CANADIAN BUSINESSMAN RE-LAUNCHES PLAN TO PROMOTE PACQUIAO FIGHT IN VANCOUVER
By Emmanuel B. Villaruel
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 11 Sep 2007
Although he was unsuccessful in his first attempt, Canadian businessman Geoffrey Hughes remains upbeat on promoting a fight of Filipino ring superstar Manny Pacquiao in Vancouver, British Columbia in the future.
"I wanna have Manny come to Vancouver," said Hughes who is in town upon the invitation of well-known Cebuano promoter Rex "Wakee" Salud. "It's either against Soto or Marquez, that's great. That's one of the fights boxing fans want to see."
Canadian promoter Geoffrey Hughes (L) responds to questions from GMA 7 Cebu's Cecille Quibod at RWS Gym in Cebu City.
Hughes was the man behind Vancouver's bid to stage Pacquiao's fight against Mexican Humberto Soto supposedly this coming October 6 at the 18,500-seater General Motors Palace.
Hughes' plan, however, was derailed when Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank Inc. buried their legal hatches and reached an out-of-court settlement that paved the way for the two giant promotional companies to share the promotional rights of Pacquiao.
Golden Boy and Top Rank then agreed to let Pacquiao fight next the undefeated, but relatively unknown Mexican Jorge Solis last April 14 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Pacman won by eight round knockout in a boxing clinic.
Inspite of what had happened, Hughes is still optimistic he would be able to bring the Pacman to Vancouver, known as Canada's gateway to the Orient.
Hughes said there's no problem in marketing Pacquiao in Vancouver because of the vast Filipino community and the large Hispanic and Latino population in there.
At present, Hughes said there are approximately 130,000 Filipinos living in Vancouver, while some 30,000-plus Pinoys reside in the Seattle area, which is just a two-hour drive from Vancounver.
"I see no problem in the marketing aspect of the promotion because of the mix of demographics. There is a large Filipino as well as Hispanics and Latino population in Vancouver and in the Seattle area. If Pacquiao fights in there, it will surely be a big hit," said Hughes.
Hughes admitted though that for him to set up a Pacquiao card in Vancouver, he has to work closely with Golden Boy and Top Rank.
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