Pacquiao needs "Respect"

As we know by now, the fight between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao is now a done deal. An announcement should be anytime soon. It sure is good news. Although I lean more toward Ricky Hatton for this fight, I sure have a high respect on Pacquiao's skills and punching power. In his last two fights, the "Destroyer" has showed that he can also learn how to box. And boy, he showed it well. In the dela Hoya fight, the Golden Boy didn't seem to have hurt him at all. Pacquiao was not his old self as a slugger who just goes in, gets his power punch connected and never mind being hit. The speed is still there but he has become a more intelligent fighter being able to dodge his opponent's shots and connect with his blindingly fast fist.

So, why does it seem that Pacquiao is asking for respect? It seems that there are some ill feelings left against Golden Boy Promotion in his last fight with Oscar. Manny felt that GBP is not giving him the respect that he deserved. I guess it started in the negotiation at the delaHoya fight as I remembered that they haggled over the splitting of the price as well. As delaHoya is the more popular fighter, he got the lion share of the split. I would think Manny Pacquiao felt mistreated and was left with a bad taste against the GBP camp. Now, that he totally destroyed the GBP boss in the ring, for Manny it is payback time. He really wanted to fight Hatton but would like to, in my opinion, mess it up with GBP just to show them who should really call the shots. It seems that GBP was acting bossy and belittling Pacquiao. As a form of rebellion, he just didn't sign it the first time it was presented.

Well, I couldn't really blame Manny. He's the fighter. He's the one who will put his life in the ring and risk physical disabilities during the fight or long after he retired. Just think about Mohammed Ali, I think his body is paying right now for all the beatings that came his way when he was a young boxer. Playing hardball in negotiations like that is good. Gone are the days when fighters are at the mercy of boxing promoters who think that they are demigods who can call the shots for the boxers. As athletes, boxers should think in the same way as star athletes from other sports. Think of Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. They can ask for lots of money from their team so why can't boxers. Why can't Manny ask for millions while Kobe or other Lebron can get multi-million contracts? Do you think it's just fair?

I do apologize to Pacquiao for thinking that he got greedy. Now, I understand. It's his life. He deserves to play hardball in negotiations and get the maximum amount he's worth. Yeah, I do agree with what he said about cutting the middleman. GBP shouldn't be getting that much money in this fight. What are they doing? Nothing really as the lead promoter is Bob Arum's Top Rank. So the extra money that should go to them should be split 50/50 to the two boxers.

I do thank Manny for letting this fight with Ricky Hatton go on. I might just go to Vegas and watch it myself. But, first, tickets, tickets. I got to get a ticket. It's easy enough to get a plane ticket to Las Vegas but the challenge will be the fight ticket as for sure it will evaporate as quickly as it is offered.