By Ronnie Nathanielsz - Pound-for-pound hero Manny Pacquiao will begin training at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach for his WBO welterweight title defense against former world champion Joshua Clottey on Monday.Pacquiao who is currently vacationing with wife Jinkee, their four children and close relatives and friends in picturesque Boracay will leave for Los Angeles on Friday, knowing that he has to train as hard as always because Clottey is a dangerous opponent.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that the Pacquiao-Clottey fight details have been finalized and the fight will take place at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys stadium of Jerry Jones which Arum described as spectacular.
Arum who watched the Dallas Cowboys game with former President George Bush and Laura Bush in the owner’s box as well as former baseball great, pitcher Nolan Ryan, said “I have never in my life seen anything like this stadium. It's unbelievable.”
He said President Bush told him “Bob you are better off without Mayweather. Everybody just wants to see Manny Pacquiao and this is a great fight and unless I am called away to make a speech I am coming to the fight.”
Arum said the kickoff press conference at the Dallas Stadium will be held on January 19 and would be “the press conference to end all press conferences with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders performing while some of them will serve as round girls during the fight. This is stupendous.”
At the same time he branded Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer’s announced plan to stage a Mayweather fight against a still unnamed opponent at the MGM Grand on the same date as an act that “shows how malicious he (Schaefer) has become.” He said Pacquiao has to fight in March because he has to campaign for the May elections in which he is seeking the lone congressional seat from the province of Sarangani. Arum said Mayweather could fight in April or May but Schaefer was malicious and wants to stage a fight on the same day. Arum said “who cares” even as he suggested that Schaefer “go back to banking and leave boxing to the real professionals.”
Arum also touched on the alleged email referred to by ESPN boxing commentator Teddy Atlas which he said he was informed about by a source whom he trusted. The source according to Atlas claimed that some unidentified person supposedly from Team Pacquiao had asked that should Pacquiao found to be “dirty” after a blood test as demanded by the Mayweather camp whether it could be kept secret in order not to hurt the planned Pacquiao-Mayweather March 13 fight.
Arum said “there is no email. Period. This is a made-up, malicious story. Trust me, there is no email. Who will send a stupid email like that? Yes you can test but don’t say nothing if it comes back dirty. Then why test? He likened the allegations against Pacquiao without a shred of evidence to the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy who accused many individuals of being communists where “you had to prove your innocence” which was contrary to the accepted principle of being innocent until proven guilty. Arum charged “this is the same type of tactic but everybody is aware of this and public opinion is completely on Manny’s side, so we’ve moved on and don’t wish to discuss this anymore. The publicity battle is over. We’ve kicked their ass.”
Source: philboxing.com
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