What do you mean “Unstoppable,” cried this senior Filipino matchmaker over the phone on Wednesday morning.
He clearly did not appreciate our report that the Manny Pacquiao-Lucas Matthysse WBA welterweight championship fight in Kuala Lumpur would surely happen.
The Inquirer was first to confirm the title fight scheduled on July 15 will be staged, thanks to the firm assurance of boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, who has promised to fly to Malaysia ahead and help Pacquiao in the promotion of the championship.
Pardon this, but the way this caller sounded, he would not mind if Pacquiao failed in his first promotion of a major international event.
There were also detractors on social media who called the KL championship a farce, dubbing Matthysse a lowly competitor, fit only for interbarangay tournaments.
This was hard to fathom, all for the fact that Pacquiao’s bold venture deserves solid support; it’s undeniably a national undertaking.
For the record, Pacquiao’s MP Promotions is staging the championship event in coordination with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
Doubts were raised after Top Rank CEO Bob Arum fanned rumors about the KL championship falling through, due to the failure of MP Promotions to meet major fund commitment deadlines.
As reported, Pacquiao has paid Matthysse $500,000 of the contracted $2.5-million purse.
The remaining $2 million should have been deposited in escrow a month ago yet.
It’s a dangerous setup, warned the boxing matchmaker who made a call. He cited the case of Luisito Espinosa, who ended up cheated of his purse after a successful defense of his world featherweight crown against Argentine Carlos Rios in Koranadal, South Cotabato, in 1997.
In Pacquiao’s case, there has been no prior protestation. If there’s any problem, it should have been brought up by Oscar De La Hoya, who handles Matthysse.
Pacquiao himself had explained he’s in concurrence with Matthysse and they’re both very excited about the championship fight.
It can’t be denied Pacquiao has been encountering problems, after funds he had expected did not come on time.
International promoter Sampson Lewkowicz claimed Pacquiao would be losing as much as $5 million in his promotion.
There’s also the danger of losing big revenues supposed to be realized from pay-per-view sales in North America.
The fact that Pacquiao decided to fight on, take a big risk and proceed with the promotion in the name of national pride makes him two times a national treasure.