LOS ANGELES ? Manny Pacquiao spent the Sunday before a big fight the same way he had done in the previous years.
The Filipino icon heard a morning Mass at the Chris The King church on Rossmore Street then had lunch with his friends at his two-bedroom apartment at The Palazzo in La Brea.
More friends and fans also dropped by to wish him good luck for his scheduled 12-round scuffle with David Diaz in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao even played a card game, shot a few darts and finalized the list of people who will join him in the 300-mile journey by land to Sin City on Monday afternoon.
Pacquiao will ride in the Lincoln Navigator, the first vehicle he bought in his seven-year campaign on American soil with the kick-off point of the trip taking place in Santa Monica, where a press conference takes place at 2 p.m.
As he was chilling out with his chums, most of whom reside in Southern California, Pacquiao took time out to have his traditional haircut and one of his friends, Edward Lura, did the cutting as in the recent past.
“I feel light with this new haircut,” said Pacquiao, who also had his whiskers trimmed to perfection in preparation for the four-hour trip that would likely have a brief layover in Barstow before the final push to Las Vegas.
Before calling it a night, Pacquiao spent some time with the Filipino singer who will render the national anthem at Mandalay Bay. Also present was Jasmine Villegas, the Filipino-Mexican who belted out the US national anthem when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez last March.
Pacquiao, whose WBC super-featherweight crown will not be on the line, arrived here on May 12 to begin training at the Wild Card after a two-week workout in General Santos City and Manila.
