POOR PACQUIAO-DIAZ PPV NUMBERS SCUTTLE PACQUIAO-VALERO FIGHT
BUT WILL PACQUIAO-SOTO FIGHT CLICK?
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 18 Jul 2008
CEBU CITY -- Until the sudden turn of recent events, the Pacquiao-Valero fight appeared to be already cast in stone for November. According to sources close to the situation, the venue, the contract and the purses have already been set and the promotional machine was already set into motion. And although Valero's Nevada license had yet to be acquired, there was high expectation it would be given after the necessary medical documents were submitted for review to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Even if that one fails, there was always the state of Texas as a fallback venue for the fight.
The screeching halt to the Valero train was the reality check Uncle Bob got after the Pacquiao-Diaz PPV buys numbers got in, which, according to the source, numbered less than 200,000 buys.
Although he is now the acknowledged P4P king, Pacquiao appears to be in need of a suitable dance partner still in order for his fights to sell. Surely, that partner cannot be the man from Venezuela who, even with his frightening record, is a total unknown to the American audience except to the hardcore boxing fans.
Enter Humberto Soto who caught everyone by surprise including Pacquiao's revered trainer Freddie Roach who, during yesterday's interview by Brad Cooney, felt slighted for not being consulted by Arum about this fight. Roach said that he would prefer Pacquiao fighting de la Hoya than 'La Zorrita'.
For Bob Arum though, the choice of Soto is more logical and besides, Soto was always on Arum's list on fighting Pacquiao.
First off, Soto is full-bloodied home-grown Mexican as compared to David Diaz who is Mexican-American which do not always get the support of the Mexican audience. Pacquiao fighting home-grown Mexicans always made good on the gate and the PPVs. Pacquiao's troika with Erik Morales almost made a million PPV buys. His last one with Barrera tallied 350,000 and the Marquez fight last March broke PPV records in the lower weight class by registering 400,000 PPV buys. Even the less popular fight against Jorge Solis in San Antonio garnered 200,000.
Also there is an added drama for a Pacquiao-Soto fight because Soto had previously knocked out Pacquiao's brother Bobby and surely the revenge angle will be played highly during the promotion.
On paper, the Soto fight is tenable but there are several factors that indicate this fight will perform worst than Pacquiao-Diaz.
The Mexican crowd, which was evidently missing during the last Pacquiao fight, may not be there again during the Soto fight if this fight pushes through. The Mexicans came in droves to support their heroes Barrera, Morales and Marquez, yes even Solis, hoping that the Filipino dynamo would be finally put to rest by one of their kind. But heartbreak after heartbreak experieced during the last five years may have dampened any remaining enthusiasm the Mexicans have to place their hope and anoint another warrior to face the typhoon from across the Pacific. In fact, the Diaz fight last month may be a good indicator that the Mexicans are no longer that much interested for a Pacquiao fight.
Additionally, Soto was coming off a drag performance in his last fight, although he dominated his opponent, he was disqualified. What is worst though was his total domination loss against Joan Guzman last year which to many Mexicans and Filipinos, does not qualify him to be in the same ring with the current pound for pound king.
The Filipino audience, who supported Pacquiao all throughout, may need a great amount of coaxing to step on the ever-increasing amount of gas and bring their asses to the venue or to part their hard earned dollars for yet another PPV serving of tamales and burrito, which may have already tasted bland and unsavory after years on the menu.
To play on the revenge angle would be a long shot because Bobby Pacquiao doesn't have the emotional connection with the Filipino fans and that loss against Soto had happened as if eons ago.
Judging from the initial reaction of fight fans in Pacland, the Pacquiao-Soto fight may yet become the most unwanted Pacquiao fight in the U.S. since the historic Lehlohonolo Ledwaba fight in 2001.
What may be prudent for Bob Arum to do is to wait for the smoke from the September and November battles clear after which a many great matchups could be made for Pacquiao against the winners of Casamayor-Marquez, Campbell-Guzman and Hatton-Malignaggi. In that way, the Bobfather wouldn't worry too much on how he would recover his investments and at the same time make the fans happy.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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