Pacquiao may clash with Marquez a fourth time

A FOURTH installment of the heralded Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez face-off is in the offing. And, chances are, it will no longer be staged in LasVegas but in Marquez’s turf— Mexico City.

Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions, which manages Marquez, told Miguel Rivera of BoxingScene.com Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) that his group has initiated discussions with Pacquiao’s representatives and these “have gone well.”

“Having (the fight in Mexico) is not being viewed as a bad thing,” said Beltran. “There are many benefits to having the Pacquiao fight made there.”

Beltran is said to be so enamored with Pacquiao-Marquez IV that he has vowed to bring the showdown—projected to be held in Nov-ember—to the spanking-new Arena Mexico.

The indoor Arena has a maximum capacity of 22,300 although it can only accommodate 16,500 when reconfigured for a boxing event.

In their first fight in 2004, Marquez survived three first-round knockdowns to salvage a draw with Pacquiao, who won the return bout in 2008 by split decision on the strength of a third-round knockdown.

Last November, Pacquiao repeated over  Marquez by majority decision.

Beltran believes that Mexico, the boxing fans, and Marquez deserve the final battle with Pacquiao, who is well-loved in the country despite his tag as “Mexican assassin.”

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Twin warnings for Manny Pacquiao

MANNY Pacquiao should take the latest statement of his physical conditioning coach as fair warning. Not against anybody, not against anything—but strictly against himself!

Alex Ariza has made it clear he was not impressed with Pacquiao’s last two fights, against faded Shane Mosley and perennial nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.

Well, if Pacquiao had, say, been happy enough with his big bore of a bout with Mosley, there’s no way the national boxing superhero should be proud of his pedestrian performance against Marquez.

* * *

The tempestuous, magical Pacquiao was nowhere inside the ring in Las Vegas last November.

The Pacquiao that got manhandled by Marquez was both tame and predictable.

If the old magical Pacquiao had really been there, Marquez would’ve not cried “robbery.”

If it was the original stormy Pacman who had waged war against Marquez, the hugely contested points win would have never occurred.

* * *

They can’t afford a bad camp, swore Ariza, in the process bringing out in the open that, despite brags to the contrary, the training Pacquiao did against Marquez was anything but ideal.

Who was to blame?

Quite a number, but Ariza said he hopes Pacquiao’s extra-curricular commitments don’t come in the way again.

In short, it’s all up to Pacquiao to manage his time; it’s all up to him to regain total focus.

Pacquiao, in short, can’t afford to lose to himself again.

* * *

That’s warning No. 1.

If the Ariza sermon sounded every word significant and valid, you’re free to debunk this next one as mere mumbo-jumbo.

Listen please.

If you bothered to count back, it would show that Pacquiao’s forthcoming fight against Bradley will be his 16th bout since last losing to Erik Morales.

Sorry, but there’s something ominous about that number.

* * *

Chronicler Marv Dumon of the International Boxing Examiner has noted that, since Pacquiao’s first pro loss to “Rustico Torrecampo in 1996, he has lost every 16th bout thereafter.”

For the record, Dumon continued, Pacquiao was stopped by Medgoen (3-K Battery) Singsurat in September 1999 to lose the WBC flyweight crown.

That defeat coincided with Pacquiao’s 16th fight since first losing to Torrecampo.

* * *

Pacquiao moved up in weight and went on to win the IBF super bantamweight crown.

He had a string of sensational fights, including the first bout with Marquez which was declared a draw in May 2002.

In March 2005, Pacquiao would lose a bloody bout against Eric Morales, which also happened to be Pacman’s 16th fight since losing his flyweight crown in Thailand in 1999.

* * *

Going straight to the point, Dumon repeated that Pacquiao’s June meeting with Bradley will be his 16th bout since that sensational losing stand against Morales in 2005.

Dumon naturally smells a bad omen in the No. 16.

“Don’t send me the congratulatory e-mail,” he said. “I accidentally stumbled upon this insight through a blog post.”

Dumon, with an MPA degree from the University of Texas at Austin, writes on a range of subjects, social media, sports, gambling, business and politics.

* * *

(GOODBYE ALING ORIANG: Gloria Licad Lanot, favorite dinner host of National Artists Nick Joaquin and Andrea O. Veneracion, beloved aunt of the celebrated concert pianist Cecille Licad and mother-in-law of poet Pete Lacaba (married to Marra Lanot), has passed on. She was 94. She lies in state at the St. Peter Memorial Chapel on Quezon Ave., Quezon City and will be interred tomorrow, Friday, at the Loyola Memorial Park, Marikina. It will never be the same again. Prayers please for her eternal peace in the Valley of the Lord.)

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BIR to Pacquiao: Don’t blame us for losing endorsements

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) told world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao not to blame the agency for losing endorsements following his tax spat with the government.

“The congressman himself is the one fuelling the controversy. We are only answering questions,” BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said.

The eight-time world champion, who is also a member of Congress, faces a criminal case for obstructing a tax investigation into his earnings, in a case that he says has cost him millions of dollars in endorsements.

Henares said the BIR was only asking Pacquiao, one of the world’s highest-paid sportsmen, submit records of his earnings so the agency could assess if he has any unsettled tax liability.

“Those who receive a letter authority are required to submit proofs of account, receipt, contract or IRS payment because we want a realistic assessment whether there is a tax due or not,” Henares said.

Pacquiao on Monday vowed to fight the case in court and accused the BIR of singling him out for harassment, without saying why he was being targeted.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on Tuesday said the government was only doing its job.

“I don’t think the BIR will dare to harass an eight-time world champion. He is a national icon,” Purisima, whose department oversees the bureau, told reporters.

Henares said all that Pacquiao needs to do is submit the needed documents.

“Madali lang naman ang kasong ‘yan. Pag nag-submit ka ng dokumento, mawawala na yang kaso na iyan,” Henares said.

“The sooner he submits, the sooner this controversy will die down. Wala naman kaming sinasabing liability kaya nga ho namin siya iimbestigahan,” she said.

“We have to see the gravity of the violation if there are any. As of now we are not even talking of tax evasion. We are only asking him to submit the documents,” Henares said.

Seen as the world’s best pound for pound boxer, Pacquiao declared assets at the end of 2010 at P1.13 billion and no liabilities, making him the country’s wealthiest member of Congress.

Forbes.com magazine estimated he spent $7 million in his election campaign in 2010 while also earning $35 million for his two fights against Joshua Clottey and Miguel Cotto.

Henares said in 2008, Pacquiao paid about P125 million in taxes but in 2009, he only paid P7-million.

“Bakit bumagsak eh paganda nga nang paganda ang career nya. Hindi s’ya nalalaos,” Henares added.

Pacquiao, who has a 54-3 win-loss record with two draws, stakes his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown against undefeated American Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on June 9.

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