Still no definite opponent for Manny Pacquiao

The question in the minds of most of the fans of "Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao is what' s taking him so long to decide on the opponent for his planned December 8 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Initially, there was some confusion on when the fight would take place, if at all.

Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley's gimmick in holding up a large replica of a fight ticket for November 10 which Bradley picked as the  date of a rematch has apparently backfired on him.

In fact, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told us the US pay-per-view networks are not interested in a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch since their first meeting produced a mere 700,000 PPV buys which were basically regarded as people who wanted to watch Pacquiao, not Bradley.

The hugely controversial split decision in which Bradley grabbed the WBO welterweight title of Pacquiao didn't sit well with many who condemned the decision as a robbery perpetrated, in the words of Arum, by three blind mice.

The other aspect of the Bradley equation is that he, as champion in the books, would ask for more than the $5 million he got the first time around and Arum isn't prepared to fork out any extra dollars unless it comes out of Pacquiao's purse. And for all Manny's charitable disposition he is unlikely to take a cut in his purse merely to have an opportunity to avenge his defeat which, in the eyes of the whole wide world, was no defeat at all.

Pacquiao, according to Arum who actually deals with him through Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser who is also a good friend of Arum, will "definitely fight on December 8."

The venue will be the MGM Grand Garden Arena. But, as of this moment, Pacquiao hasn't decided on an opponent although his options, based on the proposals laid out by Arum, have been narrowed down to Bradley and Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez after Pacquiao's initial choice Miguel Cotto dropped out, refusing to come down to 150 pounds and preferring to face champion Austin Trout.

Perhaps the delay in Pacquiao's decision stems from the fact that if chances of a massive money-earning showdown with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr look much better  today after  Mayweather's close friend 50 Cent got into the boxing promotion business, Manny may not wish to gamble on a troublesome opponent like Marquez whose three fights with Pacquiao have all been close with the last one truly controversial.

Of course Marquez keeps blabbering that he won all three fights but that the judges robbed him of victory.

Whether this is a ploy to entice Pacquiao to agree to a fourth fight in a desire to shut him up we'll never know.

But one thing for sure, the influential president of the World Boxing Council Don Jose Sulaiman doesn't want Pacquiao to give Marquez a chance to make a lot more money fighting him after having effectively insulted Pacquiao by his claims and apparently bad-mouthing the eight division champion in Mexico.

Don Jose is one of those who staunchly believes a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight can be made and has offered to lend his good offices to help achieve the goal of staging a fight the whole world wants to see before both fighters begin to fade and the long wait erodes public interest.

Arum himself believes that 50 Cent has shown a good business sense and would be far easier to deal with compared to his arch rivals — or is it enemy — Golden Boy Promotions who Arum claims,  carry a lot of baggage when they enter into negotiations.

Getting back to the December 8 date, Arum told us the other day he has an idea as to who Pacquiao is leaning towards and said he expects a decision to be made within the week which is the same tune that Michael Koncz is singing.

Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran who is also close to Arum says a Marquez fight is 95 percent done while Koncz says a few things need to be resolved.

Both celebrated trainer Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza have openly stated that a fourth fight with Marquez would  be testy. And they are laying down specific suggestions which, hopefully, Manny will respond to, positively.

The common ground is that Pacquiao should train for eight weeks solely at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and scrap the Baguio City training camp where they realize there are far too many distractions, including nightly Bible Study and preaching sessions where a gathering of pastors seem to have replaced the previous group of hangers-on.

While the excesses of the past have happily disappeared, Pacquiao is still forced into long hours and late nights with his new-found evangelical mission telling on him, physically.

Several individuals close to Pacquiao tell us that whenever they bring up the question of who his next opponent will be, Manny shrugs them off with vague and inconclusive answers making them wonder whether indeed he is going to fight on December 8 or linger awhile hoping that a Mayweather fight could be made before next May's congressional elections.

Pacquiao is running for re-election from the lone district of Sarangani province and while he is unlikely to face any credible challenge, a political war chest replenished by a possible $50 million bonanza from a Mayweather fight would certainly make things so much easier.

In the meantime, we are all required to wait, wondering what's taking Manny so long to decide.

WBO panel says Pacquiao won by unanimous decision

Judges convened by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) unanimously scored in favor of Filipino ring icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao after reviewing his controversial split decision loss to American Timothy Bradley, which took place in Las Vegas June 9.

RingTV reported that the five judges, commissioned by WBO President Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel, unanimously scored the bout in Pacquiao’s favor, 117-111, 117-111, 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113.

In what was one of the most shocking decisions in boxing this year, Bradley was named the victor in their WBO welterweight clash last June 9, with judges Duane Ford and CJ Ross scoring the bout 115-113 in his favor. Only Jerry Roth scored the bout for Pacquiao, 115-113.

The result was derided by boxing media – most of whom saw Pacquiao winning by a wide margin – and fight fans, who suspected that there was a conspiracy which led to Bradley's victory.

Because of the controversial result, the WBO decided to take action, with Valcarcel saying that they will "take measures in accordance with the rules of procedure."

Despite the panel’s review, the WBO cannot reverse the decision of the judges on fight night.

"The only thing that we can do is authorize a rematch," Valcarcel told RingTV.

