NEW YORK — He might or might not be the best-known athlete on the planet, as his promoter, Bob Arum, said at a news conference to hype his Nov. 12 clash with Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. But Manny Pacquiao is far and away the best boxer/singer in the universe.
He kicked off the news conference Tuesday morning at Chelsea Piers with a perfect rendition of “Sometimes When We Touch,” along with the original composer and singer of that sentimental ballad, Dan Hill. Maybe Simon Cowell would have termed it “pitchy,” but Pacquiao sold every note with aplomb.
The sparkle in his eye while he sang the lines, “And sometimes when we touch/The honesty’s too much/And I have to close my eyes and hide/I wanna hold you ’til I die/’Til we both break down and cry/I wanna hold you ’til the fear in me subsides,” without a trace of Gen X irony, left some of even the most crusty fight writers with something resembling tears in their eyes.
Pacquiao (53-3-2, with 38 KOs) does get somewhat of a royal treatment from the boxing media, who respond to his personality — the impishness, the persistent humility — the way fight fans have. When he added “Congressman” to his r?sum? last year, winning a seat in the Philippines, the respect ticked up another notch. If and when Pacquiao, who turns 33 in December, wants to write a self-help book focusing on time management, one has to figure he’ll conquer that arena as well.
Marquez (53-5-1, with 39 KOs), most fight pundits figure, won’t prove as challenging a foe as he did when they clashed in 2004 (it was a draw, although Marquez went down three times in the first round) and again in 2008 (Pacquiao won a split decision). For starters, Marquez is now 38, and some fight watchers say they’ve detected slippage in his recent bouts.
