Philippines: Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao said yesterday he’ll fight Erik Morales in a rubber match "anytime, anywhere" but the three-time world boxing champion expressed a preference for Manila as the site because it would be a boost for the government, the economy and the Filipino people. Pacquiao is in General Santos City today to celebrate his son Jimuel’s sixth birthday. He skipped a trip to Japan this weekend to be with his family. Pacquiao’s consultant Jayke Joson told The STAR the Filipino ring hero is quietly negotiating to bring the cap to the trilogy in Manila even as US promoter Bob Arum said the other day he is inclined to stage the third bout at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The stadium is where the University of Nevada at Las Vegas football team plays and may be configured to accommodate about 26,000 fans. It is situated eight miles from the Las Vegas strip. Pacquiao’s manager Shelly Finkel and Arum discussed initial plans for the fight over dinner in New York a few days ago. Finkel said the "general plan" is for Pacquiao to face a tune-up opponent in an interim bout in Manila in May then take on Morales in September in Las Vegas. He added it is too early to announce details of the negotiations. Arum has already set Sept. 18 as the date for the fight, according to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner. After Pacquiao beat Morales on a convincing 10th round stoppage last Jan. 21, there was some doubt as to whether the Mexican would continue to fight. But when medical tests showed he suffered no serious injury, Morales immediately informed Arum he would exercise his option for a third match as indicated in the second fight contract in case Pacquiao won. "He has exercised his option," said Arum, quoted by Dan Rafael of espn.com. "He didn’t want to take the time off. What he did wrong was he blew himself up (in weight) and then in going down, he expended all of his energy losing the weight." The Morales camp has consistently pointed to the weight reduction program as the reason for losing to Pacquiao. Arum said if the Sam Boyd Stadium isn’t available, an option would be to build a makeshift outdoor arena. Caesars Palace and the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel were identified as interested bidders to host the rubber match. "We’re going to do a sensational event," said Arum. "We’ll have huge hospitality tents and bands and fireworks. It’s going to be a real festival." Under the option clause, the third match should take place in July or six months after the second fight but Finkel and Arum agreed to a September date to coincide with the Mexican Independence Day weekend. Rafael said Finkel mentioned HBO plans to televise Pacquiao’s interim fight in May in Manila live. "We’ll have an interim fight before the third fight with Morales and we’re going to probably go to the Philippines," said Finkel, quoted by espn.com. "Manny will face someone who is viable. The main thing is that Manny doesn’t get lax about the third fight with Morales just because he knocked him out. Morales will come ready and it won’t be easy. It will never be easy to beat Morales. The first five rounds of the rematch proved that because Manny was clearly behind." Arum said he is negotiating for a "catch" weight of 132 pounds in the third bout, two over the superfeatherweight limit. Finkel said the limit is open to negotiation and shouldn’t be difficult to settle on a compromise. "Bob would like to do the fight at 132 and we’ll be able to figure something out to make it happen," said Finkel. "It’s not a deal breaker." The Pacquiao-Morales rematch brought in a gross of $16 million in revenues, the highest-grossing fight in the history of the 130-pound class, and generated at least 350,000 pay-per-view hits, over 10,000 more than the first bout.Read more