Makati and other cities to show that
I am really sincere in uniting our country,” said
Pacquiao.
Arum,
meanwhile, doused plans of a third face off between
Marquez and Pacquiao.
“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. |
