MANILA, Philippines – Trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Alex Ariza won?t be here for the press conference and public extravaganza to kick-off the 25,000-mile, four-city global tour introducing the WBO welterweight title fight between defending champion Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Nov. 12 but the cast of characters for the show will be star-studded just the same.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told The Star yesterday that Roach will be tied up with the US Olympic boxing program this week and Ariza has a prior commitment in Los Angeles. Arum said Roach will join the press tour in New York on Sept. 6.
It?s the first time that a press tour involving Pacquiao will include a stop in Manila. Arum described the world-wide tour as ?historic? and ?appropriate.? He arrives here Thursday morning from Los Angeles with Marquez, Zander Promotions president Fernando Beltran and Top Rank publicists Fred Sternburg of Sternburg Communications and Ricardo Jimenez. Also in the visiting party are Marquez? Hall of Fame trainer Nacho Beristain and cornermen Raul de Anda and Dr. Plutarco Gatica. Zanfer executive coordinator Juan Carlos Torres is planing in with the group. They will be billeted at the Manila Hotel.
?We?re all excited about the fight,? said Arum. ?We thought it would be appropriate for the tour to start in Manila and end in Mexico City. The Mexican Ambassador to the Philippines (Tomas Javier Calvillo Unna) is very excited, too. We know about the plans for Manila and we?re expecting a big crowd for the Luneta event.?
The Manila leg will start with a late morning press conference at the Manila Hotel on Saturday. Then, a program resembling a variety show will be staged for the public early afternoon at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta with GMA-7 celebrities Dingdong Dantes and Rachelle Ann Go co-hosting the affair. The Luneta event is expected to draw a crowd of 100,000. The popular singing trio La Diva will sing the Philippine National Anthem and the UST chorale will do the Mexican National Anthem to get the show on the road. Arum, Pacquiao and Marquez will speak to the fans on stage. Showbiz celebrities will entertain the fans with numbers in between the fight talk. After the program, Pacquiao will stay on to host a live episode of his TV show ?Manny Many Prizes.?
