SPORTS SHORTS 116: MANNY PACQUIAO VS. MIKEY GARCIA TEASER, ANOTHER TWIST IN THE PACMAN PUZZLE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 28 Apr 2021
Will it be Mexican-American Mikey Garcia as the next opponent for former eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao? Arnold Vegafria, Pacquiao's business manager posted a teaser of the senator's next bout on social media.
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Vegafria said they are still finalizing the date and venue, but they are sure that the fight will take place in Dubai. It will be between July to August and they are still selecting a date with an available venue. But it is sure to be held in Dubai because the promoter is in Dubai, according to Vegafria based on a report by ABS-CBN News.
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Vegafria, Pacquiao legal counsel lawyer Brando Viernesto, and associates Jake Joson and Ping Nepomuceno were representing Paradigm Sports Management, led by Audie Attar, which signed a deal for the rights for Pacquiao's fights and promotions since last year.
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Vegafria confirmed that they have been negotiating with Garcia's camp since last year. He also revealed there are offers coming from other boxers. Terence Crawford and recently, Errol Spence are some of the fighters floated as Pacquiao's next opponents.
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Garcia previously claimed he would be fighting Pacquiao in May. “It’s been in the works for a long time, particularly more in detail in the last year,” Garcia said at that time.
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Garcia said that the fight has been in the works for a long time, with more details last year. The last few weeks the parties are getting very close to working on the deal and finalizing it. "I’m pretty excited. We’ll have all of the details set in the next few days. It’s a matter of time. So far, it seems like all of the parties are on board," added Mikey.
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Garcia has long been a leading candidate to fight Pacquiao. Both fighters have also released individual video footage of themselves who started training. Mikey claims the fight would have happened last year, but the pandemic prevented it.
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“It’s a great fight. I think it’s great for my career, and for the fans. It’s very exciting for boxing in general to see this type of fight,” Garcia was quoted by Boxing Scene. “We’ve been working on this for years. We were almost ready for this before COVID-19 happened. Now it seems like things are back on track."
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Garcia has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including the lineal junior welterweight title, the WBO and Ring magazine featherweight titles, the WBO junior lightweight title, the WBC and IBF lightweight titles, and the IBF junior welterweight title.
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Negotiations with Pacquiao was distorted when WBO welterweight champion Crawford, joined the scrimmage for the right to fight Pacman. Top Rank boss Bob Arum, who promotes Crawford, had said he is targeting a Middle East venue for the match but the deal didn't materialize.
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Garcia, the 33-year-old Oxnard, California native said if Manny Pacquiao "wants to get in the ring with a real fighter, and have a real challenge and a real fight for the fans, then I’m it." He continued that he had great achievements to be worthy as the next opponent for the future Hall of Famer.
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"There’s no one else that is accomplished enough to be in that spotlight to be in that position like I have." Garcia holds a record of 40 wins, 1 loss with 30 knockouts.
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WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. has reportedly also been negotiating to fight Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao in the US. Per ESPN Knockout, July is the target month for the Spence-Pacquiao pay-per-view event.
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“There is a high interest on Spence’s part to try to solidify his name in the industry, and Pacquiao knows that few names can guarantee him a huge sum of money, and that is Errol,” wrote Salvador Rodriguez.
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The Pacquiao-Crawford bout in Abu Dhabi on June 5 has been reportedly cancelled due to funding problems by the financiers from the United Arab Emirates. Mike Coppinger of the Athletic, who also first wrote about the Abu Dhabi fight said “Pacquiao signed his contract but Crawford never did.”
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Spence, age 31 years, from Long Island, New York, U.S.A., is undefeated at 27-0 record with 21 KOs, the latest win over Danny Garcia by way of unanimous decision in December last year while Mikey Garcia last fought in February last year with a unanimous decision victory against Pacquiao’s former opponent Jessie Vargas.
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NBA Standings
Eastern Conference
1. Brooklyn Nets (41-20)
2. Philadelphia 76ers (39-21)
3. Milwaukee Bucks (37-22)
4. New York Knicks (34-27)
5. Atlanta Hawks (33-27)
6. Boston Celtics (32-29)
7. Miami Heat (32-29)*
8. Charlotte Hornets (30-30)*
9. Indiana Pacers (28-31)*
10. Washington Wizards (26-33)*
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Western Conference
1. Utah Jazz (44-16)
2. Phoenix Suns (42-18)
3. Los Angeles Clippers (43-19)
4. Denver Nuggets (39-21)
5. Los Angeles Lakers (35-25)
6. Dallas Mavericks (33-26)
7. Portland Trail Blazers (32-28)*
8. Memphis Grizzlies (31-28)*
9. San Antonio Spurs (30-29)*
10. Golden State Warriors (30-30)*
*Teams seeded seventh through 10th qualify for the playoffs through the play-in tournament.
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George Foreman of USA won the 1968 Mexico Olympic gold medal in the super heavyweight class. He became professional world champion winning the undisputed heavyweight (1973-1974), IBF & WBA heavyweight (1994-1995), and IBF heavyweight (1995-1995) titles.
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Joe Frazier of USA won the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Olympic gold medal in the super heavyweight class. He became professional world champion winning the WBC heavyweight (1968-1970) and undisputed heavyweight (1970-1973) titles.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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