De la Hoya still hopeful Pacquiao fight is on
MANILA, Philippines—A day after it was pronounced dead, the plan for a super-fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao showed signs of life after the Golden Boy himself said the Dec. 6 welterweight date was still possible, according to Internet reports Friday.
Quoting De la Hoya from his ESPNRadio1100 interview, Boxingscene.com reported De la Hoya insisted that negotiations are still ongoing.
That, despite previous statements from the camp of the current world pound-for-pound king that it is taking no less than 40 percent of the HBO pay-per-view buys which many predict could reach $100 million.
The American boxing superstar, whose popularity is rivaled only by that of the Filipino champ, even offered nice words for Pacquiao: “There is no boring fight that Manny Pacquiao is in.”
“The fact that you have Manny Pacquiao going up to weight classes, which is not unheard of. I think it would have taken boxing once again to another level and these are the type of events that the sport needs.”
Already talk is rife that both camps are just waiting for the Beijing Olympics to end to announce that the mega-fight—De La Hoya’s fitting finale and Pacquiao’s biggest ever—will indeed take place.
Aside from the date and venue, they have agreed on the catch-weight at 147 lbs and the size of gloves to use at eight ounces.
Reports said that Top Rank’s Bob Arum’s position is if De La Hoya’s camp calls up to say they are offering a 65-35 share, he will take it.
Pacquiao’s lawyer, Franklin Gacal, said they were not amenable to a reported 65-35 split of the purse.