ARLINGTON, Texas - Manny Pacquaio arrived at Cowboys Stadium on Wednesday in a bus skinned with his likeness, the seats filled with members of his entourage.
He walked into the formal part of his appearance wearing a snazzy straw hat and a dark blazer. He quickly swapped the sports coat for a red jacket featuring his MP logo in golden thread.
He talked about his upcoming election for Congress in his homeland, the Philippines.
He talked about singing - rehearsing with his band the night before, with another session later on Wednesday night, all in preparation for a performance at the after-party following his fight on Saturday night.
Oh, yeah. The fight.
Billed as "The Event," Pacquiao is facing Joshua Clottey on Saturday night in boxing's debut at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium.
It's an intriguing matchup perfect for a football stadium - Pacquiao's furious offense against Clottey's dedication to defense - and it'll look amazing on the 72-foot-high, 160-foot-wide video boards towering over the ring.
A sellout crowd of 45,000 is expected, with the attendance possibly soaring if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones decides to sell standing-room-only tickets. And, of course, there's the pay-per-view audience promoter Bob Arum said is likely to top the hoped-for total of 700,000.
Put the pieces together and it all makes perfect sense: The WBO welterweight champion - already considered the best fighter in the world, pound for pound - is treating this entire week as one big performance, especially if he wins that election and decides to devote more time to politics than pugilism.
"I'm inspired to give a good show, to do my best," Pacquiao said. "To impress the people, you have to make your best (effort)."
Then trainer Freddie Roach jumped in, cranking up the hype.
"There's no stage big enough for Manny Pacquiao," Roach said. "He loves it and I love it. He's going to perform for the crowd. He'll entertain all 45,000. He'll entertain everybody."
associated press
(China Daily 03/13/2010 page16)
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