World Boxing News 2010-2013

Nick Giongco The handwriting is on the wall.  Juan Manuel Marquez is starting to let Manny Pacquiao know and feel that he won’t settle for crumbs in the event they face each other for the fifth time in September. A report from Mexico said that Marquez has been offered a juicy $15 million purse to bring his act to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to fight an obscure South African. Although the offer is not being given much thought, the message Team Marquez wants to relay is loud and clear: Pacquiao has to agree to some sort of a salary cut and for Marquez to get a bigger slice of the pie for the blockbuster fight to take place. In knocking out Pacquiao last year, Marquez was paid $6 million, while Pacquiao got $23 million. Now that he is on top of the world, Marquez believes he can somehow dictate what he wants since Pacquiao is more than eager to exact payback. Even Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal admitted a few weeks ago that for the Filipino pride to get the oppo...

Nick Giongco Picture by Stacey Verbeek Manny Pacquiao’s much-awaited comeback fight in April is starting to take shape.  Two possible opponents have been named and the fight could either take place April 13 or the week after. As of the moment, former World Boxing Association welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko of Ukraine and undefeated Jessie Vargas of the US are being eyed to serve as foes for Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. On Friday, Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz revealed that they’re looking at staging the fight in Dubai, Singapore or Macau, marking the first time since July 2006 that the Filipino icon is strutting his stuff outside the US. Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran is currently holding talks with Marquez in Mexico City, discussing his rosy future in the event he decides to resume fighting. A Bulletin contact in Mexico said the 34-year-old Pacquiao is interested in taking the April 13 date, leaving Marquez with no choice but to go with April 20 ...

Nick Giongco Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum is so intrigued and bothered by an observation made by a Filipino doctor on Manny Pacquiao that he will strongly recommend that his No. 1 fighter undergo a battery of tests at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, said to be the leading center for brain-related injuries. Arum had actually broached the idea of bringing Pacquiao to that renowned brain center days after suffering a brutal knockout to Juan Manuel Marquez on Dec. 8 but reiterated this amid the observations – twitching of hands – made by neurologist Rustico Jimenez. Jimenez said Pacquiao could be showing the early symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, the degenerative brain malady that claims Muhammad Ali and Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach as two notable victims. “This should clear the air,” Arum told the Bulletin yesterday afternoon from his vacation spot in Cape Town in South Africa, although sounding disappointed that Jimenez would come up with such statements even if he didn’...