But Pacquiao, who moved up in weight (featherweight) to fight Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera whom he beat in a non-title but highly-regarded bout at the Alamodome last November, seems not too keen on going back to his old division and might ignore the purse bid against Valbuena.
Should Team Pacquiao disregard the IBF mandate, and fight anybody else other than Valbuena, the Filipino boxing champion would be stripped of his title, paving the way for a Valbuena-Israel Vazquez duel for the vacant title, according to Boxingtalk.com.
Vazquez, who like Valbuena is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, is the next available contender in the 122-lb class.
Although Pacquiao will leave for the US on Jan. 15, he is set to go to New York to meet US promoter Murad Muhammad and the HBO bigwigs and discuss his next mega-buck fight and possible opponent.
Team Pacquiao is eyeing a bout with Paulie Ayala before taking on Juan Manuel Marquez perhaps middle of the year after Marquez’s mandatory defense of his IBF crown against Armenian William Abelyan in late February.
Pacquiao reportedly earned only $305,000 of the $700,000 purse in demolishing Barrera in 11 rounds, prompting the Filipino fighter’s revered American mentor Freddie Roach to raise a howl against Muhammad. But Team Pacquiao has since said it was satisfied with what it got from the fight.
Observers, however, note that Pacquiao could actually make more money if he decides to go back to his old division since with HBO backing the Pacquiao-Valbuena bout, it wouldn’t have any difficulty securing a $1,000,000 purse bid.
In this case, the 25-year-old General Santos native is entitled to receive 75 percent of the purse or $750,000, more than double than what he made in whipping Barrera.
And this time, none of Pacquiao’s representatives would be able to touch any of the funds due him as per the terms of the purse bid under the Muhammad Ali Act.
But winning that rich purse is one thing. Beating Valbuena is another.
The native of Tumero, Venezuela is tough as nails and sports an impressive record of 23-2-1 with 13 knockouts.