COVERING a Manny Pacquiao boxing match is always an adventure of sorts. You never know what to expect. As the clich? goes, the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.
Bernabe Concepcion
On Friday, Oct. 5, the night before the fight, I was interviewing Aljoe Jaro, the manager of 19-year-old Filipino boxer Bernabe Concepcion (24-1-16 KOs) from Virac, Catanduanes. Despite the loud music at Club Asia in Planet Hollywood where Pacquiao fans were partying to usher in fight night, Aljoe managed to tell me that Concepcion won his match the night before against Salvador Garcia of Mexico at the Hard Rock Caf? by a knockout. The fight was Concepcion’s fourth in the U.S., with three of his previous fights as undercard matches to Pacquiao’s main event
Aljoe proudly said that Concepcion was the only Filipino boxer during the scheduled fight because the promoters wanted to make sure that the focus of the Filipino media was on him.
“We have 2 or 3 more fights before we go for the world title,” said Jaro.
“Masaya ako dahil maganda ang pinakita niya,” he continued, “He has the potential to become the next Manny Pacquiao.”
It’s not surprising that many Filipino boxers would want to become the next Pacquiao. But Concepcion, who turned pro at the age of 16, might just be it. He is currently the WBC World Youth Champion and the NABF Super Bantamweight Champion. But only time will tell.
Fight credentials
Even if I went to claim my press pass early on Oct. 6, I was still unable to avoid the crush of members of the media who there for the same purpose. That didn’t mean that claiming my press pass was uninteresting though.
The kindly old man in front of me was claiming a none-photo ID for a VIP. He was telling the person in charge that the VIP would be seated at the ringside ($600 ticket) and might possibly have ring access.
“His name is No-lee dey Cas-trow,” the man said. “He’s the vice president of the Philippines.”
The person in charge produced the credential with a photo. Both of them, obviously not Filipino, looked at the photo of the unfamiliar guy who was supposed to be the vice president.
To answer their questioning looks, I jumped in the conversation, “That’s the vice president. That’s Noli de Castro. I know because I’m Filipino.”
They both thanked me for helping out, although I think they both wondered why I said I was Filipino when I looked Hispanic.
A few minutes later, I saw someone who looked like Bacolod City, Philippines Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia. My mom had previously mentioned that Leonardia always carried Manny’s belt to the ring during his fights.
I haven’t seen him in years but decided to approach him anyway. I asked him about the responsibility of carrying Pacquiao?s belt. He said that he has done it thrice: during the match with Oscar Larios in Manila and twice for the matches
with Morales.
After a few minutes of conversation, he excused himself to take care of his credentials, with which he was having difficulty with initially. I saw him carry the belt to the ring that evening, so he was able to sort things out with his credentialing.
Pre-fight press conference
A pre-fight press conference was held at 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 6. Bob Arum of Top Rank was readily available at the press room, while Oscar de la Hoya of Golden Boy was almost always surrounded by a group of people.
When both took to the stage, the flash bulbs went off, one after the other. After previously feuding over who had the rights to promote Manny, Bob and Oscar now seemed to have a cordial relationship going on. They excitedly announced upcoming fights co-presented by their companies.
With the cooperation of the two companies, they said it would take boxing to the next level and will focus more attention to the sport, from the undercards to the main draws. Everyone seemed to be happy with the cordial reconciliation, most especially the senior
representative from HBO.
Post-fight press conference
The post-fight press conference at Mandalay Bay found Manny Pacquiao in high spirits. His statements to the media in his broken English belied a light-hearted and humorous side to him. Here are some edited quotes:
?Good evening everybody. I would like to thank God for giving me the strength tonight. I won the fight and nobody got hurt.?
?To the media and press, thank you for supporting us. Because of you, everybody knows of this fight.?
?I think that I?m just an ordinary fighter. I can fight a good fighter and the best fighter. I don?t want [it to get to] my head that I?m popular.?
In reference to Barrera?s power in the ring: ?Would you believe if I tell you I?m hurt?? (With a laugh.) ?Actually I?m hurt but not like our fight before and my last few fights. He still has a lot of power. Never underestimate Barrera.?
In answer to moving up in weight class: ?Anytime! I can fight in the 135 pounds. There?s no problem. We?re planning to fight in the 148. [Laughs.] Just kidding.?
In answer to the question, ?Did you prepare for a dirty fight against Barrera??: ?We know already from the first fight that he did that then. We?re not surprised tonight that he did it again. Tonight, I?m hurt. Look at my chin. But there?s a referee, so it?s part of the game.?
In answer to the question on whether the rematch with Barrera was harder than the first: ?Well, to compare, it?s harder this time because both of us have the same style, counter-puncher.?
In reference to the fight with Barrera: ?I hope [that] there are no hard feelings. It?s part of our career to fight, to box in the ring. Outside of the ring, we?re still friends. Everybody [is] friends. We just go out there and entertain people. That?s what we?re trying to do.?
For his part, Marco Antonio Barrera was more sentimental compared to Pacquiao?s jubilance. Contrary to popular belief, he said, this was going to be his last fight as a professional boxer.
Here are some edited quotes:
?Well, I am happy. Thanks to all the people who came to support me. This is my last fight inside this beautiful sport. I want to say thank you to my mom, my dad, my sister, my brothers, my wife, my kids, the doctors??
?Now, I say bye to this beautiful sport where I find the best.?
?Thanks to Golden Boy too. My first fight with Manny Pacquiao was with Golden Boy. And now, my last fight is the same, with Manny Pacquiao.?
In answer to the question of who would be able to beat Pacquiao: ?Valero!? (Super featherweight champion Edwin Valero from Venezuela.)
The sport of boxing, where Filipinos excel, has two things going for it: the cordial relationship between the two biggest fight promoters and these fighters who make the ring an exciting place to watch and who know how to ham it up in the media. Boxing has never been this exciting. ?Til next fight.
