LOS ANGELES — Just how big is Manny Pacquiao in America?
Well, big enough to merit the attention of some of the biggest and most prestigious media outlets in the US.
During Thursday’s media day at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Pacquiao was besieged with requests for interviews not only from the Philippine and Mexican reporters but from US media representatives as well.
A news team from television station ABC was in attendance and later interviewed Pacquiao after his workout that lasted over two hours.
Then there was the tandem from The Los Angeles Times, one of the America’s most influential newspapers.
The Times coverage duo was made up of staff member Lance Pugmire and multi-awarded columnist Bill Dwyre, who was the paper’s sports editor for 25 years until last year. They are traveling to Las Vegas next week to cover the fight.
Both were given the green light to spend some time with Pacquiao inside the cramped dressing room and were satisfied with what they had heard from the 28-year-old Filipino buzzsaw, whose ring exploits have mesmerized boxing fans the world over.
Magna Media International, the Las Vegas-based company that was tapped by Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions to handle the issuance of credentials for the scheduled 12-rounder penciled at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, revealed that there is a high demand for accreditation for the Pacquiao-Barrera encounter.
Andy Olson, who heads Magna Media told the Bulletin in an email also on Thursday that while the company does not “provide the number of credential request received, however I can certainly tell you that it is a broad international media corps representing a variety of countries and cultures.”
