Arum 'di pa rin kumbinsido sa Pacquiao-Bradley rematch

MANILA, Philippines - Sa kabila ng pagpanig ng isang five-member international judging panel ng World Boxing Organization (WBO) kay Manny Pacquiao, hindi pa rin kumbinsido si Bob Arum ng Top Rank Promotions na itakda ang kanilang rematch ni Timothy Bradley, Jr.

Ayon kay Arum, gusto muna niyang malaman sa Nevada State attorney ge­neral’s office kung ano ang resulta ng kanilang im­bestigasyon.

“I would have to have, if I were going to do a rematch, an investigation, which is ongoing with the attorney general’s office, to clarify the situation,” wika ng 81-anyos na promoter.

Ang limang judges na inutusan ni WBO president Francisco ‘Paco’ Valcarcel na rebyuhin ang pag-iskor sa laban nina Pacquiao at Bradley ay nagbigay ng 118-110, 117-111, 117-111, 116-112 at 115-113 para sa Sarangani Congressman.

Si Bradley ay naka­ku­ha naman kina judges Duane Ford at Cynthia J. Ross ng iskor na 115-113, samantalang si Pacquiao ay tumanggap naman kay judge Jerry Roth ng 115-113 sa kanilang laban noong Hunyo 9 sa MGM Grand sa Las Vegas, Nevada.

“If it was simply the incompetence of the judges and a simple mistake, period, which is what you and I suspect, and they determine there is no wrongdoing, that’s easy to remedy. All we do is have a rematch with different judges. Absent that, given all this suspicion, no matter how unwarranted, it would be hard to do a rematch,” ani Arum.

Sinabi ni Valcarcel na hindi niya maaaring bawiin kay Bradley ang naturang WBO welterweight crown, subalit maaari niyang ipag-utos ang rematch nila ni Pacquiao kung kinakaila­ngan.

Kaugnay naman sa nag-aakusa sa kanya na siya ang may ‘pakana’ ng pagkatalo ni Pacquiao, ma­riin itong pinabulaanan ni Arum.

“Half of these websites are saying that the promoter is the one who did this, and that I talked to the­se judges. I had nothing whatsoever to do with picking them and never talked to them,” wika ni Arum.