PACQUIAO-MAYWEATHER PRESSCON (PHOTOS)
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 12 Mar 2015
LA Live, Downtown Los Angeles:- It started with a curt e-mail from the event publicist announcing that the fight is on and a presscon is planned. But there will only be one event because the promoters knew there was no need to push the fight hard because by itself it will sell in the millions.
The e-mail stated that the presscon is limited to the media and credentials are required from MagnaMedia, the Las Vegas promotional outfit in charged of determining who will be allowed in to the event based on certain requirements.
In spite of that however, there was a horde of media people coming from all over the country and even from overseas. It was the biggest media crowd I have seen lately- no doubt a tribute to the hype created by the spin makers.
There was a red carpet stretching about 75 feet running alongside the Nokia Theater where the fighters walked and talked with the media who were separated by a metal barrier.
Pacquiao came out first in a slick dark suite and a fancy tie. He was dressed like he was going to the Congress. He was all smiles and seemingly relaxed given the magnitude of the fight he will be involved with in May. He posed willingly and spoke to the media. If it were not for the ?media handler? making sure that he walks through a bit faster, he would have stayed with each media person that poked a microphone in his face.
Mayweather in contrast just took his obligatory walk, posing for a brief moment, smiling ear to ear and then proceeding down the red carpet.
Many other personalities took to the red carpet too. The two co-announcers, Jimmy Lennon representing ShowTime and Michael Buffer representing HBO were there posing for the photographers of all sorts who used anything from very expensive outfits to mere cell phones.
The personalities from ShowTime and HBO who were responsible in putting the fight together were there as well and so was the grand old man of boxing - Bob Arum.
The press conference followed inside the cavernous Nokia Theater. Leonard Ellerbe of the Mayweather camp served as emcee. He introduced the personalities from the networks that then went on and spoke about their network?s involvement with the fighters. Bob Arum then took the microphone and spoke about how the Philippines was a refuge for Jews when they were being persecuted in Europe. His words were a preamble to what he mentioned about the basic kindness and generosity of Filipinos which is so vividly apparent in Pacquiao.
When Pacquiao spoke, the first words that came off his mouth was a sincere thank you to his maker and savior. ?I thank the Lord,? he first said and then went on to expressed his feelings of gratitude that the fight was made. ?It is the fight people wanted and I am glad its done,? he said.
When Mayweather?s turn came, he basically started his comments like Pacquiao - a thank you? not to his God but rather to his father who was seated far right from him.
Indeed a stark contrast of the personalities of Pacquiao and Mayweather.
Freddie Roach spoke briefly as well drawing laughter for his comments. However for reasons only known to the powers-that-be, Ellerbe did not ask Mayweather Senior to speak.
But that?s quiet okay as Senior had a whole lot of chance to speak to the media who crowded around him before the whole event started outside the venue where breakfast was served.
One thing that was observed, albeit subtle was the lack of seemingly genuine camaraderie amongst the personalities on the stage. Yes, there were subtle jokes and little laughter, but it was not too hard to notice that there were only there for business. There was no was no concerned for camaraderie commonly seen with business partners.
But then again, that?s understandable given the fact that both sides of the table were great rivals forced to be there by circumstances and a whole lot of cash.
In the end, the presscon was nothing extra-ordinary. But it sure did raise a lot of interest if one is to base it on the number of media folks that came to cover it.
Our congratulations to the spin makers for a job well done. See you guys at Las Vegas on the 2nd of May.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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