Pacman, Oscar: No turning back!

August 22, 2008

By Dennis Principe

The pressure is on for both Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya. Both fighters can no longer back out of their intriguing match-up which, if it doesn’t happen, will surely earn the ire of boxing fans. Though Pacquiao acknowledges De La Hoya’s status by agreeing to take less from the money pie, the Filipino sensation still wants a 60-40 split. De La Hoya is firm with his 70-30 offer. A source recently told Fightnews Team De La Hoya has agreed to raise Pacman’s take home pay to 33%. Whichever scheme they choose, it is now imperative for De La Hoya and Pacquiao to slug it out inside the ring, else, a backlash in both fighters’ legacies will surely happen.

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It may be true that De La Hoya wants to retire after his next fight and that being in the ring with the best possible opponent is truly the best way for him to leave the sport holding his head up high. And what a way to end his career with a win against Manny Pacquiao who for a lot of critics is considered as an easy way out for the legendary fighter called The Golden Boy owing to the Filipino‘s “drawback“ in height and weight. I say it’s the best way for De La Hoya at the moment simply because Pacquiao is considered by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter to date. Wouldn’t it be perfect for De La Hoya to punctuate his career by claiming the pound-for-pound throne from Pacquiao?

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The next defense of world flyweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr. will go to a purse bid. Representatives of Donaire and his mandatory challenger Moruti Mthalane of South Africa have a date with the IBF’s office Tuesday next week and submit their respective bids. Mthalane’s promoter Branco Milenkovic has stated his eagerness to bring the fight to South Africa while Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Inc, who recently signed Donaire to a promotional deal, wants to stage the fight in one of their cards in November. Donaire in a recent interview with Fightnews said it doesn’t matter if the fight ends up in South Africa. What is important is that he will finally see action since his last fight happened December of last year.

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Newly-crowned world super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan wants a unification match with current WBC/WBA super flyweight champion Cristian Mijares of Mexico. Contacted from his home in Australia, Darchinyan’s manager Elias Nasser told Fightnews about his belief in his ward’s ability to knock Mijares out as the Armenia-born fighter has finally regained the confidence he once had when he terrorized the flyweight division. Nasser added they have found the most ideal training camp outside of Australia, which is the ALA Boxing Gym in Cebu, Philippines owned by respected Filipino boxing patron Antonio Aldeguer. Nasser had the chance to see Aldeguer’s sweat shop early this year when Darchinyan fought ALA boy Z Gorres in an IBF super flyweight eliminator. Team Darchinyan hopes to set up training camp once an opponent is named for the Australia-based two-division world champion.

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