By Ronnie Nathanielsz

MANNY Pacquiao’s legal counsel Franklin “Jeng” Gacal said the offer presented by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum for a Pacquiao clash with Britain’s Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas on May 2 was a good offer.

Gacal and trainer Freddie Roach were left to discuss the details of the offer at a dinner with Arum on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Gacal told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that Pacquiao requested to be excused when the details were discussed.

Gacal said it was their initial meeting with Arum. “It gave us an opportunity to hear what’s on the table. No final decision was made on whether to accept the offer ‘in toto.’ The final decision, as always, would be made by Pacquiao.”

The lawyer said the date was May 2, but the exact venue was not finalized as yet, since there was a possibility of the fight being held at the sprawling Thomas and Mack Center, the MGM Grand or Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Meantime, Gacal, who kept Standard Today constantly updated on the birth of the fourth child of Manny and Jinkee Pacquiao, indicated the boxing icon continues to dote on his wife and their newborn baby girl to be named Queen Elizabeth.

Gacal said that Pacquiao, who accompanied Jinkee to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Hospital at 7 p.m. and was in the delivery room even taking video of the delivery, was still in the room of his wife and the latest addition to the family at 4 a.m.

“The baby girl was big and healthy and weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces at birth,” said Gacal.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao ended 2008 with a bang as he was named ESPN Star Sports’ Champion of Champions yesterday after topping a month-long online poll that decided the personality of the year who made the biggest impact in the world of sport.

Fans across Asia made Pacquiao the unanimous winner after he amassed a total of 1,459,494 votes or 90.62 percent in the finals over Malaysia’s world’s no. 1 squash player Nicol David, who managed to only garner 151,142 votes or 9.38 percent when voting in ESPN Star Sports’ Web site www.espnstar.com concluded Tuesday evening.

The Filipino ring sensation reached the finals after stunning Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in the semifinals. Pacquiao also earlier beat out Liverpool striker Fernando Torres of Spain in the quarterfinal round and motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi of Italy in the first round.

The inaugural Champion of Champions competition aimed to garner public opinion to determine the individual who has gone beyond achievements and new levels of excellence to leave his mark on sports fans in 2008.

The “People’s Choice” was chosen from the original list of 16, which was pre-determined by fans across the region through forums, and the voting mechanism was in the form of a knockout format. The sports personalities were drawn against each other in pairs through an open draw conducted live on ESPN’s SportsCenter as well as live streaming on www.espnstar.com last Nov. 28.