Will it be serenade or strangle from Bob Arum?
Everything hinges on how promoter Bob Arum would strum the strings of his tested dollar guitar when he serenades Mexican boxing great Juan Manuel Marquez today.
Arum should not give Señor Marquez time to fret.
He should move right away and spring the enormous bait.
He should make sure it’s huge, enticing enough for Marquez to reconsider his earlier stand that there’s no need anymore for a fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao.
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Arum may have, in fact, been coming a little late for dinner today.
Before the dollar serenade was scheduled, Marquez’s trusted long-time mentor, the legendary Nacho Beristain, had announced his stand.
He did not want that hotly pursued fifth fight against Pacquiao. Period.
There was nothing more to prove, the great trainer who has produced over 20 world champions stressed.
Then the other day, no less than Don Jose Sulaiman, unsinkable, overstaying president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), said there’s simply no sane point in seeking a fifth fight with the former pound-for-pound king from the Philippines that JuanMa had lustily vanquished.
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Don Jose was straight to the point: “For what does he (Marquez) need a fifth fight for? It’s just for money. The money is just a short-term plan.”
Continued Don Jose: “At 39, with a beautiful family, you are raising the level of risk to your health… what you have to look at is age and one big punch can remove the happiness from your life in the future.”
Señor Sulaiman went on to assure that his recommendation was “sincere, respectful and affectionate.”
Well said. However, don’t be too sure the sincere and affectionate advice would not be drowned out once the great Mr. Arum starts to strum his dollar guitar.
It’s like this. While Marquez was said to have made only $6 million (against $23 million by Pacquiao) in their last encounter, expect Arum to promise the sky at dinner today.
Then, if the sweet serenade doesn’t work, Uncle Bob could only be expected to resort to a win-win move, the tested double barrel dollar strangle.
In fact, this may be the exact move that had caused Pacquiao to shirk from his scheduled return match against Tim Bradley last year.
It’s also history now how that dollar-infested decision on the part of Pacquiao had resulted into “a one punch that can remove the happiness from his life in the future.”
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Meanwhile, Filipino information technology (IT) consultant Manny Bulatao has called in to explain that he did bare his stint as lecturer at the University of California in Berkeley “because of the honor of being part of a State U like the UP.”
Bulatao, who has offered a few words of advice to Pacquiao in approaching his next fight, clarified that “UC doesn’t pay $1,000 an hour, but only $75.”
“Being a State U, we have to contribute talent as a way of giving back,” he added. “Pay is based on non-commercial basis. It’s large private corporations who can pay $1,000.”
Sorry for the misquotation. My apologies if I had unwittingly made Mr. Bulatao a probable target of tireless taxmen.
He was not hiding anything.
