For Pacquaio 50:50 won't do

Manny Pacquiao is just waiting for a substantial movement in the purse split, and he will waste no time putting his name on the dotted line for a May 2 showdown with Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas.

“Mag-adjust lang sila dahil hindi puwede ang fifty-fifty (They should make the adjustments because fifty-fifty won’t do),” Pacquiao told The STAR as the stalemate in the negotiations continued.

As of yesterday, there was no substantial movement.

“Wala pa din. Ayaw pa din ni Manny. Walang magandang offer (There’s none yet and Manny won’t budge. No good offer),” said Pacquiao’s legal adviser Franklin Gacal from General Santos City.

While he admitted there was a new offer, it wasn’t anything that could or should make Pacquiao, the biggest star in boxing today, change his mind.

“May movement pero parang nanglo-loko lang (There was movement but it’s like they’re just trying to fool us). It was not substantial enough,” said the lawyer.

“Parang nilipat lang yung pera (It’s like moving the money) from the right pocket to the left pocket,” he added without elaborating.

Hatton’s father, Ray, has joined the fray, insisting that his son is ready to pull the plug on Pacquiao, and fight someone else.

“We have the offer of another massive fight in the summer, in the British Isles, which would bring a crowd of 80,000 or more,” he said. “We are extremely serious in our threat that we will pull the plug on Pacquiao and go for that alternative if that contract is not signed. We will not be messed around.”

Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, has already struck a deal with Hatton’s camp, including his Golden Boy promoters, for a 50-50 share, and has told the Filipino there’s no way he will get the 60-40.

It seems that the line between Pacquiao and Arum isn’t open. It was reported yesterday over the Internet that Arum was on his way to the Philippines to personally talk to Pacquiao, but this was denied by Gacal.

Not for now, at least.

A 55-45 split, insiders believe, may be enough to make Pacquiao change his mind, and get the ball rolling for what could be one of the biggest fights of the year.

In a press conference in Bacolod, Pacquiao said British brawler Ricky Hatton offered a 52-48 sharing Friday night.

“They told us last night (Friday) they now want 52-48, we’re still looking at it if there’s going to be readjustment,” said Pacquiao in yesterday’s press conference for the 2009 Smart National Amateur Boxing Championship here.

“But they also say they could go up to 55-45, I might agree to that,” he added.

Pacquiao, who was accompanied by business manager Eric Pineda and Gacal, however, stressed everything will be up to his camp.

“All of the possibilities will be discussed in the next few days, maybe next week we’ll have a decision,” said Pacquiao.

Hatton’s group has been insisting on a 50-50 split on all revenues generated by the proposed fight in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 2 while Pacquiao’s camp wants 60-40 in his favor.

Pacquiao’s camp was so adamant that it threatened to abandon the Hatton bout in favor of a fight either against Venezuelan knockout artist Edwin Valero or the retired Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“It was supposed to be 60-40 but all of a sudden they’re changing their mind. We’ll see what happens next week,” said Pineda.

With the recent development, the much-awaited fight might just happen after all.

Pacquiao wants a 60-40 sharing with Hatton with the Filipino superstar, who agreed to 32 percent against Oscar dela Hoya last December, getting the bigger share this time. But Hatton wants 50 percent of everything.

Pacquiao has given Hatton until the first week of February to decide whether he wants a crack at the pound-for-pound champion. Otherwise, the fight is off and the Pinoy icon will shop for a different opponent.

Already in the radar are Floyd Mayweather Jr, the undefeated but retired American boxer, Venezuelan knockout artist Edwin Valero or even Mexican counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao believes that he can make as much money fighting anyone among these boxers.

Source:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=432715&publicationSubCategoryId=69

Freddie Roach is Certain that Pacman will Knock Out The Hitman

Freddie Roach is under no illusions that Manny Pacquiao will be the first fighter to stop Ricky Hatton at light-welterweight when they meet in Las Vegas in May.

Roach, responding to claims from Hatton's trainer Floyd Mayweather Snr earlier this week that Hatton has the armoury to take Pacquiao apart, said: "I can see Ricky being competitive for half of the fight, and posing some problems for Manny, but Manny will stop him in the later rounds. Ricky is tough and durable, but I can see him being stopped around round 9."

