Is UAE deal for real?

A few days after confirming his fight with former sparmate Amir Khan, Sen. Manny Pacquiao made his presence felt in the senate.

During the regular session last Tuesday, the senator from Mindanao moved that the position of Senate President be declared vacant.

No one opposed the motion.

As a result, Sen. Franklin Drilon of the Liberal Party was replaced by former senate minority leader Senator Ralph Recto.

The other casualties of Pacquiao’s motion were committee heads Sen. Kiko Pangilinan (agriculture), Sen. Bam Aquino (education) and Sen. Risa Hontiveros (health).

In defending his move, Pacquiao said he was sick and tired of political conflict between the Liberal Party and the administration senators.

He said this is the main reason why there are so many important bills on hold in the Senate.

The senator also expressed dismay that until now LP senators could not move on from their defeat in the 2016 National Elections.

Why does it sound like Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is out of the picture in the latest Pacquiao fight negotiations?

Based on a BoxingScene.com interview, when asked to comment about the Pacquiao-Khan showdown, on April 23 (now May 20), Arum said “I have none. We’ll see what we see.”

Arum said he is going to meet Pacquiao’s adviser, Michael Koncz in the United States on Tuesday to discuss the matter.

Arum said he still skeptical whether the $38 million offer is for real .

A week ago, Arum was also interviewed by RingTV.com about the negotiations being conducted by Koncz and Pacquiao in the Gulf region.

He said that Konz was in discussions with officials in the UAE while keeping him up to date on the talks.

In the past Arum was always at the forefront of Pacquiao’s fight negotiations and it’s only now that he is obviously out of the picture.

It is also evident that Arum is not one hundred percent sold on the deal Pacquiao and Koncz closed with the UAE people.