Boxing News Boxing News
© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing
“Manny! Manny! Manny!” shouted the Filipino fans as Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao kicked off their six-city press tour at Liberty Island Wednesday afternoon in New York City. Although both the Filipino and Latino fans came out to support their fighters it was the Filipinos that drowned out much of the press conference with their cheers for the #1 pound for pound champion, Pacquiao.
The two fighters will meet in “The Dream Match” on December 6th at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada in a bout that sold out in a matter of hours with a gross gate of almost $17 million, making it the second largest gate in boxing history.
Pacquiao 47-3-2 (35) is considered by most to be the best pound for pound fighter in the sport today. In his last bout he moved up to lightweight to defeat David Diaz for the WBC title and will be moving up two additional weight classes to welterweight where he will face De La Hoya
“I know you are excited to see me on December 6 in Las Vegas,” said Pacquiao. “I assure you I’m more excited than you! Some people are criticizing me; some are saying I’m taking this fight for the money. I will prove all the critics wrong, it will be a great boxing match.”
As his fans cheered him during his speech, Pacquiao closed by stating, “This is no mis-match on December 6… I will be fighting to give glory and honor to my country!”
De La Hoya 39-5 (30) will go into “The Dream Match” with a height, reach and weight advantage over the smaller Pacquiao. Like his Filipino challenger he also fought at lightweight but that was back in 1995 and since then he has fought as high as the middleweight division but promises to make the 147 pound welterweight limit without any problems.
The Golden Boy was moved to be speaking at the Statue of Liberty, “It is a privilege for me to be standing here right next to our lady, it is a privilege and an honor, with great respect I have to say this is one of the most special moments of my entire career.” De La Hoya continued, “Being here is by far the best feeling ever, I want to thank New York, I want to thank everyone who made this possible.”
“When I read the reports from Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao, it was an instant threat,” commented De La Hoya. “I need this type of event to get me into the mountains and seclude myself for three months to prepare myself. Yes I am 35 years old challenging a young, hungry, fast explosive fighter like Manny Pacquiao, but when I have everything to lose and nothing to gain, to me that’s the motivational factor. With Manny Pacquiao there is no boring fight and that’s what I’m looking forward to, it’s an honor for me to be in the ring with him.”
After the press conference both fighters were interviewed by television and print media before being whisked away by promoters and public relations personnel. Although both fighters took some time to meet fans and sign some autographs special mention should be made about Pacquiao
During his last television interview, Pacquiao was urged to hurry to the ferry so they could leave but he insisted on staying to get a chance to meet his fans and sign as many autographs as he could. Although he was not able to get to all of them, he signed at least fifty items and posed for pictures while he made the promoters and public relations personnel wait for him.
