PACQUIAO INVITES ARUM TO HIS FIGHT WITH MATTHYSSE, SAYS HE OWES HIM A DEBT OF GRATITUDE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 29 Mar 2018
Former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao does not want to engage in a verbal tussle on whether or not his promotional contract with Top Rank has expired. Pacquiao's camp has asserted that he is now a free agent and his contract ended after his controversial unanimous decision loss to Jeff Horn.
The fighting senator validated that his own company MP Promotions will do all the works in the fight with WBA "regular" welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse. The match was originally scheduled for June 24 and is now being moved to July 8 allegedly due to the Ramadan.
Pacquiao says he invited Top Rank CEO Bob Arum to watch his fight with Matthysse. The 39-year-old Filipino icon is targeting two-time Olympic champion Vasyl Lomachenko next. The Ukrainian challenges WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares on May 12.
?He (Arum) is invited and there?s no problem. I think after my fight with Matthysse, we will talk regarding the possible Pacquiao-Lomachenko fight in the future,? Pacquiao told reporters during the 18th Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde Awards Night and Banquet of Champions at the Okada Hotel Manila.
He told Manila Times that he had no more existing live contract with Top Rank. ?MP Promotion will handle that fight. I?m not claiming anything. I just formed the MP Promotion.? said Pacquiao.
?That is a good fight (Matthysse) because he is a champion and I?ll be challenged to become a champion again. At the same time, I don?t want the people to say that?s just a tune-up fight,? added Pacquiao.
Pacquiao?s lawyer Eldibrando Viernesto has insisted that the senator's contract with Top Rank has ended after the fight in Brisbane.
?I reviewed the contract and I found out that Bob Arum has no more say even in the rematch, should there be any between Manny Pacquiao and Australian boxer Jeff Horn,? said Viernesto.
But Pacquiao has not totally left his former promoter. He said that he owes a debt of gratitude to Arum, who helped him become one of the top boxers and highest-paid fighters in the world.
"I'm not angry with Bob, I'm thankful to Bob for everything," Pacquiao said. "For his help and his support. I know how to look at a debt of gratitude."
He also had some words for those who spread intriguing news about him and Arum. "I'm appealing to those who wrote about Bob Arum and me to stop the attacks," Pacquiao said.
It was a very appropriate message for the Holy Week.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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