The story surrounding the whole Carlos Padilla admitted to cheating in the Manny Pacquiao-Nedal Hussein fight, with the referee stating how he gave a floored Pacquiao extra seconds to recover, sure has got big.
Since 88-year-old Padilla’s interview in which he spoke about “prolonging the count” in the fourth round of the October 2000 fight between an unbeaten Hussein and rising star Pacquiao, everyone has had their say on the fight and its ugly side (Padilla also stated how he stopped the fight, in round ten, after Hussein had been caught by a Pacquiao headbutt which caused a cut, with the third man stating in the ring that the cut had been caused by a punch when he knew it had not been).
Now, Pacquiao has addressed the issue, while Hussein has taken to social media to ponder the idea of him and PacMan boxing a rematch all these years later!
Manny insists he himself did not cheat.
“It is not cheating,” Pacquiao said, as quoted by Mail Online. “We just got favored because we were on our home court. As a boxer, I just did the right thing. For me, I’m only just a boxer. I just did my job in the ring.”
Hussein has said he holds no beef with Manny, saying that “this was down to the referee” and that it was nothing to do with Pacquiao. However, “Skinny,” as Hussein was called during his ring career, is looking at the possibility of coming back to fight Pacquiao in a rematch of the exhibition variety. Hussein – who is also asking for the WBC to change the official result of the 2000 bout from a TKO win for Pacquiao to that of no contest – put out a post asking fans if they would like to see him come back and fight Pacquiao in a return fight.
“What do you think #retired# #return# #exhibition fight# southpaw boxing @manny pacquiao @andre felix @jefffenech_WBC @b4_the_fight,” Hussein wrote.
Fans have already responded with positivity, saying they would like to see a “revenge” rematch. Hussein retired back in 2007, this with a 43-5(27) record. Hussein is now aged 45. Pacquiao, who is set to embark on the exhibition circuit later this month against DK Yoo, is now 43 years old.
Pacquiao-Hussein II in 2023??
