Bob Arum may not get his wish of having Manny Pacquiao in Los Angeles by May 3.
Arum, the lone promoter of Pacquiao?s June 28 fight with WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, said the other day he had planned a press conference to be graced by the two boxers on May 3 in Los Angeles.
But there seems to be some miscommunication or lack of it because Pacquiao, according to his personal secretary, is booked for a series of engagements here and abroad until the first week of May.
Bren Evangelio, Pacquiao?s secretary, yesterday said the reigning WBC super-featherweight champion is in his hometown in Gen. Santos City catching up on his studies at the Notre Dame College.
On Saturday, Pacquiao will be in Cebu to play the role of Lapu-Lapu in a re-enactment of the Battle of Cebu which took place on April 27, 1521 when Lapu-Lapu and the men of Mactan, armed with spears, faced Spanish soldiers led by Portuguese captain Ferdinand Magellan.
Then from April 30 to May 4, Pacquiao will be in China where he was invited to tour the sports venues and facilities to be used in the Beijing Olympics in August. It may be part of a plan to create some ?Pacquiao awareness? in China.
Arum had said before that Pacquiao may fight in China.
The China trip, if it indeed pushes through, eliminates the possibility of Pacquiao being in Los Angeles for the press conference being planned by Arum.
Still, on May 9, Pacquiao will be special guest during the turnover rites for the new Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano who takes the place of Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.
Yano is a friend of Pacquiao?s, an adopted son of the Philippine Army. Just recently, Pacquiao visited Yano in his Camp Aguinaldo headquarters, and they played basketball with some friends.
?It?s a promise by Manny to Gen. Yano that he will be there during the turnover rites,? said Evangelio, who said that based on the present schedule, the earliest Pacquiao could get to LA is on the second week of May.
The fight is scheduled June 28, and this would leave Pacquiao six weeks to train at the Wild Card Gym in LA.
Pacquiao trained eight full weeks in LA for the Juan Manuel Marquez rematch last month, and the result was a close win over the former champion. Trainer Freddie Roach said Pacquiao should train as long, as hard for Diaz.
But Pacquiao said he?s in shape, running in the morning in Gen. Santos City. There are also plans for him to spend a few days in Cebu, and train before his fans there, before flying to LA.
Arum thought May 3 was a good date for the press conference, saying he, ?didn?t want to hold it earlier because I didn?t want Manny to go through the inconvenience of coming to the United States for the press conference, flying back to the Philippines and then coming back for training.?
Arum has drawn up ?an ambitious schedule? or promotion for Pacquiao and his opponent, one that would take them to cities like San Diego, San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago on board a private plane.
Arum, meanwhile, said over 7,000 tickets to the coming fight, set at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and dubbed ?Lethal Combination? were sold last Saturday, the first day of ticket sales.
The Events Center of Mandalay Bay holds 12,000 and with still over 60 days left another sell-out looms.
