The four-city (Manila, New York, Los Angeles and Mexico) international media tour to promote the November 12 (November 13, Manila time) showdown between World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and challenger Juan Manuel Marquez has ended and Pacquiao is now back in the Philippines.
The hectic press tour began with Marquez being greeted by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and being given the symbolic key to the city. This was followed by a news conference at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park which was attended by thousands last Saturday.
Pacquiao and Marquez then crossed over to New York where the widely considered pound for pound King had a duet with Dan Hill, the singer who popularized Pacman’s signature song “Sometimes when we touch.” The press conference, which was open to the public, was held at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers on Wednesday.
From there, the two renowned boxers travelled to Los Angeles for an event at the Beverly Hills hotel on Thursday. This is where the 32 year old, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao responded to the claims of 38 year old, three-division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez that he should have won their two previous fights. “Everybody knows Marquez has been talking too much, so I’m thinking of a way on how to shut his mouth,” remarked Pacquiao.
For the last leg, the entourage of both fighters went to Mexico on Friday where they were surprisingly met with an estimated crowd of 30,000 excited people for a public press conference at the Plaza dela Revolucion. This is where the veteran promoter of Top Rank, Bob Arum reminisced that it was like the time when the great Muhammad Ali left America.
Pacquiao then returned to Manila to spend a week in General Santos City and Sarangani before formally opening training camp. The Filipino boxing superstar is set to train for 10 weeks to make sure that he’ll be in 100% condition whereas the Mexican warrior feels he needs to train for 12 weeks to gain speed and strength while packing in more pounds.
