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THE
BusinessMirror caught up with veteran promoter Bob Arum
through his mobile phone and he shed some light about
the next opponent of Filipino boxing sensation Manny
Pacquiao.
Pacquiao
has a March 15 date with HBO, but has yet to decide who
his opponent will be.
Arum,
who handles Pacquiao’s US promotional rights along with
Golden Boy Promotions, talked about the front-runner as
Pac-man’s foe, the possibility of Oscar de la Hoya-Manny
Pacquiao, and who’s really the promoter in charge, Arum
or Golden Boy?
BOB ARUM: We (Top Rank)
have the complete say on who Manny Pacquiao fights.
BM: How
did Joan Guzman’s win over Humberto Soto affect his
chances of getting a fight against Manny Pacquiao next
March?
Arum:
It won’t
affect it at all because he really cannot draw very well
if he gets to fight Manny. Manny will choose between two
opponents. One, Juan Manuel Marquez, or two, for the
lightweight championship of the WBC against David Diaz.
I’ll be discussing all of these with Manny on Thursday
in
Las Vegas.
He’s coming over to Las Vegas on Thursday and I will be
meeting with them.
BM:
Obviously you are not considering Guzman as an opponent
for Manny.
Arum:
Absolutely. I mean, you know, it would be ludicrous
because his last fight wasn’t a good performance, but to
give him his due, he hasn’t fought in a year and Soto
looked very, very bad. So, we’re talking about two
credible opponents, Marquez or Diaz.
BM: What
people know is that Marquez has the inside track as
Pacquiao’s opponent because of a lot of factors. Is that
the real situation?
Arum:
No. I mean, unless you talk to Manny yourself, I don’t
know. I’m going to present both deals to Manny and I’ll
choose the best opponent, the best deal and what he
wants to do.
Manny
wants to fight three times next year. Once in March,
once in July and once in September. So if Manny is
thinking about going up in weight, winning the
lightweight title, then he will fight Diaz. And then in
July he can fight Marquez for the lightweight
championship. If all goes well, there’s been a lot of
talk over here about Manny fighting [Oscar] de la Hoya.
BM:
Regarding the de la Hoya-Pacquiao fight, is it really
true that you are considering that, and is it doable at
least for next year?
Arum:
Well, I didn’t raise the issue. I’m not the genius who
came up with the idea. It was Larry Merchant being the
television commentator for HBO and a lot of the media
loved the idea, and when I talked to Richard Schaefer of
Golden Boy, he liked the idea.
I
haven’t pursued it at all. I don’t even talk to Manny
about that. But it’s there and people are talking about
it.
BM: It
will absolutely attract interest among fight fans, but
don’t you think it will be a mismatch of sorts?
Arum:
Well,
you know, I come from an era where fighters fought above
the weight all the time. Where great fighters like Ray
Robinson went up and fought the light-heavyweight
champion. Where middleweights fought heavyweights. We’ve
seen Roy Jones with [John] Ruiz. Henry Armstrong was the
lightweight champion, middleweight champion.
So, you
know, this is nothing new. I mean, Manny Pacquiao brings
a lot to the table against Oscar. He has the speed, a
good punch, he takes a good punch. He may be outsized by
de la Hoya, but remember, when he fought Barrera, he
went into the ring at 144 lbs. So it is not out of the
question. Certainly not.
BM: From
what we know, you have to copromote Pacquiao with Golden
Boy Promotions, which came about after your mediation
process a few months ago. What is your specific deal
with Golden Boy in choosing Pacquiao’s foe?
Arum:
We have the complete say on who Manny fights. That
decision is made by Manny Pacquiao and myself. Once the
decision is made, then if it’s a Golden Boy fighter,
Golden Boy is part of the copromotion.
If it’s
not a Golden Boy fighter, they are not part of the
promotion but they share part of the promotion’s profit.
So that
if it was a Marquez fight, they would copromote the
fight with Top Rank. If it’s a David Diaz fight, they
would not copromote the fight with Top Rank but they
will share in the profit.
BM: Ok,
so it’s only you and Manny who decide on Manny’s
opponent, is that accurate?
Arum:
That is
100 percent.
BM: Is
it really imperative for Manny to give Marquez a
rematch?
Arum:
No, it is not imperative for Manny to do it. But, again,
Manny is serious about fighting three times next year.
Then he can fight David Diaz and win the WBC lightweight
championship, very prestigious. And then give Marquez a
rematch when Manny is the champion.
Manny
deserves to go into the ring as the champion in fighting
Marquez. And since Manny is having trouble making the
130-lb limit, this is the perfect opportunity to fight
in the lightweight and win another championship.
BM: How
about Juan Diaz, the WBA/IBF/WBO champion, is he still
in the equation for the March 15 fight?
Arum:
Not for
the March 15 fight. He has a promotional contract with
Don King. That contract ends end of March. So if a fight
was to be made with Juan Diaz, that would be a great
fight.
Everybody agrees that fight should be made after Juan
Diaz has no ties with Don King. To bring in Don King at
this stage doesn’t help the situation, particularly
since the contract between Don King and Juan Diaz is
expiring in March.
But that
would be a huge fight. A unification bout, with three
belts, it would be absolutely a monster fight.
BM: How
will these plans of yours help in making people
recognize the real champions from bogus ones?
Arum:
The
people know who the champions are. And Manny Pacquiao is
one of the big, major marquee fighters and Juan Diaz is
considered to be probably the top lightweight around,
with David Diaz being second.
So to
take the first step and fight David Diaz, and then go on
and fight Juan Diaz next, then you are building
interest, and the Juan Diaz fight would be absolutely
huge. But the marquee fighter, the guy bringing the fans
would still be Manny Pacquiao in both cases.
BM: On
Erik Morales, he’s got a huge following here in the
Philippines. Last time we heard he wanted to talk to you and convince you to give
him a rematch with David Diaz. What’s the latest on
this?
Arum:
Yes, he
did. But I remember being in the ring after he fought
David Diaz. It was a good fight and he said to me, win
or lose, this is my last fight. But every time I got
hit, my head starts to rattle. And knowing that, it
would be absolutely criminal of me to do anything to put
Erik Morales back in the ring.
I told
him he had a great career, he shouldn’t risk any damage
and he has a long life ahead of him, so hang up the
gloves. He was not happy but he’s not gonna fight under
my banner. I love him too much.
BM: How
about your plans for Filipino fighters? Some of our
boxers are promoted by Top Rank.
We have
a lot of shows. I love this [Bernabe] Concepcion kid, a
terrific, terrific fighter. We have a whole group of
them and that’s one of the things I will be discussing
with Manny on Thursday. |
