DE LA HOYA SAYS HE WON'T SUE PACQUIAO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 04 Jan 2007
Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya, one of the biggest names in boxing says that while he has filed a lawsuit against Top Rank Promotions which is headed by his arch rival Bob Arum, he won't include Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao in any legal battle.
In an overseas telephone call to this reporter, De La Hoya said, "I didn't turn promoter to sue fighters. I turned promoter to help the sport of boxing. I turned promoter to help the fighters." His statement was made in the wake of concerns that Golden Boy may include Pacquiao in his lawsuit against Arum's Top Rank outfit after Pacquiao discarded a contract he signed with Golden Boy and threw his lot with Bob Arum.
Golden Boy earlier sued Top Rank for "tortuous interference" with the seven fight contract he signed with Pacquiao in mid-September when Arum announced after the Pacquiao-Erik Morales fight last November 18 that he had signed Pacquiao to a four-year deal. Pacquiao himself confirmed his choice of Arum at a Manila news conference last week with the 75 year old promoter seated by his side.
De La Hoya said he was not really sure when the case against Top Rank would be pursued stating "its in the judge's hands and we are going to take it from there. We feel very, very strongly that we are the promoters of Pacquiao."
De La Hoya said that in Pacquiao's case he made a direct offer to Pacquiao to fight WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera because he didn't have a promoter, stressing "we did not offer the fight to Bob Arum. We offered the fight to Manny Pacquiao." De La Hoya expressed the hope that Pacquiao "wakes up one day and realizes that Golden Boy will look out for his best interests."
De La Hoya said it was "very unfortunate that a big fight like Barrera vs. Pacquiao could not be made because of the interference of Bob Arum" which resulted in Golden Boy Promotions putting together a fight between Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez. Reacting to Arum's previous pronouncements in Manila that Barrera would never fight Marquez, De La Hoya said "well, its signed, sealed and delivered" and predicted that despite Arum's negative views he was confident it should be "a great, great fight and we are promoters who really look out for our fighters."
One of the biggest draws in boxing whose pay-per-view numbers breach the one million mark, De La Hoya said "it's very sad to see Pacquiao misguided by people who are supposed to look after his best interests." Commenting on Arum's announced plans for a Pacquiao fight in Macau on April 28, De La Hoya noted that it was one week before his blockbuster showdown with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. which showed how much Arum was looking out for Pacquiao.
The Golden Boy said he was "puzzled by the comment of Arum that he had nine opponents lined up for Pacquiao because we have all the top guys and there's no way he can make a fight with the top guys." He conceded that Pacquiao has a strong following but that boxing fans "want to see good fights. They want to see good match-ups and the good match-ups are with Barrera. Marquez and the fighters we have."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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