Sulaiman to help work out Pacquiao-Marquez

World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman said he will seek out all possible ways and means to resolve the controversy hounding the rematch between WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and Filipino ring superstar Manny Pacquiao.

This after Sulaiman received a letter signed by Pacquiao advising the WBC that he’s letting go of his mandatory status. Pacquiao also notified the WBC to find someone else who can take his place.

For the time being, the sought-after Pacquiao-Marquez return bout is in a standoff because of the legal feud between promotional companies Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank. But Sulaiman hopes to act as a mediator between the two warring sides.

“My message to them both, is to put aside anything that is not boxing, to think this is one of the great fights that the world wants. And they should sit down and share it!,” Sulaiman told boxingscene.com.

“I prefer to allow a few days of thinking and trying to mediate for this fight to happen. If that doesn’t happen, then we will have to take a different path. I cannot set deadlines, because I must work and that is what I’m going to do,” Sulaiman added in the same internet report.

Sulaiman said money doesn’t seem to be the dividing factor as in a fight of such magnitude, he’s confident that the WBC Board of Governors would vote for a 50-50 purse split.

One of the underlying reasons of Pacquiao’s stepping aside from his position as mandatory challenger is the purse. Team Pacquiao thinks once they accept the offer of WBC, Pacman might end up getting a smaller purse than Marquez because of the WBC rules on purse split.

But Pacquiao’s move, orchestrated by his Canadian agent Michael Koncz, was criticized by well-known Cebuano promoter Rex “Wakee” Salud.

“They should not have issued that letter to the WBC. That’s a wrong move. They should have let the WBC pressure Marquez to defend his title instead. I know that Sulaiman understands Pacquiao’s situation that he cannot accept a smaller purse in case of a purse-bidding as he is the more popular fighter,” Salud earlier told boxingconfidential.com.

“Besides, why decline the offer where in fact we’re looking for a fight? The Pacquiao-Marquez is a fight boxing fans across the globe are longing to see and we shouldn’t deprive them of that,” added the confidant of Pacquiao. (EBV)