As fight fans may know, “retired” superstar and all-time great Manny Pacquiao is scheduled to box a somewhat unusual exhibition bout with Korea’s DK Yoo, the founder of his own Warfare Combat System, the bout to take place in Seoul in December. But not everyone is a fan of the upcoming contest.
US-based Filipino boxing promoter Aljoe Jaro has laid into the upcoming bout, and into Pacquiao, stating how Pac Man “should fight real boxers” if he wishes to go down the exhibition road.
“He shouldn’t fight that Korean first of all,” Laro said to The Manila Times. “If he really wants to come back and fight, he should be fighting a real boxer or any popular fighter who has a name like [Conor] McGregor that can entertain millions of fans around the world.
Those types of fights are killing the sport of boxing. If they want some entertainment, they must choose a better fighter than that – like a real boxer who already retired with the same weight class. At the same time. Nobody knows, who’s that Korean. Aside from some Koreans, nobody knows him, especially in the US. That Korean is taller and I think heavier than him (Pacquiao). I expect that fight may end up as a wrestling bout.”
Jaro, who really did pull no punches, went on to add that if Manny wishes to give to charity with the proceeds of the exhibition bout, he “should choose a well-known attractive rival” to fight.
The announcement that Pacquiao would be fighting Yoo (who, we must agree with Jaro, not too many of us are familiar with) did come as a surprise, and maybe Jaro is correct in that with a bigger name in the opposite corner, Pacquiao could have generated more interest and with it more money.
What exactly we will get when Pacquiao and Yoo collide we can only guess. Above all, let’s hope the fight is not a farce and that nobody (Yoo in particular) winds up getting hurt.