Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao has indicated that he will be at ringside for this Saturday’s huge ‘Moment of Truth’ card headlined by the WBO superflyweight battle between reigning champion Fernando Montiel and Cebuano Z ‘The Dream’ Gorres.
A source from the camp of the pound-for-pound superstar has reportedly told the media that Pacquiao is coming to Cebu for the fight, apparently after a column penned by the Inquirer’s Recah Trinidad entitled ‘Pacquiao Snubbing World Fight?’ came out today.
A close Pacquiao associate had called up Trinidad’s son Chino to confirm that Pacquiao will leave General Santos City to be at the fight on Saturday, where Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista will also take on Mexican Marino Gonzalez in the co-featured 12-rounder.
Just like Pacquiao, both Gorres and Bautista are trained by celebrated trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym, although the latter opted to skip this Saturday’s event as he is currently attending to the 11-city press tour for the May 5 Oscar De la Hoya-Floyd Mayweather showdown.
Filipino trainer Nonoy Neri, an assistant to Buboy Fernandez, also confirmed yesterday that indeed, the hugely popular fighter will be arriving in Cebu for this Saturday’s bouts.
However, Pacquiao’s plan to attend the Saturday event in Cebu may not sit all too well with Palawan Governor Joel Reyes, who had also invited Pacquiao to be in his province to grace the inauguration of a facility that will house members of the province’s Adopt-A-Boxer program.
“That’s too bad for Palawenos. He had committed and confirmed four times to me personally,” said Reyes in a message sent to the Inquirer when asked about Pacquiao’s trip to Cebu this Saturday.
Pacquiao has already started training in General Santos City for his April 14 showdown with Mexican Jorge Solis, and is expected to fly to Los Angeles next week to hook up with trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach had invited Pacquiao to fly to Puerto Rico to train alongside Oscar De la Hoya, an offer that the Filipino icon said was interesting.
