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By Jun Medina, Special Correspondent
SAN FRANCISCO: The camps of Manny Pacquiao and
Oscar de la Hoya are finding ways to forge a compromise to seal the
mega fight between the two superstars.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach and personal
adviser Michael Koncz said they were trying to convince Pacquiao,
the reigning No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, to take the offer of
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer to fight de la Hoya in
December.
De la Hoya said negotiations for a super fight
with Pacquiao are not dead, and that he is hopeful to make an
official announcement on his final opponent by “next week.”
“I want a big fight,” said de la Hoya during
his celebrity golf tournament at the Lakeside Golf Club Monday
afternoon in Burbank, California. “I want to go out with a bang .
. . I want to make it a worldwide event and show everybody in the
world that boxing is alive and well.”
Roach said he is trying to convince Pacquiao
“to see the big picture” and the super fight’s impact on the
Filipino ring icon’s legacy and career.
Roach said revenue sharing remains the only
sticking point, with de la Hoya offering 70-30 as against
Pacquiao’s demand for a 60-40 split.
The three-time trainer of the year noted that de
la Hoya has given in to most of the Pacquiao camp’s conditions for
the Dec. 6 mega fight to happen. These include the 147-catch weight
and using eight-ounce gloves, instead of the 10-ounce gloves de la
Hoya is used to.
“This not just about the money,” said Roach,
who in Berkeley to supervise the training of his only female
fighter, Filipino- American Ana Julaton, for her Thursday title
fight. “Fighting Oscar will push Manny’s career to a new
level.”
Roach said a win over de la Hoya will turn Manny
into boxing’s biggest draw and earn him more mega fights down the
road.
“It opens up the possibility of a Floyd
Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao bout. It’ll make the projected Pacquiao-Ricky
Hatton match huge. It’ll simply push Manny to a way different
level,” Roach said
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it
again: Manny can beat Oscar,” said Roach with conviction. “I’m
confidant that we can win that fight; I can’t see us losing . . .
In Oscar’s in his prime it would have been a different story, but
he’s past his prime.”
Schaefer, who spoke with de la Hoya about the
super fight in between holes of the annual celebrity golf
tournament, said Oscar made it clear he said wants to go against a
big name and make his final fight a big event.
“That kind of event will be good for boxing,
something that will generate interest not just within the boxing
community but in the bigger community as well,” said Schaefer, who
is expected to meet again next week with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob
Arum. “Pacquiao is certainly one of the big names in boxing.”
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