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Pacquiao fires back at Hatton promoter
Written by staff   
Saturday, 24 January 2009 07:10

Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao fired back at promoters for Ricky Hatton on Thursday, saying blame for the knockout of a planned May 2 super-fight showdown with Britain's Ricky Hatton belongs to them.

Pacquiao said he still wants to fight Hatton but only if the financial terms are right, something he said was not true in a light welterweight deal pitched by Hatton's negotiator, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer.

"I want to fight Ricky Hatton if the terms are right and fair," Pacquiao said. "Modesty aside, I did not become the best pound-for-pound fighter by fighting patsies on my way to the top.

"I beat Oscar de la Hoya when he said he was still on top of his game. I proved I can fight at any weight level and I won two different titles in two different divisions, also, last year.

"Now I say to Ricky Hatton, king of the 140-pound division, 'Let's get it on,' without the middlemen. You called me out. Now I say we fight."

Pacquiao, coming off a victory over Oscar de la Hoya, refused to sign a contract for a 50-50 split of revenues from the fight, a figure expected to assure the Asian superstar between $10 million and $12 million, Schaefer said.

"Frankly, I'm disgusted at the behavior of Manny Pacquiao. He's a spoiled young kid who doesn't know how to behave," Schaefer said. "I don't know what he's thinking. What a waste of time, money and effort."

Pacquiao said he simply called Schaefer's bluff in negotiations and the Hatton camp walked away rather than pay him his due.

"I find Schafer's actions and words too aristocratic. He's the one who is acting childish," Pacquiao said. "He is not professional and civil enough to give merits to the negotiating table."

Pacquiao says Schaefer blocked the fight over personal gripes with the Filipino star, whose camp dubbed Schaefer overly impatient and the contract offer unfair but only a little short of expectations.

"They were quoted as saying that if I do not sign their contract, they already have offers for them to fight in the British Isles with 80,000 people watching," Pacquiao said. Now it is obvious that they were just bluffing.

"Now they are saying they will fight De la Hoya. Then they are also calling out Floyd Mayweather. I say, Schafer is a bad businessman."

Pacquiao said that he accepted a deal for only 32 percent of the money from the de la Hoya fight to 68 percent for the US star that Pacquiao defeated.

The Filipino star said they are welcome to try and lure Floyd Mayweather out of retirement for a rematch with Hatton or to bring de la Hoya into the ring with the Englishman if they will not meet his terms since he beat de la Hoya.

"I hope they get the same or a better deal when they face Mayweather, who beat and knocked them out in 2007. I hope they get to fight de la Hoya and also get the same or better deal," Pacquiao said.

Schaefer also diminished the value of Pacquiao's victory over de la Hoya by saying, "When you beat the man, you think you are the man. He thinks by beating Oscar that he is Oscar and he is not Oscar. It's unbelievable."

While Hatton will bring a host of devoted supporters to the table from Britain, Pacquiao also figures to do the same with Asian fight fans should the two ever face each other.

"What Schafer failed to consider is the fact that I am not fighting de la Hoya in this match. There is no more rematch," Pacquiao said. "Now they have to put their facts right."
 
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