Boxing News Boxing News
© Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions
While Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. spend time sending verbal jabs across the aisle in preparation for their November showdown, Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya spent most of their time playing to their bases in San Francisco on Saturday at their afternoon press conference. The stop was the fifth of a scheduled sixth, coming off two stops in Texas as well as a pair in Chicago and New York City.
Coming off a date in Houston with a mostly Mexican fan base at hand, San Francisco presented a stark contrast as the Filipinos held the majority, and were very vocal in their support of their native son, Pacquiao. Promoter Bob Arum did nothing to sell his fighter short and stirred the pro-Pacquiao crowd into a frenzy.
“In World War II, the Philippines fought alongside the U.S. against the Japanese to keep their independence and have always been a nation of fighters.” asserted Arum. “The Philippines produce the best fighters in the world, and Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter the Philippines have ever produced.”
A humbled Pacquiao expressed his adulation for his supporters, who came out to see him off to Los Angeles for his final stop on the tour, thanking the crowd in Tagalog for coming out while keeping jabs at his opponent to a minimum except for a poke at Oscar’s age.
“Yesterday, Oscar said to remember the Alamo, well Oscar, I’m not old enough to remember the Alamo,” joked Pacquiao before assuring the crowd that he is prepared for a war. “I’m a warrior and will fight to my last breath, on my last leg,” Pacquiao said to a rumble of cheers before making way for Oscar.
While the De La Hoya contingency was outnumbered, they weren’t to be outdone by their Philippine counterparts and cheered nonstop for Oscar throughout his talking. Oscar countered Arum’s portrayal of Filipinos as fighters with his support for the American troops overseas before taking aim Pacquiao. “Manny, on December 6th, look into my eyes, fight hard and fight in front of me, be ready for a war.” warned De La Hoya before serenading the crowd with Tony Bennett’s San Francisco classic. “Don’t say it, I left my heart in San Francisco.”
While both fighters remained relatively civil, a bit of bad blood brewed between the fighter’s two trainers as De La Hoya trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain didn’t approve of a gag Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach played on his former pupil, De La Hoya.
Roach, who trained De La Hoya for his mega bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. as well as his contest earlier this year with Steve Forbes, pleaded publicly to Arum for the fight to be made in the days following Pacquiao’s annihilation of David Diaz. Earlier this week, he stated it was Oscar’s inability to “pull the trigger” on his punches that led him to believe Pacquiao would win the fight.
Playing on those remarks, Roach opened his speech with a prop handy. “Oscar, I brought a present for you” Roach reached into a plastic bag and brandished a toy gun before turning to De La Hoya. “You know you can’t pull the trigger anymore!” exclaimed Roach to a chorus of laughter.
De La Hoya’s new trainer, the legendary Beristain, was not quite as amused. The no nonsense Mexican native was very frank in his thoughts on Roach and the toy gun gag. “I just want to say I’m very disappointed in Freddie Roach, I used to respect him as a trainer but he has lost all of his ethics,” responded Beristain in Spanish. “I think he is expressing jealousy.”
Pacquiao and De La Hoya meet on December 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. The fight sold out within hours of the tickets going on sale and all involved regard it as a “dream match.” “I look at all the monuments on this press tour, they represent dreams of those who formed this country” said De La Hoya, peering at the Golden Gate Bridge. “That’s what this fight represents for boxing, it’s a dream match and it’s going to be one hell of a match, rest assured.”
The matchup will be carried on HBO PPV stateside and made available to 70 million homes across the country and countless more worldwide. The live gate is the 2nd highest in history and the PPV numbers are sure to rank among the best in history. The press tour comes to it’s close on Tuesday, when both fighters meet in front of the Whittier Boulevard Arch in Los Angeles where De La Hoya is most revered.
