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Hatton may face Marquez or Dela Hoya
Written by staff   
Saturday, 24 January 2009 07:04

The planned superbout involving Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao and British superstar Ricky Hatton will not push through as scheduled, following Pacquiao's failure to sign the fight contract which would have guaranteed him the biggest money in his entire boxing career.

A deadline was set for Pacquiao to sign the revised contract that called for a Pacquiao guarantee of $12 million and a 52-48 split of upside revenue favoring Pacquiao had come and gone early Wednesday morning (Thursday in RP).

Promoter Bob Arum, asked yesterday of his thoughts on the cancellation of the fight in an interview with Boxingscene, appeared miffed at both Pacquiao and his lawyer Jeng Gacal.

“Well, it doesn't make me happy,” Arum told Boxingscene, trying to be very diplomatic.

Arum and his Golden Boy Promotions counterpart Richard Schaefer had originally agreed on a 50-50 split. When Pacquiao showed resentment on the deal, the two then came to terms on the 52-48 split in favor of Pacquiao, to which Team Hatton agreed. The original guarantee was $11 million for Pacquiao, which was his guarantee for his fight last month against Oscar De La Hoya. When Pacquiao did not bite, Arum said he would use his own money to up the ante to $12M.

SPOILED BRAT

“All this time, Manny Pacquiao is like a spoiled little kid who did not appear professional in the negotiating process. Team Hatton, Arum and Schaefer all did their part to make concessions. Pacquiao opted to roam around the Philippines and could not be reached while all this was going on,” a source said.

“They had copies of the contract and they were fussing about this and that and so they told me that Manny wouldn't sign and I said, 'OK,'” Arum said. “So the fight goes off and life goes on. I think everybody is sorry to hear that. What can I do? It's Manny's decision.”

Perhaps what disturbed Arum all the more is the very idea that Pacquiao never touched base with him or trainer Freddie Roach.

“Manny, in the course of this whole period, has not talked once to either me or Freddie.”

“A $12 million guarantee today is unbelievable,” Roach told the media. “They think they can get (Floyd) Mayweather (Jr.), but he is still retired. And if he does fight, he is going to want all the money because that's the kind of guy he is.”

Roach said he plans to get hold of Pacquiao for a “man-to-man” talk, and he might be able to get him to change his mind.

“I hope he comes to his senses,” Roach said. “I hope he gives me a call tonight. I sent him a couple of text messages today and hopefully we can get this fight back on board.”

Hatton may instead fight Maywweather or Marquez

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer pointed out that Pacquiao's advisors in the Philippines don't seem to understand that when Hatton fought Mayweather in December 2007 in Las Vegas, Hatton's fanatical British followers accounted for $20 million in revenue.

Meanwhile, Gareth Williams, Hatton's attorney, said a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez would be perfect, but they are also considering Floyd Mayweather Jr. and De La Hoya.

“Marquez has had two very close fights with Pacquiao and that would be the perfect fight,” said Williams. “We've also put things in place to reopen negotiations with Mayweather's people, to see if he's serious about a comeback fight. And finally, and this has taken me completely by surprise, it's been suggested Oscar De La Hoya might be interested as well.”
 
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