Contrary to what is being reported by adviser Michael Koncz and Top Rank President Todd duBoef, 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao does not have any political issues forcing him to change his return to the ring from November 10 to December 1. According to both Koncz and duBoef, the reason for the date change is because Pacquiao must be physically present in the Philippines in early October to file his certificate of candidacy (COC) for re-election. Supposedly, the decision to delay his next bout was made in order to avoid losing valuable time during training camp. On Thursday, however, representatives in the Philippines revealed that those statements aren't true at all, and Pacquiao need not postpone his fight in order to file his candidacy because he doesn't actually have to be physically present.
When news began to leak that Pacquiao's November 10 date was being changed, Koncz immediately informed various members of the media that it was simply a matter of a schedule conflict. "Bob Arum has moved the date now to Dec. 1, and he's done that at our request due to conflicting schedules with the boxing and Manny's personal affairs," he simply explained to Lem Satterfield of RingTV.com before giving a much more detailed explanation to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.
"Manny has to be in the Philippines for the filing of his candidacy in October, and I don't want to interrupt his training, nor does Manny," Koncz explained. "If he fights on Nov. 10, it would interrupt his training because he would have to go back to the Philippines. You lose two days going there, and it's a long trip in the middle of camp. We don't want to have any excuses when he fights. I believe if he fought on Nov. 10 but made a trip at that time to the Philippines, we'd lose a week of physical training, and I don't want there to be any excuses. So we can't go on Nov. 10, and we have told that to our promoter (Top Rank)."
Top Rank President Todd duBoef would later co-sign that explanation. "Koncz told us he wanted to see if we could move the date a couple of weeks later because of the political situation with Manny in the Philippines," he also would tell Rafael. "For his congressional run he has to be physically present when he files for his candidacy in October. So the request we got was see what we could do about pushing back the fight, and we are looking at the options to satisfy Manny."
Turns out that both Koncz and duBoef need to do a little more research on politics in the Philippines. One day after claiming that they were postponing his bout to prevent Pacquiao from being forced to interrupt his training camp, James Jimenez, spokesman for the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), revealed that Pacquiao can file his certificate of candidacy by simply sending the documents with an authorized representative during the filing period. It should be noted that COMELEC is responsible for enforcing all laws relative to elections in the Philippines. "It is possible since he can just send his authorized representative to file his COC," Jimenez commented during an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer, explaining that Pacqiuao could still move forward on the November 10 date without having to worry about flying back to the Philippines during the middle of training camp.
In other words, it sounds like the story being floated by Koncz and duBoef is simply a smokescreen to cover up the real reason why Pacquiao's fight date is being pushed back. As stated in a previous article, one source has informed FightHype.com that the real reason for the delay is because Pacquiao is being difficult when it comes to his guaranteed purse for his next opponent, so promoter Bob Arum needs more time either 1) convince Pacquiao to fight Bradley or Marquez for a lower purse or 2) figure out a way to get Pacquiao the guarantee he's looking for. Apparently, it looks like both sides needed more time to come to an agreement, hence the reason for the delay. What will the final outcome be? Despite the selection of the December 1st date, I wouldn't bet on the opponent being Miguel Cotto. If this truly is a money issue, then you can expect Bob Arum to line him up with cheapest opponent available, which will likely be Bradley. In fact, according to another source, Bradley was actually already given another offer to face Pacquiao, and get this...it was less than what he made in their first fight. Only in boxing will you see a situation where winning is actually losing.
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