INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—Freddie Roach may have barked out instructions that Manny Pacquiao would readily oblige, but this time the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer is not about to carry out his wishes to take the money and run.

Breaking his silence over the weeks-old negotiations with the camp of legend Oscar De La Hoya, Pacquiao said in his newspaper column that he cannot accept the 70-30 deal of the HBO pay-per-view buys as it’s like “a slap on his face” being the world’s most exciting fighter around.

“Mr. De La Hoya, however, has shown little interest by offering me a percentage that only an up-and-coming fighter rightly deserves,” Pacquiao said.

“If he really wants the fight, then he should at least, at the very least give me what I truly deserve, a fair share of the pie. He should understand that we are both superstars in the game and our mere names will sell everything and we stand to break all existing records in the sport, even the one that he established with Floyd Mayweather Jr.”

Last year’s De La Hoya-Mayweather fight reportedly sold 2.4 million buys and earned Mayweather $22 million on a similar 70-30 split, something Roach said is “a great payday” for a fight that would only make Pacquiao an even bigger name in the sport.

In a separate interview by Maxboxing.com, Roach sent across this message to Pacquiao: “I just want to tell him, does he understand what’s on the table? And is the comparison between fighting Oscar and (junior lightweight Humberto) Soto worth the risk?”

Roach said a Pacquiao-Hoya bout could get at least 2 million PPV buys.