By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Boxing manager and promoter Rex "Wakee" Salud, a close friend and confidant of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao said yesterday he wanted to set the record straight regarding reports that Pacquiao plans to work with him and that Salud would deliver Pacquiao to Top Rank since Salud is close to promoter Bob Arum.
In a long distance telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Salud said "all this talk is premature since Manny still has a contract with Shelly Finkel and his management team. Besides, I am not used to tampering or interfering with existing contracts held by other people. Let us wait and see because, after all, only Manny can decide. "
At the same time Salud appealed to all concerned to " remove all distractions and allow Pacquiao to concentrate on his November 18 battle with Erik Morales since it will probably be his toughest fight."
Salud was reacting to a story by well known boxing writer Dan Rafael of ESPN who reported that Finkel and his management team which includes lawyers Nick Kahn and Keith Davidson will grant Pacquiao his immediate release under a deal they had worked out once they are paid their percentage of Pacquiao's purse for the Morales rubber match. The contract with Finkel's group expires on January 31.
Finkel himself, in an email to The Standard said he was on vacation with his wife on an Italian cruise as they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. He promised to contact The Standard the moment he returned to the US.
