by Ronnie Nathanielsz
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says “Fighter of the Decade” and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao “can fight tomorrow” even as he noted that trainer Freddie Roach’s job is to “have to slow him up.”
Arum told us that he is “getting rave reviews on his (Pacquiao’s) performance in the gym and everybody is saying they can’t believe how great he’s looking.”
The astute promoter said “everything is excellent” in terms of the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey WBO title defense of the Filipino hero at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium on March 13 as well as the “Pinoy Power III/Latin Fury 13” fight card on Sunday, February 14, Manila Time.
Arum said all the fighters on the card which showcases five promising Filipinos against Latino counterparts. He said “all the fighters are in good shape. All the fighters are confident and they are all coming to win” which has stirred a lot of interest both among the Filipino fans and their Hispanic counterparts.
The fights will be telecast in the Philippines by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN over its pre-eminent Channel 2 at 10:30 a.m. with a replay over Studio 23 at 8:30 p.m. It will also be telecast globally to Filipinos abroad on The Filipino Channel TFC which is widely followed.
Meantime, Oscar De La Hoya continues to ignore the call of respected, award-winning boxing writer and lawyer Thomas Hauser to sign a waiver that would allow the Nevada State Athletic Commission to release the results of drug tests conducted on De La Hoya when he was fighting and to allow people associated with the tests to talk publicly.
Arum who was De La Hoya’s promoter has told boxingscene.com he “knows what the history is” adding that Hauser knows exactly what he is alluding to.”
While indicating even in his conversations with us that he was not going to say much about the issue, Arum told boxingscene.com “I know when it happened, how many times it happened. He also pointed out that there was a grace period when they tested fighters for steroids.”
We inquired from the current NSAC executive director Keith Kizer about Floyd Mayweather Jr’s use of the pain-killer Xylocaine which is reportedly banned in 49 US states except Nevada and there was the contention it was the reason Mayweather Jr didn’t want to go to Dallas for a planned showdown with Pacquiao and wanted to fight to be in Las Vegas.
We also inquired whether Nevada would consider banning the drug or will Mayweather be found guilty of drug abuse if he uses Xylocaine. We mentioned the fact that Thomas Hauser insists that De La Hoya needs to sign a waiver for results on his drug tests before your time, to be released. It also involved - he says - the right to talk to people involved for public consumption.
