De La Hoya fight looms large
Pacquiao set to meet Arum
By Roy Luarca
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:45:00 07/29/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Miguel Cotto is out, but so is his conqueror Antonio Margarito. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is retired and Felix Trinidad won’t fight below 164 pounds.
Thus the chances of Manny Pacquiao emerging as Oscar De La Hoya’s final opponent in December looms bright.
And the megabuck fight could be finalized in “less than 10 days,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer bared in the Bad Left Hook boxing blog on Sunday.
Newly crowned World Boxing Association welterweight champion Margarito is out of the equation because De La Hoya, a 10-time world champion in six divisions, has indicated in previous reports that he won’t fight a fellow Mexican for his farewell ring performance.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, is willing to tangle with De La Hoya in a bout that is certain to rake in millions for the two extremely popular fighters.
The Filipino superstar, who was scheduled to leave for Los Angeles Monday night, will meet with Top Rank president Bob Arum and lay down his conditions for the prospective De La Hoya fight.
The De La Hoya camp has initially offered Pacquiao $10 million, but the World Boxing Council lightweight champion isn’t expected to bite since he had already announced that he wants an equal purse with De La Hoya, apart from a share of the pay-per-view income.
Another issue to be settled is the weight with which they are going to fight.
Team Pacquiao wants De La Hoya to go down to 147 pounds while De La Hoya is inclined to fight at 150 or over.
Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach, for his part, wants Pacquiao to receive no less than $15 million in his bid to secure a fifth world title in as many divisions.
If the fight with De La Hoya pushes through, Pacquiao promises to train for at least 11 weeks in the United States and be in his best fighting form ever.
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