There is no question that Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao and ?The Golden Boy? Oscar De La Hoya are the biggest draws in boxing today and have been for some time.
This was evident when the world?s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Pacquiao and the former Olympic gold medalist and ten-time champion De La Hoya visited De La Hoya?s East Los Angeles neighborhood where he grew up on the final stop of their historic, six-stop pre-fight promotional tour.
Some 5,000 fans braved the weather on a hot summer day to get a glimpse of their heroes at the end of a whirlwind jaunt that began in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York and wound its way through the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Space Center in Houston, The Alamo in San Antonio, the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and finally the famous Whittier Boulevard Arch in East LA.
It was a dream send-off for two of the most exciting and charismatic fighters who help keep the sport alive and sustain the public interest in boxing as they prepared to head for their training camps to prepare for their December 6 ?Dream Match? at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The showdown will be watched ?live? at the venue by a sell-out crowd that shelled out $17 million for tickets and an estimated pay-per-view buys of at least two million aside from a worldwide audience on free TV. Here in the Philippines Solar Sports will telecast the fight card on what will presumably be a delayed basis over Solar Sports cable channels and GMA 7 on free TV.
Pacquiao who has already begun training at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach looked cool and relaxed and even as De La Hoya played host in his former neighborhood, carried the fight to ?The Golden Boy? by saying that ?a lot of Mexicans are behind me and I?m going to prove to everyone that I am No.1 pound-for-pound.?
De La Hoya said he was "just happy to be back in East LA where I grew up," and announced that he'll head to Big Bear with his team and start training tomorrow.
Roach says he is confident that Pacquiao?s speed will be the deciding factor along with the fact that De La Hoya has a hard time fighting southpaws while Arum drove home the point by saying ?speed kills.?
De La Hoya, on the other hand has acquired the services of the masterful Ignacio ?Nacho? Beristain and believes that his experience in Juan Manuel Marquez? hard-fought encounters with Pacquiao will be of immense help.
De La Hoya who is bigger, taller and enjoys a sizeable reach advantage has said he will use all of these to win by knockout but Pacquiao has insisted that on fight night he will erase the concerns of those who didn?t want this fight to happen and will ?prove them wrong.?
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who has a remarkable facility to spice things up said they were launching a contest to find what was described as ?the hottest? Filipino female and ?hottest? Mexican female with the winner being announced December 6.
Top Rank will release additional details in the days ahead.
Top photo: Boxing fans come out in droves to be at the press conference of 'The Dream Match' between superstars Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao at East Los Angeles today. Photo by Hoganphotos / Golden Boy.
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