By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Fears of a possible coup attempt, perceived political instability and street demonstrations wont deter Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao from staging his planned ten round tune-up fight against former super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios before his countrymen in Manila on May 20.
In a long distance telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today Pacquiao said he is determined “to push through” with the fight despite rumors that the fight was in jeopardy because of an attempted coup attempt and the declaration of a state of national emergency by President Arroyo.
A post on the Manny Pacquiao website claimed that during the world title fight of Sugar “Shane” Mosley and Fernando Vargas veteran commentator Larry Merchant announced that the fight between Pacquiao and former super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios who has a record of 56-4-1 with 20 KO’s “will no longer be held in Manila as originally planned due to the coup and safety concerns” and the fight will take place in the US.
However, Pacquiao told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today he was “not sure” whether there were plans to cancel the fight in Manila adding “I don’t know. But Pacquiao stressed “I want it to push through.” Well-known boxing analyst Moy Lainez who watched the fight on cable television said he didn’t hear Merchant announce that the Manila fight was off.
Pacquiao spoke by telephone from his hometown of General Santos City while driving his family from church to the mall so he and his charming wife Jinkee could “have some fun with the kids”. Pacquiao said he would be the promoter of the fight and revealed that HBO and San Miguel which signed him up to a megabuck agreement “have agreed” to support his venture.
However, Pacquiao said he hadn’t chosen a network to cover the fight and was “negotiating with ABS-CBN “which covered the rematch with Erik Morales in a partnership with Solar Sports as well as Solar Sports itself.
Pacquiao sounded completely relaxed and said he was “in good shape.”
