Barrera, Soto, Guzman want piece of Pacquiao

By NICK GIONGCO

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum yesterday said that Mexicans Marco Antonio Barrera and Humberto Soto, Joan Guzman of the Dominican Republic and Edwin Valero of Venezuela are all aching to get it on with Manny Pacquiao and a decision on the Filipino southpaw’s next fight will be known later this week in New York.


"Marco Antonio Barrera is putting a lot of pressure on Golden Boy Promotions (GBP)," said Arum from Las Vegas, the take-off point for his flight Sunday for New York where a big card is scheduled this weekend at Madison Square Garden.

Arum, 75, said Barrera, who lost an 11th-round knockout to Pacquiao in November 2003, will meet with GBP officials this week to discuss Barrera’s wish to rumble anew with Pacquiao.

Barrera still has one more fight left in his contract with GBP and that Pacquiao is the one fighter the future Hall of Famer is eyeing to be on the opposite corner for his swan song.

The unbeaten Guzman, who is based in Brooklyn, is available to face Pacquiao.

Arum said Japanese Akihiko Honda, Valero’s promoter, also expressed his desire to pit his boxer against Pacquiao.

"I have been talking with Guzman’s people, while Honda will give me a call this week," said Arum. "Honda said that he is trying to get in touch with Valero, who is in Venezuela right now."

As for Soto, Arum said everything would depend on the result of Soto’s much-awaited assignment against Bobby Pacquiao this Saturday.

Vancouver (Canada), Macau and Las Vegas are jockeying for position to land a Pacquiao fight, Arum said.

Ringsiders believe, however, that if Arum fails to strike a deal with Barrera, Guzman and Valero, he will tap Soto for a Pacman bout on Oct. 6 assuming Soto prevails. The revenge angle would make a perfect promotional pitch, they added.

"Arum would like to see Soto win because it would be an attraction to see the brother trying to avenge the defeat of his sibling," said a Filipino boxing man inside Team Pacquiao.

Even though Barrera is coming off a loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, the current World Boxing Council (WBC) super-featherweight champion remains a very attractive opponent for Pacquiao, according to Wakee Salud, an influential associate of Pacquiao.

"People I meet tell me that that they’d like to see Pacquiao fight Barrera," said Salud.

Top Rank has scratched Marquez’s name off the short list, claiming that Marquez, not Pacquiao, would get the lion’s share of the prize money in the event a purse bid is conducted by the Mexico-based WBC.

But it is common knowledge that Barrera poses a lesser threat among all the names being floated and that Marquez, Guzman and Valero are dangerous foes for somebody coming off a long break not only from topnotch competition but from a political defeat as well.

"Barrera wants to fight Pacquiao because he knows that it would guarantee a bigger paycheck as compared to a fight with Marquez or someone else," said Salud.

And one more thing, Salud, stressed.

"Aside from it being an easy fight for Pacquiao, it would also bring more money on the table," said Salud.

Pacquiao is currently vacationing in Orlando, Florida with wife Jinkee and sons Michael Stephen and Emamnuel Jr.

They will arrive in New York Thursday just in time for the 82nd Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) awards dinner Friday at the trendy Copacabana, a nightclub in the heart of Manhattan.

The BWAA voted Pacquiao as its Fighter of the Year for 2006, while trainer Freddie Roach was the year’s top cornerman.

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