Pacquiao won world titles at super-featherweight and lightweight in 2008, and then stepped up to welterweight to deliver a shock defeat over Oscar De La Hoya in December.

Although Hatton suffered his only career loss at welterweight (147 lbs) in December 2007 to Floyd Mayweather Jnr, the Mancunian has always insisted that there is no-one in the world who can live with him at light-welterweight (140lbs). Hatton is 45-1.

Roach will come to the United Kingdom with Khan for his next fight, expected to be in March. Khan has returned to Los Angeles to resume training with Roach. Frank Warren, Khan's promoter, revealed that the Bolton fighter could meet former World Boxing Organisation super-featherweight champion Alex Arthur in 2009.

European heavyweight champion Matt Skelton will defend his Commonwealth title against Belfast’s Martin Rogan in Birmingham on Feb 28. On the same night Olympic middleweight gold medallist James DeGale will make his professional debut, though his opponent has not yet been announced.

The Bedford brawler will go up against unbeaten Prizefighter contest winner Rogan – the man who beat Audley Harrison in London in December – at the National Indoor Arena. On the same card, Commonwealth super-flyweight champion Don Broadhurst, trained by Richie Woodhall, will make the first defence of his belt on home soil against former British title-holder Andy Bell.

Skelton (22-2), who unsuccessfully challenged Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA title last year, believes he can come good again at world title level this year.

"Rogan is a dangerous fighter and I was impressed by the way in which he dug deep against Harrison," said the 41-year-old, who only turned professional in 2002, after a career in kickboxing which took him to fighting in championships in front of 60,000 spectators in Japan.

"Anyone with an undefeated record is a threat because they don't know how to lose. But I believe I will win this fight.

"When I lost to Chagaev people asked me whether I would quit, but I feel better than ever and I think that I'm still improving.

"That fight in Germany against Chagaev showed me that I can compete at the highest level and I'm not out of place on the world scene."

Skelton claimed the European title with victory over Paolo Vidoz in December. "Winning the European title in Italy against an Italian surprised a few people, but it didn't surprise me because I'm always very confident in my own ability."

Source: Telegraph

Hatton and Pacquiao this May 2009!

Manny Pacquiao, his promoter Bob Arum hinted, is open to three fights this year.

The Filipino superstar is locked on to face Britain’s Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas, and is hoping to land an even bigger fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. later on.

But Arum said if Mayweather, who retired last June as the undefeated pound-for-pound champion, doesn’t come out in the open, Pacquiao might consider two more fights.

Pacquiao said he wants to retire this year, and Arum, the legendary Top Rank chief, wants to make sure that boxing’s biggest draw today makes the most of his chances.

“If Floyd Mayweather is not available after we fight Hatton, then we can fight Edwin Valero,” said Arum, close to finalizing the deal with the Hatton people for the May 2 bout.

“There are a number of people out there although the fight may not be as big as Mayweather,” he added after dropping the name of the Venezuelan knockout artist.

Among the other worthy contenders are Joan Guzman or Zab Judah and, of course, Juan Manuel Marquez, the only fighter who really came close to beating Pacquiao in nearly three years.

Again, none of these fights can match the attention a fight with Mayweather would draw, considering that it will be a fight between two pound-for-pound champions of the same era.

“If Mayweather is not there, we can fight two more fights to make up for it. Manny can fight three times this year,” said Arum over the telephone.

But Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach wants Pacquiao going up against Hatton, and then Mayweather.

“In a perfect world, I would like to see him fight Ricky Hatton and then Floyd Mayweather Jr. and then I would like to see Manny retire, and become President of the Philippines,” he told fighthype.com.

Going back to things on hand, the matchmaking genius said Pacquiao stands to earn a lot, even more than what he earned against Oscar dela Hoya, for facing Hatton.

“There’s a good chance that Manny will earn more in this fight,” said Arum of Pacquiao, who got no less than $10 million despite the smaller 32 percent take against Dela Hoya’s 68 percent.

Arum said there’d be no such disparity in the Pacquiao-Hatton pie.

“Manny may get more but not much, much more because Ricky Hatton brings more to the table than anybody else Manny could fight at the moment,” he said.

“But we are not getting the smaller share if you know what I mean. A tremendous percentage of the money will come from England,” he added in recognizing Hatton’s pay-per-view draw back home. - By Abac Cordero (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)