http://www.fightnews.com/1268.htm

While his opponent Erik Morales is safely tucked and training hard in the mountains of the Otomi region in Mexico, Manny Pacquiao has to contend with several groups who have tried to distract him from his pre-fight preparations.

One of the distractions comes from a published report alleging that the Filipino ring idol has signed with Golden Boy Promotions, a bitter rival of Top Rank Inc. which is promoting the third Pacquiao-Morales fight on Nov. 18 at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas.

"I will not make any further comments about this because all I want right now is to focus on this fight," said Pacquiao.

"All I want is to concentrate on my training and I do not want distractions at this time. We will make announcements after the fight with Morales," said Pacquiao, referring to a report which came out in the ESPN website.

The report alleges that the promotional deal has been signed.

"The writer made no mention of any name, only unnamed sources. His article is even inaccurate because I arrived in the US last Sunday and not on a Monday (as reported). I was in my apartment all night last Monday and had dinner with my Filipino friends," said Pacquiao.

"The reporter even quoted somebody that I was basically kidnapped from the airport by Mr. (Oscar) De La Hoya (President of Golden Boy Promotions). If that was true, how much was the ransom?" added Pacquiao, who did not deny that De La Hoya met up with him at the Wild Card gym Wednesday.

De La Hoya, along with GBP Vice President Eric Gomez, gave Pacquiao a significant promotional bid, which the Filipino thinks is one of the best among many other bids.

"We have received other bids from other promoters who want to promote me in the future. We will make the announcements at a proper time and place as to who we think made the best offer," said Pacquiao, eyeing to repeat his sterling performance last January 21 early this year when he fell Morales, a warrior who has never been knocked out before.

Pacquiao is also concerned about another distraction which concerns his former manager Marty Elorde and lawyer Sydney Hall, who have filed a lawsuit against him recently but have agreed to settle out of court.

"There are also reports that I will not extend my managerial contract with Shelly (Finkel), Nick (Khan) and Keith (Davidson). These guys still have live contracts and nothing is final. Just the same, I will make the final announcements when the time is right," said Pacquiao.

"I hope these guys write nothing else but boxing and about my coming fight," said Pacquiao.