Pacquiao stakes title in Lewis-Tyson card

The cat is finally out of the bag.

For a week, International Boxing Federation (IBF) superbantamweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s business manager Rod Nazario kept it under wraps because Home Box Office (HBO) and Showtime, the two rival cable TV networks in a rare joint venture, had asked not to preempt their announcement.

So Nazario waited for HBO and Showtime to confirm the deal. The other day, boxing websites in the internet broke the news — Pacquiao will defend his IBF 122-pound crown against former World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight titlist Jorge Eliecer Julio of El Reten, Magdalena, Colombia, in the undercard of the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson world heavyweight championship fight at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis on June 8.

Nazario told The Star yesterday his American partner Murad Muhammad clinched the scheduled 12-round title match. He leaves for the US on May 24 to finalize negotiations for Pacquiao’s purse which is expected to be at least $100,000. Nazario is taking along Pacquiao’s wife Jinky.

Pacquiao left for Los Angeles last April 24 to train under Freddie Roach. Nazario said the fighter has sparred 32 rounds since pitching camp at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. "Manny’s in shape," said Nazario.

"The cut from the (Agapito) Sanchez fight is completely healed. Julio is a tough challenger. Manny will be ready for him."

Nazario said the coming fight cancels Pacquiao’s June 29 non-title bout against Hugo Soto of Argentina here. He added that after Julio, Pacquiao is committed to face the winner of the May 23 eliminator between Fahprakob Rakkiat-Gym of Thailand and Jose Luis Valbuena of Venezuela in a mandatory defense in August of September.

Julio, 33, is no slouch. He was a bronze medallist in the lightflyweight division at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and compiled an amateur record of 88-9 before turning pro in 1989. Julio has never been knocked out as a pro and his only losses were to highly-touted Junior Jones, Johnny Tapia and Adan Vargas.

Julio is fresh from decisioning veteran Darryl Pinckney — who once halted ex-world champion Guty Espadas — in Florida last April 25 and packs a 44-3 record, with 32 knockouts. Boxing statistician Primiano Michele Schiavone listed Julio’s wingspan at 69 inches, two more than Pacquiao’s, and the reach advantage could be crucial in fending off the Filipino.

Pacquiao, 23, hasn’t fought since a sixth round technical draw with Sanchez in San Francisco last November. It took several months for a deep cut over his right eye — inflicted by a Sanchez butt — to heal because he removed the stitches by himself without advising his doctors and infection set in. He paid dearly for his impatience as doctors ordered no face sparring for two months and his weight ballooned to over 135 pounds. But Pacquiao is a tireless worker in the gym. After his cut healed, he immediately buckled down to work and is now ready to duke it out with Julio in the second defense of his crown.