source: www.interaksyon.com
A
planned ring return for eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in April
in Manila has apparently been scuttled, leaving the fabled Filipino fighter
with no other choice but to wait for a fifth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in
September.
Sources
reveal that Team Pacquiao’s asking price was too big, compelling telecom titan
Manny V. Pangilinan to turn down a proposal to stage a fight in mid-April.
Besides,
Pangilinan’s group is neck-deep in commitments this year, making it virtually
impossible for the country’s premier sports patron to lend a hand to Team
Pacquiao’s wish to fight on local soil.
(InterAKTV
is part of InterAksyon.com, the news website of TV5, which is chaired by
Pangilinan.)
Pacquiao
had earlier eyed Singapore, Macau and Dubai as likely venues but the lack of
time to stage such a huge event was a big contributory factor for it to be set
aside at least for the meantime.
Promoter
Bob Arum is not hot on the idea of Pacquiao engaging in an interim fight before
the fifth showdown with Marquez in September.
Even
trainer Freddie Roach prefers Pacquiao to sit it out as it will only do him
good since he is coming off a sixth-round beatdown at the hands of Marquez.
Still,
all is not lost for members of Team Pacquiao since they are on the lookout for
solid backers.
But
if they could not come up with something by next month, everything will point
to September.
