By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he is disappointed that Oscar De La Hoya was not willing to negotiate and stood firm on his demand that the revenue split for a fight with Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao should be 70-30 in his favor and not 60-40 which was Pacquiao’s counter proposal.
In an overseas telephone conversation with insidesports.ph, Viva Sports and Manila Standard Today, Arum said “you can’t negotiate with someone who doesn’t want to negotiate. Its as simple as that.”
Arum said that Schaefer himself was prepared to negotiate but De La Hoya was not.
Arum said he was currently working on a date for a WBC lightweight title defense by Pacquiao against Mexico’s Humberto Soto which he said would be “a very good fight.”
He said that down the road a fight against Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton would take place sometime next year and that would be “a big one, absolutely.”
At the same time Arum virtually ruled out a possible fight against undefeated Edwin Valero . He said while Valero had been cleared to fight in Texas he got the feeling that Valero who had brain surgery following a motorcycle accident some years ago wouldn’t be licensed to fight in Las Vegas
