ARUM SAYS PACQUIAO AND DIAZ IN SENSATIONAL SHAPE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 04 Jun 2008
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who enjoys the luxury of handling both WBC super featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao and WBC lightweight champion David Diaz says ?they are both in sensational shape. ?
Diaz told Viva Sports ?Main Event? TV analyst Dennis Principe on his dzSR Sports Radio program ?Sports Chat? - ?You are not going to see either of them get tired. They can go twenty rounds? in their scheduled twelve round lightweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on June 28.
Asked whether Pacquiao, a basketball fan would take time out to watch any of the NBA championship games of the Los Angeles Lakers vs the Boston Celtics at the Staples Center, Arum appeared to frown on the prospect pointing out that ?this is really the peak, the toughest part of his training.?
Arum described the likeable Diaz as an over-achiever who ?achieves things that are greater than his ability? while referring to his two wins over fancied Zab Judah in the US Olympic trials which earned Diaz a place on the 1996 Olympic team.
Arum said Diaz is ?the kind of kid who stays in there, throws punches and never gives up. He is going to make Manny really work. The two fighters won't take a backward step? and in an obvious exaggeration to underscore the action-packed nature of the ?Lethal Combination? showdown said they ?will be throwing zillions of punches.?
The astute promoter noted that while Pacquiao is ?a better boxer and certainly fast? Diaz is ?the bigger guy and a big, strong kid? which he predicted would make for ?a terrific fight.?
Arum said that right now they are in the stage of being ?in the middle of seeing a building being built? in relation to the true greatness of Pacquiao and said he was ?very confident that in the next two or three years Manny will establish his real greatness. The future holds so much more.?
While praising both fighters whom he described as "lovely young men" Arum said the fans appreciated Pacquiao "for bringing sportsmanship back to boxing."
Arum claimed that ticket sales for the fight are "very, very strong" and he expects a near-sellout in the venue which can accommodate just over 11,000 fans. In terms of PPV numbers Arum said "everybody is predicting very string sales because we have been building Manny" whose fight pay-per-view numbers went up from 300,000 to 350,000 and in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez went over 400,000 buys.
The results of the various tour stops especially in Diaz's hometown of Chicago and in San Francisco over the weekend were phenomenal. Next week the two fighters will be in San Diego which has a huge Filipino population. Arum said "we are really out there promoting the event, getting a lot of interest and I am very optimistic.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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