LAS VEGAS—Bob Arum knows Chavit Singson. Or maybe not.
The Top Rank top dog, who once “murdered” the name of the former Ilocos Sur governor, made amends Wednesday afternoon during the press conference for Saturday’s fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto by finally pronouncing Singson’s name right and even calling him “a good friend.”
“There was this gentleman whose name I didn’t get last year and I simply referred to him as Gov. Whatever,” Arum said during introductions for the personalities seated at the stage of the press conference.
“But instead of getting angry, he became in the next month, the next year, my very good friend.
“His name is Governor Chavit Singson.”
In 2008, in a press conference for the fight between Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya, the veteran promoter butchered the name of the deputy national security adviser also during the introductions.
Singson, Pacquiao’s good friend and benefactor, was a last-second inclusion to the VIP table and the pound-for-pound king asked Arum to introduce to the press the man who blew the whistle and helped bring down a presidency.
“And now we have a very famous personage from the Philippines, Gov. Takasan,” Arum said then.
Pacquiao hurriedly corrected Arum, but the latter still got it all wrong.
“Taka-jingson… Whatever,” Arum said, drawing whooping laughter.
This time, Arum got it right—the name, at least.
In what could raise eyebrows halfway around the globe, Arum described Singson as “a great Filipino” and “a patriot.”
Despite persistent reports that Speaker Prospero Nograles, who is in the United States on official duty, will lead a 20-congressman delegation to watch the fight live at the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena, Singson has been the only political personality to make his presence public in this gambling mecca.
There has been no word so far when the Philippines’ top political personalities will hit town—if they haven’t already.
Actually, Singson had been out of sight until the press conference, when he was ushered onto the stage to take a seat in Pacquiao’s half of the VIP seating.
