Pacquaio vs Hatton in DUBAI?

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is in the country for the 29th birthday bash of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao in General Santos City on Monday but more importantly to plan his future and to warn him against taking his March 15 rematch with WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez for granted.

In a conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel coffee shop Arum noted that while Pacquiao dropped Marquez three times in the first round of the 2004 bout and the Mexican’s “legs were wobbly in the second, Marquez won 90 percent of the remaining rounds and that tells you something.”

Arum said “it wasn’t a situation where Manny rallied in the end to get the draw. Manny had the guy out and couldn’t finish him off and down the stretch Marquez won every round.” Arum emphasized that Pacquiao must realize “it’s a real tough fight.”

The Top Rank promoter who recently celebrated his 76th birthday insisted that Pacquiao “has to train really hard and fight to the end because Marquez is still a great fighter and you can’t take him for granted.” Winning is clearly important for Pacquiao’s future, according to Arum.

Plans call for Pacquiao to fight for the WBC lightweight title of David Diaz in Macau in July and a possible blockbuster fight against Britain’s Ricky Hatton in Dubai in November. Arum said one of his friends was opening a sprawling Atlantis Hotel in Dubai which would be much bigger than the one in the Bahamas in November and “wants to kick it off with a fight” which would feature Pacquiao vs Hatton if the Filipino gets by Marquez and Diaz.

Arum noted that “at best Manny has three years left and I can make him a lot of money but he has got to realize he’s a fighter first and quit all this nonsense with the movies” and other things, referring to an article he read on the plane about a movie star linked to Pacquiao.

Arum will hold a news conference in Manila on Wednesday and plans a face-to-face event with Marquez in Los Angeles in January because “to have one now in the US doesn’t make any sense with Christmas coming.” Arum said one of the reasons he came to the Philippines is to “sit down and have a heart to heart talk with him” because of promotional concerns. He said that while they “do very well with his (Pacquiao’s) fights, you make money and ticket sales are good its not growing like it should” which is because they cannot promote Pacquiao’s fights if he “comes to the US the week of the fight and he has to finish up his training which leaves no time to promote the fight.”

Arum wants Pacquiao to be at Freddie Roach’s gym at least six to eight weeks before the Marquez fight because he could “get him on TV programs without interfering with his training and I can have magazine interviews and I can break him out to the general public. Otherwise, we are just fooling ourselves.”

Roach also arrived in Manila and quickly took a connecting flight to Pacquiao’s hometown.