ARLINGTON – While WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao gets ready to leave on a chartered plane with his entourage of about 120 for the three-hour flight to Los Angeles the day after whipping Joshua Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium here, a 56-seat 2007 Mercedes Setra coach rented by Top Rank for the Filipino icon will be driven 1,800 miles back to the Las Vegas garage by Mitch Carter.
The Setra was used to transport Pacquiao’s team from the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center near Dallas to the Cowboys Stadium and back during the fighter’s one-week stay in the Lone Star state.
Top Rank arranged for the coach to be driven by Carter from Las Vegas to Texas. The coach was a moving advertisement for the Pacquiao-Clottey bout as the entire vehicle was plastered with giant Pacquiao photographs announcing “The Event” at the Cowboys Stadium.
Carter, 59, was all alone in driving the coach from Las Vegas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, then to Grapevine where the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center is located. The trip took 31 hours, including an eight-hour rest stop overnight in Albuquerque.
The coach is part of a fleet of over 100 vehicles owned by the Alan Waxler Group of Las Vegas. The fleet includes 15 Setra-type coaches and luxury SUVs. The cost of a 2007 Mercedes Setra is $430,000.
Carter said Top Rank has rented the coach and his personal services as a transportation specialist since Pacquiao’s fight against Oscar de la Hoya in 2008. For Pacquiao’s fights in Las Vegas, the coach is sent to pick up passengers in Los Angeles. Carter has become a huge Pacquiao fan.
“Manny’s a generous and wonderful person,” said Carter. “Sometimes, he rides in the coach when travelling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. There’s no one like him. He’s not just a great champion but also a great guy. He deserves the best.”
Carter said he doesn’t know how much Top Rank pays for the rental of the coach and he has never accepted money from Pacquiao.
“I do my job, that’s all,” said Carter. “But Manny gives me tickets to his fights. He usually gives me four tickets at about $500 each. I’m just happy to be able to watch him perform. I guess I’m part of Team Pacquiao now.”
Carter attended the Holy Mass celebrated by Fr. Marlon Beof at the Gaylord Texan convention hall the morning of the Pacquiao-Clottey bout and was surrounded by Pacquiao’s fans who are his regular passengers.
Carter said the coach he brought in from Las Vegas had logged 131,171 miles and will be close to 135,000 when it goes back to the garage tomorrow.
Aside from driving for Waxler’s charter services, Carter is involved with ACN video phones as an independent representative. He and wife Marianne work with ACN.
“The video phone is revolutionizing the communications industry,” said Carter. “At the moment, there are 20 countries all over the world marketing ACN’s video phones. I’m hoping to introduce it to the Philippines. I’ve been trying to sit down with Manny about it but he’s been busy training and I don’t want to be a distraction.”
Carter said he and his wife began working with ACN over a year ago and they expect to make it a full-time relationship, earning what could be a six-figure income a month.
“By 2012, ACN estimates about 365 million households in the US to be using the video phone,” said Carter. “At home, it’s plugged into the internet. And if you’re mobile, you can use an air card. The charge is $32 a month for unlimited use, including local long distance with an activation fee of $215 and $99 for the unit. ACN’s head office is in North Carolina and it’s been around since 1993.”
Carter said he plans to pursue promoting the ACN video phone in the Philippines through a Filipino dealer. – Joaquin Henson
