“This is the Super Bowl of boxing. Manny Pacquiao is going to blow you away,” said the Top Rank big boss against the cold Vegas weather.
Just minutes later Pacquiao stepped out of his customized bus, in a navy blue suit, light blue shirt and a nice tie. He was practically mobbed, but smiled all the way facing the cameras and microphones hanging over his head.
Pacquiao fielded a few questions, mostly old ones, and in a matter of minutes was whisked by a tight cordon of friends up into his 61st floor suite of the majestic Mandalay Hotel that glows at night.
The Las Vegas Sun wrote: “Luckily none of the youngsters (who ran smack into the pack of cameramen) got trampled in the media zoo that ensued as Manny Pacquiao stepped off his self-depicting tour bus at Mandalay Bay.”
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said it was understandable, the way his ward attracts the attention.
“He’s a star in his country. He’s an actor, he’s a singer. He loves the press, this isn’t a big deal for him,” he was quoted as saying.
Dela Hoya had his own version of a homecoming more than an hour later, but in a more orderly fashion, a roped entrance to the MGM Grand lobby the moment he stepped out of his gray luxury car.
Dela Hoya, in a white shirt, dress jeans and pointed shoes, inched his way into a makeshift ring, and looked every inch the 147-pounder that’s going up against a fighter going up two weight classes.
“Every fight is special. It’s the event and not the opponent that makes it special. But I have respect for Manny Pacquiao,” he said in a very brief TV interview.
Told that he looked so slender, and not at all drained, boxing’s Golden Boy said, “it must be the (short) haircut.”
Earlier in the day, both fighters staying in different hotels almost bumped into each other at the UNLV track oval where they did their morning exercise.
“They both knew they were both there, but they never really came close to each other,” said Dyan Castillejo, the ABS-CBN sports anchor.
Later in the afternoon, Pacquiao worked out at the IBA Gym some 15 minutes away from his hotel, and had to leave on time, right on the dot, as Dela Hoya was about to come in.
The two fighters will finally come face-to-face Wednesday during the event’s final press conference at the Hollywood Theater of the MGM Grand at noon.
Dagger looks, at least between the two superstars, will not be on the menu.
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