Florham Park, NJ, March 31 ? Last week, Murad Muhammad, the lead promoter of the upcoming match in Las Vegas between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, paid homage to his partner for the May 8 event, Bob Arum, Marquez?s promoter. ?The press conference to announce this great fight on May 8 was very fruitful and it gave me the opportunity to thank Bob,? said Muhammad. ?He was one of my mentors early in my career,? he added, referring to the time when Arum was the promoter of Muhammad Ali and Muhammad worked for the legendary champion. ?It was during those years that I learned a lot of the attributes that make Bob a great promoter.?
Muhammad also wants it known that, ?Manny is not looking past Marquez as people want to believe. Manny is not only an asset to the Philippines but to all of Asia and he wants to put them on the map, so every fight is very serious for Manny Pacquiao. Manny wants to make the statement that Asian fighters are a force to be reckoned with, and that he will beat anyone that I and HBO put in front of him. He wants to prove this against Marquez, May 8 and Erik Morales later in the summer. Then he?s sure his performances will convince me and his manager, Rod Nazario to stage another ?Thrilla In Manila,? only this time it won?t be with Muhammad Ali but with the Pacman, Manny Pacquiao.?
