Pacquiao - Soto on June 09

Soto faces Bobby Pacquiao June 9 in New York http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/sports/view_article.php?article_id=54949 Inquirer Last updated 06:11am (Mla time) 03/15/2007 MANILA, Philippines -- In what could be the biggest break in his boxing career, Bobby Pacquiao hopes to step out of his older brother’s shadow when he takes on WBC No. 2 Humberto Soto in a 12-round showdown on June 9 at the Madison Square Garden in New York, USA. The Soto-Pacquiao showdown will be the chief support to the huge Miguel Cotto-Zab Judah title bout promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank. “I think people are going to see a fighter that people recognize as better than either Barrera or Marquez and he’ll be fighting at the Madison Square Garden on June 9 against Manny’s brother Bobby Pacquiao,” Arum told **********. According to a source, Arum had given the younger Pacquiao two choices for his next fight: a bout on April 27 or a mega-showdown with Soto on June 9, which will offer him a bigger purse of $150,000 -- the biggest in his career. Pacquiao, however, said he had opted to see action on June 9 not only for the bigger money, but also to prove that he belongs in the world’s elite fighters with a victory over Soto, who is being described by Arum as “someone who is better than both Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez.” Soto, who hails from Tijuana, Mexico holds a fearsome record of 41 wins, 5 losses, 2 draws with 26 KO’s, and has been unbeaten since 2002. Soto earned the right to face the winner of the Barrera-Marquez showdown this Sunday after he beat Ivan Valle in an eliminator last year, although the World Boxing Council later said Arum had handpicked the opponent. Bobby Pacquiao, meanwhile, has already gone back into training and is currently working on his visa for his trip to the United States, following the loss of his passport. Salven L. Lagumbay, contributor