Before the year ends WBC boss hopes superbout will happen

CEBU, Philippines - If not this May, World Boxing Council (WBC) president Jose Sulaiman hopes that the sought-after superbout between Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38KOs) and Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26KOs) will take place before the year ends to satisfy the demand of fans around the world.

"I have no doubts that both boxers have their dignity, pride and honor, but, no sir, boxing is not that anymore. It’s all about money, and that is the specific objective of whoever the promoter is. Dignity and pride have remained in the past, and for that reason I believe that the month of May is out of the question for that gigantic fight that the world is demanding to take place," said Sulaiman in his weekly column "Hook to the Body" published in Mexican newspaper El Universal.

"There is not enough time for May, but I sincerely wish for the sake of the demand of the world that it will take place some day, perhaps by the end of the year, time that will fly like the wind does and both fighters must look for different challengers to cover their TV dates of mid-year," added Sulaiman.

The planned megafight this May has fizzled out as Mayweather unreasonably rejected Pacquiao's offer of a 50-50 purse split. The loudmouth American wants a lion's share of the prize pie, something that is strongly thumbed down by the handlers of Pacman.

With Mayweather already out of the picture, the guessing game as to who will be Pacquiao's opponent in his next fight slated on June 9 in Las Vegas is now a toss-up between the undefeated WBO light welterweight champion Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley (28-0, 12KOs) and WBA Super light middleweight title-holder Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30KOs).

Top Rank president Bob Arum has earlier said Pacquiao's next foe could be revealed as early as next Tuesday or two days after the WBC middleweight championship between defending champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (44-0, 31KOs) and Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-1, 46KOs) this Sunday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

"We won't announce anything until after the Super Bowl. I don't want to take anything away from the Chavez fight [ on Saturday]. We want to wait until after the Chavez fight, and after the Super Bowl [to make the annoucement] ....probably Tuesday," Arum told boxingscene.com.

Cotto has made it clear that he's not keen on a return bout with Pacquiao, more so at a catchweight of 147 pounds. And the way it goes, Bradley is likely to seize the golden opportunity. (FREEMAN)