MANILA, Philippines — Kinumpirma ni Bob Arum ng Top Rank Promotions ang pagtanggi ni Manny Pacquiao na lumaban sa undercard ng title defense ni Australian world welterweight king Jeff Horn sa Abril 14 sa Mandalay Bay sa Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sa panayam ng BoxingScene.com, tumanggi si Arum na ilahad ang detalye hinggil sa pag-atras ng Filipino world eight-division champion.
“There are reasons... it’s not that he’s fighting Mike Alvarado, it has nothing to do with him potentially being on the undercard. That had never been discussed with Manny,” wika ni Arum, nauna nang inihayag ang non-title fight nina Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) at Alvarado (38-4-0, 26 KOs).
“There are good reasons why he is not fighting on April 14th and because they were told to me in confidence I’m not going to discuss it,” dagdag ng veteran promoter.
Sinabi ng kampo ni Pacquiao na nainsulto ang 39-anyos na Senador nang ilagay ang kanilang upakan ni Alvarado bilang undercard ng ikalawang pagdedepensa ni Horn (18-0-1, 11 KOs) sa suot nitong WBO welterweight crown kontra kay American mandatory challenger Terence Crawford (32-0-0, 23 KOs).
“There’s no friction between Manny and myself and there’s no, ‘I wanted to fight this guy, not that guy...’ there was none of that,” ani Arum.