Manny Pacquiao has a short and simple message to David Diaz.
“Tell him to train hard,” said Pacquiao over the phone yesterday when told that Diaz, the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight (135 lbs) king has entered the initial phase of his training for the much-awaited June 28 clash at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Diaz began sweating it out the last two weeks, doing roadwork and shadow-boxing after the 31-year-old Mexican-American got formal confirmation that his turn against Filipino southpaw has come.
Pacquiao currently holds the WBC super-featherweight (130 lbs) title and claims that he is also working out a sweat the past few days to get himself ready for the tough grind at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood in the first week of May.
“I have also been running,” said Pacquiao, who narrowly got past Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico in winning the WBC super-featherweight title last March 15.
Top Rank head Bob Arum said tickets will possibly be made available to the public this weekend and as soon as Pacquiao arrives in Los Angeles, he will call a press conference to officially announce the event with Diaz flying in from Chicago.
Arum also plans to bring Pacquiao to cities with a large Filipino population, citing San Francisco and San Diego and even Vancouver (British Columbia) in Canada for publicity purposes aimed at maximizing the pay-per-view revenue.
Since Top Rank is the sole promoter this time, unlike in Pacquiao?s last two fights with Marco Antonio Barrera and Marquez when it had to share the hosting chores with Oscar De La Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotions, Pacquiao?s own company ? MP Promotions ? stands to get a sizeable cut in the profits.
Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal is scheduled to fly to the US any day now to personally finalize the paperwork for the Diaz fight.
