Manny Pacquiao: Why Arum and Roach are More Important Than Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Every passionate boxing fan wants Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr to face each other in the ring for the kind of boxing fight everyone in the world wants to see.

But Manny Pacquiao couldn't care less if the most wanted fight will not happen so long as he has Bob Arum and Freddie Roach by his side.

Bob Arum has been attacked in the media by a great number of boxing fans and boxing writers as well for "cherry-picking" Pacquiao's opponents in order to fill his pocket with more dollars without thinking or considering the wishes and preferences of avid boxing fans.

A case in point is the upcoming Pacquiao-Mosley fight which garnered petitions from fans asking the public to boycott the May 7 fight. They contend the fight is the easiest Pacquiao would ever have because they claimed Mosley is old and past his prime while Pacquiao is at the height of his boxing career.

Boxing fans want real matches which should bring the best in each fighter and give the viewing public the kind of fight they deserve. After all, they shell out hard earned dollars to watch good fights and be entertained at the same time.

Manny Pacquiao was a struggling boxer when he signed up with Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions in 2006. In a news conference at the Manila Hotel to announce Pacquiao's decision to join Top Rank, Bob Arum, the company's owner said, "We promise you and all the Filipino people that what we are going to do for Manny is going to be something special…make him a worldwide superstar.”

Five years later, Arum's promise of super stardom for Manny Pacquiao has become a reality. Today he is not just a superstar in boxing as Arum had promised but he has also become a superstar in politics and in entertainment.

It was a promise Arum kept and Pacquiao knows what Arum has gone through to keep  his promise. He knows it is payback time.

As gesture of appreciation for everything Arum has done for him, Manny Pacquiao has shown loyalty to the guy who promised him the stars five years ago.

Under attack from his millions of fans, Pacquiao has accepted Bob Arum's recommendation to choose Shane Mosley over other shortlisted fighters after his victory over Antonio Margarito.

It must have been a difficult decision for Pacquiao to make because of strong and sustained opposition from sportswriters and his loyal fans.

While Bob Arum has made Pacquiao a millionaire many times over, Freddie Roach, the Filipino boxer's friend and mentor of more than 10 years, needs to be credited for Pacquiao's meteoric rise to stardom.

When Roach opened his doors to Pacquiao in his own Wild Card Gym about 10 years ago, he immediately saw in the young boxer a promise of stardom.

Roach took pains in teaching his young pupil the intricacies of boxing as a sport and profession. Roach, himself a professional boxer before setting up his own gym in California, knew from day one Pacquiao's potential as top notch boxer.

The Hall of Fame trainer is known for transforming Pacquiao's right hand into a powerful "punching tool" that he uses to augment his equally powerful left hand.

In his recent fights, Pacquiao, who is a southpaw, has been using his right hand to his advantage in his strategy to mislead his opponent and to create openings for precision power punches.

With the time and resources Bob Arum and Freddie Roach have invested in transforming Manny Pacquiao from a lowly struggling boxer more than 10 years ago into a boxing superstar that he is today, certainly they are more important to Pacquiao than landing a fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr.