Who Will Pacquiao Face In November?

source: mb.com.ph

In his contract, Manny Pacquiao is obliged to fight again on Nov. 10, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that his opponent will be Timothy Bradley.

Top Rank boss Bob Arum said the Filipino boxing hero’s contract stipulates that he must schedule a bout in November, and almost everybody is expecting that fight to be the rematch between Pacquiao and Bradley.

Bradley surprised many in the boxing world with a split-decision victory over Pacquiao last Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Arum said it is all up to Pacquiao who he feels like facing in November, since he has the option to take on Bradley again or just face someone else, perhaps Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez or Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto.

Just before Pacquiao hurriedly left for Manila, he said he is indeed returning to the ring on Nov. 10 but not necessarily against the 28-year-old Bradley.

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has accredited five judges to review the three judges’ scores in Saturday’s controversial welterweight title fight.

WBO President Francisco Valcarcel told the US media that after the five-man panel reviews the fight, the sanctioning body will forward a report to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

It is normal practice that officials accredited by a boxing body are assigned to referee or score a title fight but that is not the case in Nevada because it is the state that appoints officials for a certain fight, unlike in the states of Texas and New York where it is being done.

Valcarcel said he had scored it in favor of Pacquiao but made it clear that he is not questioning the competence and integrity of judges CJ Ross, Duane Ford and Jerry Roth.

Ross and Ford scored it for Bradley, 115-113, while Roth had it 115-113 for Pacquiao.

Valcarcel said if the WBO panel finds that the judges erred in their scoring, it cannot strip Bradley of the title belt but can order a rematch.

Pacquiao maintains he won the fight. “I feel that I did enough to win the fight and that’s what the whole world is saying,” Pacquiao told Manila-based writers in Los Angeles.
source: mb.com.ph