This time, Mike A says he will miss Pacquiao?s fight

He did not miss Manny Pacquiao?s most dramatic fights especially when the pugilist lost to Erik Morales on March 19, 2005 in the MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas; Pacquiao?s conquest of Hector Velasquez on September 10, 2005 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles; and Pacquiao?s 10-round demolition of Morales in a rematch on January 21, 2006.

This time, First Gentleman Jose Miguel ?Mike? Arroyo?s absence in the ringside will be missed by both his critics and friends when Pacquiao defends his WBC international superfeatherweight crown versus Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City on July 2.

?I would like to (watch the fight) but I think I won?t be back in time,? Arroyo said in a text message to this writer June 28.

Arroyo, who turned 60 last June 27, is now in Santiago de Compostela, Spain on a pilgrimage and was set to fly to Madrid together with Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, their children and grandchildren.

CHEER

?I will just cheer and pray for him (Pacquiao),? Arroyo added. ?His victory is the country?s victory?cheers!?

Arroyo came under heavy criticism from the opposition when a sports columnist from a Manila-based broadsheet had alleged that he stayed in a US$50,000 per night suite room in the MGM Grand Hotel during the Pacquiao-Morales first fight.

He denied the report saying there was no such room in Las Vegas worth that much even as he blamed politics behind the hullabaloo.

Arroyo?s critics also took potshots at his gesture of climbing the ring to personally congratulate Pacquiao and calling Pres. Arroyo by long distance in a cellular phone immediately after Pacquiao blown away Morales in the 10th canto in the rematch.

Observers said either Arroyo, a true blue boxing enthusiast, had intentionally skipped the July 2 ?Mano A Mano? affair to stay away from political heat and controversy or he really wanted to watch the fight as he claimed but wasn?t aware that the schedule would coincide with the President?s state visit in Italy and Spain.