Pacquiao deal within Arum’s reach

Top Rank top honcho Bob Arum reportedly arrived in Manila the other day, and is now in Gen. Santos City for a crucial meeting with Manny Pacquiao late last night.

According to Philboxing.com, Arum was already in Pacquiao’s hometown as of Monday although he had not yet made any serious discussions with the boxer who was still in bed yesterday afternoon.

Arum, according to the report, made the unannounced Christmas day visit to GenSan in a bid to finally lure Pacquiao to his fold as the battle for the promotional rights betweenn Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions for the Pinoy boxer heated up.

Pacquiao signed a seven-fight contract with Golden Boy’s Oscar dela Hoya last September, but has renounced the deal, to sign a different four-year-pact with Top Rank last month.

Pacquiao has very limited time to decide on whether he’s for Top Rank or Golden Boy, or lose the prospects of a multi-million-dollar rematch with WBC champion Marco Antonio Barrera this coming March or April.

After a pre-Christmas concert that didn’t do well at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Pacquiao, meanwhile, has more than made up for it by proving to be a consistent hit in the boxing scene.

In two days, the sensational fighter has earned as many "Fighter of the Year" awards for 2006, the first coming from the Boxing Times, and the second from ESPN.Com.

The year that’s about to end has truly been great for Pacquiao. In January, he demolished Erik Morales in 10 rounds, and in July put on a 12-rounds show for his local fans in beating Oscar Larios.

Just over a month ago, he was back in Las Vegas, knocking out Morales in three rounds, and thus earning the "Fighter of the Year" award which should be followed by a couple more before the year ends.

These awards were more than enough to make Pacquiao recover from his poor pre-Christmas concert that paled in comparison to his major birthday bash in his hometown last Dec. 17.

Pacquiao was in Manila for a one-night stand with Black Eyed Peas’ Fil-American male singer Apl.de.Ap (aka Allan Pineda) last Dec. 23, but failed to draw the crowds at the CCP open field.

A Pacquiao associate said a measly crowd of no more than 500 showed up at the venue that could house 30,000. Tickets were priced at P300, which is quite a bargain for some.

"The concert lacked in promotion. And one more factor was that it coincided with the Manny Pacquiao Special that was aired on television. The scheduling was not good," said the associate.

He added that the concert had to start at 11:30 p.m., way behind schedule, because organizers waited for the crowd to come in. They never did.

Still, Pacquiao was in his usual element, belting out his own hits and some of his favorites, too. For the 28-year-old fighter, the show must go one. And it did.