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THE PACMAN IS BACK ? LET THE SHOW BEGIN By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Tue, 13 May 2008  Los Angeles, CA -- Manny Pacquiao must have completed all or most of his current commitments back in the Philippines. Thus, moments ago, he finally blew into town (he was scheduled to arrive last Saturday, May 10th) confident that he will have enough time to train and beat WBC Lightweight champ, David Diaz of Chicago. Pacquiao was supposed to do an eight-week training regimen for the Diaz fight at the Wildcard Gym with Freddie Roach, but that will now be at least a week less. Pacquiao being late is no longer that much of a deal. He makes up for it anyway when he puts his heart in his training. Will seven weeks give or take a day or two, be enough to prepare for the fight with the heavier and bigger David Diaz, a fight that most, including Bob Arum and Freddie Roach has labeled as ?tough?? Who is to know? However, just as Roach has mentioned in the past, when Pacquiao gets into a serious training mode, he always give a 101% effort. Thus, the abbreviated time does not really matter that much to Roach. He knows that Pacquiao will be ready come June 28th. Amen, we say to that! Also, it has been mentioned that Diaz ?on his best day has no shot at Pacquiao.? So, does it really matter if Pacquiao has only 7 weeks to train? Top Rank Promotions scheduled a press conference tomorrow noon at the Catalina Ballroom of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to hype the Diaz-Pacquiao tiff. It will be the first formal meeting between the two world champions after the contract for their June 28th fight was signed. A few more ?press conferences? are projected to be held in San Diego, and San Francisco. Top Rank is also planning to have one right at the ?heart? of the Los Angeles Filipino community. That however, could pose a little problem - location wise, that is. Although the City of LA has designated an area in and around Temple Street, a few miles west of downtown LA as a Filipino hub, (?Historic Filipino Town?, they call it) the general area is not really a central place where Filipinos predominate. Unlike the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese who congregate, work and live in areas designated as their ?town?, Filipinos don?t. Because they speak English fluently and have no problem communicating with mainstream America, they tend to live and work anywhere they please. Another problem in holding a Press Con in a ?Filipino area? is the fact that there are not too many appropriate places at the ?Filipino Town? where one can have a top-notched food service and hold a press conference for a large number of media people the way Top Rank has always done to hype a Pacquiao fight. However, given the expertise of the Top Rank people, there is no doubt in my mind that they can find a place in LA they can dub as ?hub of the Filipino community?. Come to think of it, perhaps they can rent and use the very humble facilities of the FACLA (Filipino American Community, Los Angeles) Center along Temple Street. Just have the food catered and it should be fine. The Center has a sound system, an air-conditioned hall and a decent parking area. Using the FACLA Center may even interest more Filipinos to watch the fight either live or on PPV. Arum would have loved to have tomorrow?s press conference last week when all the media people that mattered were in town covering the de la Hoya- Forbes fight at the Home Depot Center in the City of Carson. But with the many ?commitments? Pacquiao had in the Philippines, including such things as being drawn in community issues like releasing baby turtles in the wild, to attending a military function involving a friend, Lt. Gen. Alex Yano of the Philippine Armed Forces, the said press conference was just not meant to be. Pacquiao simply can?t be in several places at the same time. Arum, thus had to wait. But that?s no big deal. Arum knows that within the seven week period Pacquiao will be training, there will be plenty of time to go around and hype the fight even outside of Los Angeles. He could always put the Pacman on his leased jet and fly him all over. With Pacquiao now in town to begin his daily grind at the Wildcard Gym, the multitude of ?Pac-maniacs? who endlessly showed concerns that the Pacman may not have enough time to prepare for Diaz can now breathe a sigh of relief. But with the issue about ?training time? settled, ?Pac-maniacs? need to find other issues to debate that will allow them to keep their names up on internet boxing forums. After-all, that is part of the fun of being a Pacman fan. But for now suffice it to say, the Pacman is back, let the show begin! Top photo: Manny Pacquiao smiles as he arrives at the LAX tonight to start training at the Wildcard Gym in Hollywood in preparation for his fight with WBC lightweight champion David Diaz on June 28 in Las Vegas. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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