Manny Pacquiao is going on a tour of key Chinese cities in July and another round of stops in the US will follow in September to drumbeat his comeback fight scheduled for November, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum bared yesterday.
Originally set for Oct. 13 in Macau, Arum told the Bulletin that October turned out to be not an ideal month to stage an event in China after he was told that there are numerous extended holidays during that month.
A check on the Chinese 2013 calendar shows that the National Day (Golden Week) is observed from Oct. 1 to 7 and it usually lasts until the second week of the month, prompting the 81-year-old Arum to forget about October.
?It wouldn?t work so we?ll do it in November,? said Arum, whose Top Rank Inc. is spearheading the show in partnership with Sands China.
Pacquiao?s last fight was a sixth-round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico in December 2012 and the 34-year-old Filipino icon would have been inactive for almost a year by the time he goes up the ring against either Alvarado or Bradley in November.
?Manny?s okay with the November date,? said Arum, stressing that the promotional tour will of course kick off in Macau, venue of the 15,000-capacity CotaiArena, and will proceed to Shanghai and Beijing.
A similar tour will happen in September in the US mainland where Pacquiao will train for about a week before spending five weeks with Freddie Roach in General Santos City. The last two weeks of their buildup will be in Macau.
Last April 6, Top Rank made its initial foray into the Chinese market when it hosted Zou Shiming?s professional debut plus the unified world flyweight title match between Brian Viloria and Juan Francisco Estrada and three other bouts featuring Filipinos. (Nick Giongco)
