Manny Pacquiao's Adviser: Floyd Mayweather's Not On Our Minds Now -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

How is Manny Pacquiao's congressional race going in the Philippines? Will the seven-division champion fight again? If so, will Pacquiao make the second defense of his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title against Floyd Mayweather? And if that's the case, will Pacquiao subject himself to the random blood and urine drug testing?

Those questions, and others, were asked of the champion's adviser, Michael Koncz, who is with Pacquiao in the Philippines. Koncz is one of the few men who is closest to the man who has been named Fighter Of The Year three straight times, Fighter Of The Decade once, and who is considered to be one of boxing's best fighters, pound-for-pound.

Check out what Koncz has to say in this Q&A:

FanHouse: How is the congressional campaign going for Manny Pacquiao?

Michael Koncz: The campaign has been going very well. There have been much larger-than-expected crowds of people at his stops. They seem to be a lot more receptive to his ideas this time around, and Manny is very excited and confident that he's going to win. Me, I'm not going to be confident until you ask me that question on Tuesday.

Anything can happen in these last few hours, and we know that, but Manny's very confident.

Can you summarize what Manny sees as the largest and most critical issues facing his countrymen and the focus of his campaign?

Manny's main issues are to bring employment to his people, to bring a hospital to his region, which is the Sarangani Province, and there's no hospital there. And he has an emphasis on education for the kids.

Does he believe strongly that he can resolve these issues or does he believe that he faces a real uphill battle?

Everything here in the Philippines is an uphill battle. But once elected, Manny certainly has the ability and the means to build a hospital, and the funding -- not just the funding that he's after -- but he's got to implement the funding and to make sure that the funds go toward the education programs and so forth.

But yes, he feels confident that he can deal with those issues.

Has Manny been able to hit the gym or stay in shape throughout his campaigning?

We never go to the gym. Manny's only in the gym when he's in training camp. He's still managing to play a little bit of basketball, maybe once a week, because basketball is a good stress and tension reliever for him. So he still plays once a week, but when he plays, it's usually for five, six hours at a time.

Assuming that Manny wins the election, and that he continues his boxing career, how soon does he expect to return to the ring?

Manny will fight this year, but, again, it depends. If, God forbid we lose the election, then perhaps as early as September. If we win the election, then it will be perhaps later in the year. We haven't picked a date or anything, but maybe October or November.

An obvious question is how Floyd Mayweather factors into Manny Pacquiao's plans, and, whether Manny has softened his stance on the issue of random drug testing as has been reported by some major websites?

That was never a statement made by Manny. We're not making any statements in regard to the blood testing other than what we state on the record before. I just had a discussion with Manny about this last night. That 14-day window was never a statement that came out of Manny's mouth.

I want to emphasize that. So whoever wrote it is fabricating or whatever you want to call it. Manny's position is that it still remains the same. Manny will fight anybody anywhere as long as it's under the rules and regulations of the commission in the state that we're fighting in.

The reports cited Manny Pacquiao's official website, but you're saying that the website erred?

The reporter who wrote that story on the website, I've never heard of that reporter before. I've never heard of him in my life. Manny said that he never spoke to such a reporter. Other than that, I have no comment on the website. I don't even remember the name.

Do you want to address how this erroneous information comes about?

This is not an isolated situation. There's been a number of times that this has happened. More times than not, the stories that have been written have been fabricated. Unless a statement comes directly from Manny, his attorney, Franklin Gacal, or myself, then most of the time they're not factual stories.

People are always saying, 'Manny said this' or 'Manny said that.' Franklin Gaval is always with me at all of the press conferences and on all of the tours. Any official statements attributed to Manny are only official and authorized if they're obviously made by Manny himself, Franklin Gacal, his attorney or myself.

In regard to a fight with Floyd Mayweather, are the conditions the same in terms of what Manny wanted in the past negotiations?

I just told you what the conditions were. Manny will fight anybody. Well, first of all, let me back up. Floyd's not even on our minds right now. The main fight, the main opponent, and the main concern at this time is campaigning and winning the election. After the election, we'll discuss something.

If Floyd wants to fight, Manny's willing to fight. Again, we'll fight anybody, anywhere, as long as it is under the rules and regulations of the commission where the fight is being held and in the state we would be fighting in.

If Floyd Mayweather doesn't come about, I understand that a fight with Antonio Margarito could be an option should he defeat Roberto Garcia on Saturday night?

Those are accurate statements. I think that Antonio Margarito is certainly a definite opponent for Manny. And I think that if that fight took place in The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium in Texas, that we would sell the Cowboys' Stadium out.

What about a possible fight against the winner of the WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion,Yuri Foreman, and Miguel Cotto?

Again, those are accurate statements, but I don't think that if Cotto wins, which I believe that Cotto would win, I don't think that that's a fight that we would take. Again, this is my opinion, although I haven't sat down with Manny. But I don't believe that Cotto is a fight that we would do a rematch on right now.

I don't believe that the economics would support it right now. The fans just saw Manny, you know, give Cotto a tremendous beating before knocking him out.

So, after the election, do you believe that an Antonio Margarito fight would perhaps be a viable focus?

Well, no, because right after the election, we'll be doing a family vacation -- his family and my family.

Will Manny definitely be fighting again or is he considering retirement following the elections?

That's not a misconception. He is definitely considering retirement. That's an adamant wish of his mother's. So, he is considering that. Obviously, he has a lot of respect for his mother [Dionesia Pacquiao]. He has a tremendous amount of respect for her. So, that's an accurate statement.

But it's also an accurate statement that he's not going to retire right away. So he has spoken with his mother, and they haven't come to a final decision yet. I mean, I've spoken to Manny. He has informed me that he's not retiring, obviously. But he's trying to appease his mother.

He will fight, I can assure you and I guarantee that. But he's got to temper it with the wishes of his mother. Manny has many options. I believe that every fight that he fights from here on out and from this day forward is a big fight. Obviously, some are bigger than others.

But as I said, he could fight Antonio Margarito, who used to be a good draw, and he's a well-known name. He's not the biggest draw out there. Obviously, Floyd Mayweather is. But I still say that if it's Antonio Margarito, that the Cowboys' Stadium would be sold out.

I think that because of what he's done in boxing, how he's demolished the last few opponents, that it doesn't matter who Manny Pacquiao fights. They're all big fights.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com