Isn’t this Pacquiao vs Arum now?

Either he’s indisposed or just playing possum, but veteran promoter Bob Arum can be expected to take a firm stand soon on Manny Pacquiao’s next fight, initially scheduled in Brisbane against undefeated Australian Jeff Horn.

No, Horn is not yet out, but Pacquiao himself has dumped Brisbane as venue of his next bout.

Going by the developments, it would appear Pacquiao has decided to go at it alone in taking his act to the United Arab Emirates.

A report by Nick Giongco said Pacquiao was set to leave yesterday to “formally finalize details of his April fight either in Dubai or Abu Dhabi against a still-to-be-named opponent.”

In the past, these negotiations were all normally done with the help and approval of Arum.

How and why Arum suddenly decided to make himself scarce has remained a big puzzle in the midst of confusion over Pacquiao’s next fight.

There were speculations Pacquiao and Arum had a falling out, with the suspected break-up being caused by various factors, including the size of the purse.

For the record, Team Pacquiao jumped up and cried they would not be fighting for peanuts, after it was announced earlier that the eight-division world titlist from the Philippines would be paid $5 million (only) against the obscure Jeff Horn.

Arum had assured Pacquiao would get more in his next bout, and promised to visit Manila to iron things out.

Was Arum given an ultimatum to come up with the proper purse?

Did Australian promoters fail to cough out more to help firm up the staging of the Pacquiao-Horn bout in Brisbane?
Questions continued to be asked, the biggest one wondering why the usually loquacious veteran matchmaker, who charted Pacquiao to super stardom, has suddenly kept mum.

Some things definitely did not go right.