Pacquiao praying for critics’ enlightenment

Amid the noise caused by his long-time promoter Bob Arum, Manny Pacquiao remained steadfast in training for—and promoting—his July 15 fight against Argentinian slugger Lucas Matthysse.

The only eight-division champion, deep in training in his hometown of General Santos City where he just stepped up his sparring sessions to full 12-rounders, said he would rather focus on the Kuala Lumpur showdown and not allow distractions to get to him.

Arum, quoted by United States-based websites, said Pacquiao’s MP Promotions has missed on its obligations and is in danger of letting the World Boxing Association welterweight championship fight slip away.

The Top Rank boss also went to as far as offering Matthysse a fight with his current top fighter, Terence Crawford, just in case the Pacquiao fight fell through.

But Pacquiao said the fight will “proceed as scheduled, nothing can stop that.”

In an article that came out in website philboxing.com, Pacquiao said he is “trying my best with the help of God to make this fight a success. I also pray for my detractors that God may enlighten their minds and soften their hearts.”

Pacquiao, also preoccupied with his duties as senator and owner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, said his first international fight promotion is “an advocacy,” having experienced the hardships of a struggling boxers many years ago.

“I had a sad experience as a struggling boxer. Oftentimes, fighters are being shortchanged by the wily promoters. Staging my first ever international boxing promotion is part of my advocacy to help budding boxers, particularly those coming from Asia,” Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao, the article added, wants to provide employment through his boxing outfit, which has reportedly completed a 12-fight card with four world titles at stake.

Boxers from 14 countries will slug it out in Kuala Lumpur, where the main fight will reportedly be given a special primer to be shown in 170 countries in the days leading to the fight.

Dubbed as the “Fight of Champions,” MP promotions is co-promoting it with Golden Boy Promotions—not with Top Rank which produced most of Pacquiao’s mega fights.