EDITORIAL – Should Pacquiao’s fight be stopped?

Manny Pacquiao’s troubles are not over.
After the infamous LGBT controversy brought about by his anti-gay remarks, the country’s iconic boxing superstar could yet lose a moneyed fight and have his senatorial bid imperiled.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday said it is possible to block the Philippine telecast of senatorial bet Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming boxing match that is feared to give him “undue advantage” over other candidates.
A petition was filed before the Comelec by another senatorial candidate, Walden Bello, to stop the Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight on April 9. The fight comes exactly a month before the May 9 polls.
Poll chairman Andres Bautista is of the opinion that postponing the fight is possible.
Bautista said the poll body has some form of control, or regulatory supervision, over entities that have a franchise during election period.
However, as to whether the poll body can stop Pacquiao from fighting, Bautista thinks it is an entirely different story. For petitioner Bello, the fight is “illegal.”
There are several scenarios, though. First, the fight being moved after the elections. Second, restrictions being imposed on the airing of the fight from Las Vegas.
The petition contends that the fight will give Pacquiao “a tremendous advantage in terms of publicity,” a violation of airtime limits for candidates.
The question is: Didn’t Pacquiao know beforehand that the fight falls during the election period and candidates like him are subject to some restrictions including the amount of airtime?
Had he realized that, he would have not made the boxing deal with Bradley.
Now here’s an interesting point from Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon. She believes that Pacquiao should postpone his match with Bradley for the sole reason that it is a “non-title fight.”
So what’s the difference if the fight is for a championship or not and why can’t the former be postponed and the latter alright?
In 2007, Pacquiao fought Mexican hombre Jorge Solis in a title match. At that time, he was running for a seat in Congress and the Comelec ended up allowing only the broadcast of “the boxer’s pre-fight sparring sessions and the actual bout itself” in South Cotabato.
Pacquiao won the fight but lost the election.
The dilemma Comelec is facing now is whether or not to postpone it on the simple reason that it is a non-title fight as compared to the Solis fight which was a championship bout.
One thing about professional boxing promotions involving boxers of Pacquiao’s level is that it matters not if it is a title or a non-title fight.
Megafights in boxing, especially in the United States, are enmeshed with several contractual obligations that make it hard to call off a fight without the fighter facing sanctions and penalties. The stakes are so high that a postponement would mean not just lost revenues but one’s reputation in the boxing world.
In short, Pacquiao cannot just call it off unless the court orders it.