Arum: Trilogy Sealed

MANILA, Philippines - One can almost feel the excitement from the other end of the line when Bob Arum said yesterday that Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez Part III is on.

“Yes, this is going to be very, very interesting,” Arum, the 79-year-old Top Rank chief and the boxing’s greatest salesman, told The STAR in an overseas interview.

Arum was asked if he got any word from Golden Boy which had until last Monday (US time) to match Top Rank’s offer to Marquez for a third fight with Pacquiao.

Arum said there was hardly any resistance from Golden Boy.

“They have agreed to cooperate,” he said, short of officially announcing that the fight a lot of people want to see is a go on Nov. 12 in fabulous Las Vegas.

Arum gave Marquez an offer he couldn’t refuse, and one that Golden Boy, which has promotional rights over the Mexican, couldn’t match.

Under the fight contract, Marquez will get a guaranteed purse of $5 million, the biggest ever in his career, plus $5 for every pay-per-view sale in excess of 700,000 hits.

Marquez was also offered $10 million for a rematch in case he beats Pacquiao, and that the Filipino will be fined $1 million for every pound in excess of the catchweight of 144 pounds.

Pacquiao should be guranteed no less than $20 million for the fight, and could earn more than the $30 million (P1.3 billion) he stands to receive for his latest fight.

Mike Koncz, the chief adviser to Pacquiao, told www.boxingscene.com there’s no rush in making Pacquiao, a very busy congressman, sign the contract.

“I don’t really want to put any undue pressure on Manny. It’s very simple. I’ll sit down with Bob, discuss the purse, and so forth, and then I will present it to Manny when I get to the Philippines on Sunday,” said Koncz.

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer met with Arum last Monday and told the Top Rank chief that Golden Boy was not matching the offer, and it’s letting Marquez fight Pacquiao.

“Juan Manuel is now reviewing the contract. Then Mike Koncz is bringing it over to Manny this week and Manny will review it as well,” said Arum.

There’s no need to convince Marquez. He can sign the contract blindfolded because he’d been dying for a third fight with Pacquiao. Or maybe he’d do it for free.

Pacquiao and Marquez have figured in two close fights, a very controversial draw in 2004, and a razor-thin decision favoring the Filipino in 2008.