ARLINGTON, TEXAS – I have written about “The Banner” several times in the past and today you get to see it. We pulled Freddie Roach from an interview after the final press conference yesterday at Cowboys Stadium and he stood in front of it to give it a sense of authenticity.
I “came into possession” of it the morning after the great Pacquiao win over Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio, Texas in November of 2003. A beer company put it up at the old Jesse James Leija Gym on West Avenue where Pacquiao was doing his final training in the days before the fight.
I was fortunate enough to get Manny and Freddy to autograph it to me and my family later that morning.
For about a month afterward it hung from a wall in the bedroom of a young nephew in San Antonio that I was turning into a fight fan.
It then was in my home for about three years looking for a permanent wall to call home. Then it was rolled up and sat in a storage facility in San Antonio until about 2006 when it moved with me to Dallas.
“The Banner” has made occasional appearances at PPV fight watching parties and most of Manny’s TV fights the last few years.
Maybe I’ll offer it in exchange for some private lessons from Freddie Roach and he can hang it up at the Wild Card Gym for more people to see. Just an idea. I don’t think he has the space honestly.
