ON THE day Sen. Manny Pacquiao denied on national television that he was fighting again before the end of the year, it was announced on BBC News that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum had scheduled a match for November.
The date is set, Arum said, and they only have to look for an opponent for the senator, who promised his constituents that he would give priority to his government job unlike before when he was congressman of Sarangani.
As congressman, Pacquiao earned millions of dollars from his fights, but at the end of his term, earned the distinction of being one of two representatives with the most number of absences, the other being former Negros Occidental Rep. Jules Ledesma.
Arum said they are looking at the winner of the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol match, Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman and Kelly Brook as one of Pacquiao’s next possible opponents.
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The Philippine Basketball Association could have boasted of its grandest All-Star edition this year if only the initial plan to hold it in Dubai had pushed through.
The league had originally conceptualized the premier event to be staged in the Overseas Filipino Workers-rich sultanate.
About two weeks ago, however, an announcement was made that the All-Star Weekend will be held at Smart Araneta Coliseum instead.
Some years ago, the same event was held at Mall of Asia Arena and it was a total disaster. The fans didn’t come to watch their idols.
Why would the PBA want to experience the same scenario?
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According to PBA Media Bureau chief Willie Marcial, while everything had been approved in principle by the two parties, the Dubai promoter determined that they could not afford to stage a project of such magnitude.
The delegation was just too big and the Dubai organizer would surely lose money.
To save the situation, Bohol was considered as a substitute venue. However, the province did not have a basketball court with a wooden floor.
Out of the blue, the league got an offer to hold the event at the Big Dome on Aug. 4 to 7.