Pacquiao and Bradley’s fight contract contains a rematch clause, scheduled for November 10, but Top Rank officials – including chief executive Bob Arum and president Todd DuBoef – have said that they will most likely not push through with it.

Instead, Pacquiao may fight Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time this November.

Arum lauded the WBO's findings as a "Solomon-like conclusion."

"Paco is a good man, he really is. I have great respect for him and what he says. It's appropriate for him to make that final conclusion," the promoter told RingTV.

Arum said he will have to talk to Pacquiao about what he wants to do for his next bout.

"My first stop on any quest to determine what to do next is that I have to talk to the guy who is the money generator, and that's Manny Pacquiao," he said. "And I have to determine after discussions with him what he wants to do next, and we'll go from there."

Pacquiao is currently in the Philippines, where he is attending to his constituents in Sarangani after the province experienced severe floodings due to Typhoon "Butchoy."

Bradley is confident that he defeated Pacquiao, telling his supporters in Palm Springs, California that he won the fight eight rounds to four.

Pacquiao, for his part, has repeatedly asked his fans to accept his loss, as well as to not blame Bradley for the judges' decision.

The bout is also under investigation by the Attorney General of Nevada after a request filed by Arum. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, led by director Keith Kizer, will also review the video along with the three judges.

CHINA BEHIND PACQUIAO DEFEAT

It would be the first loss since 2005 for the ‘People’s Champ’ after losing via split decision to the ‘Desert Storm’, who is now the new WBO World Welterweight champion. Judges CJ Ross and Duane Ford scored it in favor of Bradley while Judge Jerry Roth scored it in favor of Pacquiao. Many believed that Pacquiao won the match.

What would seem like a failure or a flaw of the judging system implemented in boxing matches actually goes deeper, if a confidential report coming from Malacañang is to be believed.

According to our source, the confidential document contains findings by the intelligence community that concludes China as the one who was actually  behind the loss of the country’s prize-fighter. China apparently paid off the judges so that Pacquiao would surely lose the fight when it comes time to judge it. They were confident that the match would go to the scorecards because the gloves that the boxers used were specifically made in a factory in Tianjin, China. Said gloves had special materials that would soften the impact of the punches and minimize the chances of a knockout.  The original plan  was to payoff all the judges so that Pacquiao would lose unanimously, but being stingy that they were, China decided to just go with two judges hence the split decision.

The bribery was all part of the country’s grand scheme to destabilize the Philippines and to demoralize Filipinos, in an operation dubbed “打倒菲律宾人的骄傲 or “Bring Down Pinoy Pride” when translated to English.

This is China’s retaliation against the Philippines due to the ongoing dispute on Scarborough shoal which started a few months back. Authorities believed that China has targeted our weak spot when it decided to attack our pride. “Wala naman kasi tayong military installations or key strategic buildings na puwedeng atakin to speak of (We don’t even have military installations or key strategic building that they can attack to speak of),” said one high-ranking official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Many Filipinos were shocked and upset with the outcome of the boxing match. Even Pacquiao’s mother, Mommy Dionesia, fainted upon hearing the news of her son’s loss. But what is alarming is the fact that China state television network China Central Television (CCTV) featured the fainting incident in a humor inspired segment, similar to that of Marc Logan’s; as propaganda for its people to mock the Philippines.

Recent events that have transpired would lend credence to the findings by Malacañang and would indeed seem like China was behind the following events to demoralize Filipinos:

• Jessica Sanchez losing to Philip Phillips in American Idol
• China suspending importation of Philippine bananas
• Shanghai Sharks cancels goodwill games against Philippine basketball squad
• Controversial BAYO ad that angered netizens

Dr. Ignacio Sanchez, head of Human Behavioral studies at the Universal College of the Philippines; who recently did a study on criminals, believed that China also perpetuated the outcome of the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Corona.

“After masterminding the shocking result of Season 11 of American Idol, China then gave hope to the Filipinos when it orchestrated a 20-3 guilty vote for the impeachment of the Chief Justice,” explains Sanchez. “But it then quickly pulled-out the rug underneath us all by cancelling the basketball game,  launching the ‘racist’ ad to  dishearten the Philippines and the shocking results of the boxing match.”

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The doctor likens this tactic to a man who humiliates another man by pulling down the latter’s pants in front of the public after rescuing him from the brink of death (i.e. speeding truck, psycho mugger, asthma attack). “It’s catching you off-guard when you least expect it, or when you think that you’re on top of the world,” said Dr. Sanchez. “It’s very disheartening indeed. A perfect one-two-three counter-punch combination”

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The confidential report also narrates in detail the final coup de grace of Operation 打倒菲律宾人的骄傲. It describes a strategic pull out of all things Chinese from the Philippines that would ensure total destabilization of the country.

The ‘final push’ would anger, dishearten, bankrupt and depress adults and children alike that would send a chilling effect to the entire archipelago. And when the entire nation is down, that is when China would claim victory and proceed to occupy Scarborough Shoal. “If Filipinos are getting depressed by non-favorable contest results, what more would they feel if something big indeed happen,” said a Chinese diplomat who wishes to be unnamed.

The government is already coming up with contingency plans to provide substitutes for the above mentioned services, in case China indeed pushes through with the final stage of their plan.