Manny Pacquiao. Photo AP
Manny Pacquiao won’t be fighting in April after all, but remains hopeful of waging his next battle in September on home soil.
“What I’m trying to do is arrange the fight here in the Philippines so that our countrymen need not fly abroad to watch it,” Pacquiao told ABS-CBN’s Anne Santos recently.
While his fifth fight against Juan Manuel Marquez looms large in September, the probability of the event—or any other Pacquiao fight happening in the country—is deemed remote.
It is conceded the time difference between the Philippines and the United States will make it an unattractive pay-per-view event.
Second, the huge logistical expenses the fight would entail would make ticket prices prohibitive.
The last time Pacquiao fought at home was in 2006, when he beat Mexican Oscar Larios by unanimous decision. And it did not fare well at the tills.
Despite the stiff 39-percent tax to be imposed for his next fight in the US, Pacquiao still stands to bank more than what he could earn in a fight to be staged here.
A more attractive scenario, as envisioned by promoter Bob Arum, is Pacquiao-Marquez 5 either in Macau or Mexico. Experts say the fight could fell through if Marquez makes unreasonable demands, however.