Bob Arum willing to consider a number of African American fighters for Manny Pacquiao
Comments by Bernard Hopkins have left team Pacquiao in disarray.
The boxing legend recently said that Pacquiao’s professional merits were dubious considering he has never fought a “top notch” black fighter.
In response Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, threw around some possibilities and responded to the accusations.
In a boxingscene.com article Arum said: "The notion that he would not fight an African American fighter is ridiculous. A fight with Shane Mosley would answer that situation. And maybe the winner of Devon Alexander and Tim Bradley would answer that. Andre
Berto might be a consideration, also, yes.”
He continued: “There's no reason why he wouldn't fight an Andre Berto, because he's at 147 pounds [Pacquiao’s optimal weight]. Berto's Manny's size, so, you know, that's good. We're looking for African Americans to fight. I would think that it is likely
that Manny will fight an African American in his next fight, whether it's Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley, or somebody else."
Pacquiao’s chief advisor, Michael Koncz, suggested that “Sugar” Shane Mosley is currently ahead of the pack in getting a fight with Pacquiao if something with Mayweather isn’t imminent. Koncz feels Mosley is entitled to being at the top of the list because
he has a lot of professional credibility and sells tickets. The fight thus makes good economic sense.
"As for Shane Mosley, I had discussions with him in Texas, and that's a possibility,” Koncz said. “I told him that we would talk after the [Margarito] fight. I guess that he's with [adviser] James Prince and not with Golden Boy [Promotions] so that makes
things easier for us also,” he said. “Out of all of the African American fighters, the one with the biggest following and that makes the most economic sense to us would be Shane Mosley."
An African American fighter that hasn’t been considered for Pacquiao, which may surprise many, is Paul Williams. Williams is regarded by many the third best fighter in the world. He can fight at welterweight or middleweight, but due to his freakish height
it is probable that team Pacquiao will avoid him.
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