By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach may fly to Manila over the weekend to talk to Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao about his decision to turn down a planned May 2 fight against Britain ’s Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton after Pacquiao failed to get the guarantee he wanted.

The trainer who helped hone Pacquiao’s skills to near perfection and helped him overcome a number of great fighters to win four world titles and emerge as the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world sounded upset when he said “I can’t even talk to him.” He said he couldn’t understand why Pacquiao turned down a $12 million guarantee and a 52-48 split offered him by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.

One man who understood and supported Pacquiao’s stand however, was World Boxing Council president Don Jose Sulaiman who said he supported Pacquiao’s decision not to go ahead with the planned May 2 showdown against Britain ’s  Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton.

In an overseas telephone conversation with insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Sulaiman said “I believe that he (Pacquiao) is right. How can Hatton expect to make the same money as him?”

Sulaiman described Pacquiao as “a much more credible fighter. He is the best pound-for-pound while the other guy (Hatton) lost badly to Floyd Mayweather Jr.”

The WBC president added, “I don’t think he should even dare to ask for a 50-50. That’s ridiculous.”

Pacquiao who arrived in Manila from his hometown of General Santos City around noon confirmed the Hatton fight was off. He told Dyan Castillejo of ABS-CBN who was at the airport, that the fight was off “because they didn’t give in” to what he had asked for which was either a $13 million guarantee and a 52-48 revenue split or a $12 million guarantee and a 55-45 split.

Castillejo quoted Pacquiao as saying he had always given-in; in the past and it was time for him to stand firm.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum earlier told us he couldn’t understand why Pacquiao rejected his $12 million guarantee and a 52-48 purse split which would have been “his biggest purse ever and nobody is throwing away this kind of money on nonsense.” Arum maintained that without the Hatton fight Pacquiao would have to go back to getting fights for $3 million.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reported that Arum had “requested a personal round-table meeting with Pacquiao by next week”, saying he was “tired of having his messages to his fighter filtered through the boxer’s advisers in the Philippines .”

The LA Times quoted Arum as saying he wanted to have a sit-down with Pacquiao and trainer Roach and to discuss why Pacquiao declined to sign the Hatton contract. He said he also wants to determine who Pacquiao is willing to fight.

Pacquiao who was earlier scheduled to leave for the US to watch the Antonio Margarito vs Shane Mosley fight this weekend said he had called off the trip while his lawyer Franklin “Jeng” Gacal told us he had informed Top Rank promoter Bob Arum about the cancellation. Gacal said Arum was clearly upset over the developments.

Pacquiao also disclosed that his wife Jinkee and their baby daughter Queen Elizabeth  are scheduled to arrive on Saturday from Los Angeles where she gave birth to their fourth child.

When asked to comment on claims emanating from Britain that maybe he was scared to fight Hatton, Pacquiao said “no way” indicating he was not scared of anyone.

Pacquiao’s people are reportedly trying to open communication lines with the camp of Floyd Mayweather Jr to try and entice him to come out of retirement and fight Pacquiao while the Hatton camp was also reportedly asking Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer to see whether a rematch with Hatton could be worked out.

However, Roach pointed out that Mayweather is still retired and that “there is no way Floyd will agree to a 50-50 split. He wants all the money.”

Hatton was also looking at the possibility of facing the winner of the upcoming bout between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz sometime in June.