SACRAMENTO, California–That the impending Pacquiao-Marquez mega-rematch will be fought on the Ides of March may well be part of the hype orchestrated by master promoter Bob Arum.
The Ides of March, or the 15th of that month, marks the day Julius Caesar was treacherously slain by a group of senators in 44 BC, an event famously retold in Shakespeare’s play about the Roman dictator.
In modern times, the term has become synonymous with imminent doom, as muttered by the soothsayer warning Caesar: “Beware the Ides of March.”
Whose dreadful fate is being foretold come March 15, 2008 during the pay per view (PPV) match at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas?
Arum insists it is Juan Manuel’s.
Seers in the Marquez camp are adamant that it is Manny’s kismet to fall that day.
Pacquiao pummeled Marquez down to the canvas three times in the first round of their fight in 2004, but Marquez recovered to claim a draw.
Marquez is vowing to keep his belt and stop Pacquiao’s master plan of total domination of Mexican fighters. To date the Filipino hero has conquered South of the Border legends Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.
“I don’t know why people think he’s the Mexican killer,” Marquez, the other Mexican star was quoted by the news media during the press conference announcing their rematch in Los Angeles a few days ago. “He (Pacquiao) didn’t beat me. This fight is for me, my fans, and the Mexican people.”
And the buildup continues for the much-awaited bout dubbed “Unfinished Business” by Arum’s Top Rank Promotions for the Mexican’s WBC super featherweight crown.
Meantime, Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) who seemed to have patented a knack for late-round heroics continues to train feverishly.
So does Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KOs), whose bouts will never get criticized for periods of inaction–a constant not lost on the Harvard-trained lawyer-turned-promoter Arum.
As a perpetual punching machine, Pacquiao delights customers of PPV. At $49.95 a pop, it is a lucrative market exploited by Arum to the hilt.
Manny is training behind closed doors at the Wild Card Gym owned by his trainer, Freddie Roach.
The doors to the gym on top of a Laundromat in Hollywood are shut while Freddie and Manny strategize.
The idea is to keep away gawkers, autograph seekers and potential spies sent by Juan Manuel’s handlers.
But that does not mean Pacquiao’s fans among Los Angeles’ multitude of Filipinos would go away even in the dead of winter.
Roach, in a chat with this writer and colleague Recah Trinidad in Sacramento during last summer’s World Cup of boxing here, said Manny’s fans wait on the parking lot to get his attention.
The trainer said that after a two-hour workout, Pacquiao usually spends time signing autographs and taking pictures with at least 200 diehards that gather near the gym.
It would be interesting to know if fans and hangers-on alike will camp in the Wild Card parking lot in the next few nights, when all of California is shivering from an Arctic blast. Winter has been marked by icy rain in the lowlands and snow in the foothills. The snow-clogged south and northbound lanes of Interstate 5, known as the Grapevine, towards LA remains closed. It may be 46 degrees Fahrenheit (7.777 Celsius) in Hollywood, but the wind-chill factor makes it freezing outside.
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Paging Ilocos Norte Gov. Michael Keon. A group of California alumni of the Ilocos Norte College of Arts and Trades (Incat) is arriving in Laoag City for the school’s 100th anniversary and the Pamulenawen festival next month. The group is springing for some of the construction cost of an alumni house on campus and would like to pay a courtesy call on the former Gintong Alay program director. How about it, old buddy?
