By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao is pushing “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya to effectively renew their stalled negotiations for a planned showdown at 147 pounds in Las Vegas on December 6.
Talks were called off after De La Hoya refused to budge on his original proposal for a 70-30 revenue split and rejected Pacquiao’s counter proposal for a 60-40 sharing Pacquiao had branded the Del Hoya stand unconscionable.
Now, Pacquiao is attempting to draw De La Hoya out by using a different tack… going public with a challenge.
In his widely-read column in the Filipino tabloid Abante which was also carried by Philboxing, Pacquiao said “I think this fight should happen if Mr. De La Hoya really loves the sport of boxing. This fight will be our legacy to the sport, especially because it will be Mr. De La Hoya’s last fight.”
Noting the high public interest in the proposed fight Pacquiao expressed confidence they could fill up Dodger Stadium or any other venue, stating he was prepared to face De La Hoya “anywhere, anytime.”
Pacquiao said boxing’s “Golden Boy” vs. boxing’s “Most Exciting Fighter” and the current No.1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world would be “A Dream Match.”
He took a dig at De La Hoya by stating that De La Hoya had shown “little interest by offering me a percentage that only an up-and-coming fighter rightly deserves. If he really wants the fight then he should, at the very least, give me what I truly deserve - a fair share of the pie.”
Pacquiao said De La Hoya should understand that they are both superstars in the game and “our names will sell everything and we stand to break all existing records in the sport, even the one that he established with Floyd Mayweather.”
In a recent interview with insidesports.ph, Viva Sports and Manila Standard Today in Cebu City, Pacquiao said he believes the pay-per-view buys in a fight against De La Hoya would reach 2.2 million. However, his lawyer Franklin “Jeng” Gacal in objecting to the 70-30 split raised concerns that the fight may not draw as many PPV hits as the De La Hoya - Mayweather fight which would then be unfair to Pacquiao in terms of the revenue sharing offer of Golden Boy.
Pacquiao branded the 70-30 offer a “slap in my face and the fans of boxing“ stressing that if he accepted the offer he would look pitiful. He addressed De La Hoya directly saying “this fight is going to be better than the Mayweather fight because as you may already know I will not be running away from you. It will be a fight for the ages, even our grandkids will be talking about this match even when we are already old. Don’t let the opportunity pass.“
Pacquiao emphasized that he doesn’t run from any challenge “especially the ones I think I have a chance to win”. While conceding that De La Hoya will come into the fight a bigger man, Pacquiao said his team thinks he has “a winning shot, however small it may be.”
In conclusion Pacquiao who is a hero in the Philippines told De La Hoya, “lets do this fight once and for all for our love of boxing. I will continue to wait.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum when contacted by insidesports.ph on Pacquiao’s public attempt to needle De La Hoya to revive talks said “let’s wait and see.“ At the same time Arum said he has been working on a fallback fight which would be a WBC lightweight defense against Humberto Soto.
Trainer Freddie Roach had earlier expressed confidence that Pacquiao would knock De La Hoya out saying De La Hoya was slow, couldn’t pull the trigger and Pacquiao’s speed and power would get the job done.
