PACQUIAO AND DE LA HOYA HAVE LAUGHS AT SAN FRANCISCO PRESS CON!
By Jason Aniel
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 06 Oct 2008
San Francisco, CA?Three time zones in three days. That would make any person tired and in a bad mood. Both Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao, who are set to face each other in the biggest fight of 2008, needed a couple of laughs at the San Francisco Press Conference to announce the fight to survive the jetlag.
It all started with Pacquiao?s trainer, Freddie Roach, handing Oscar a toy gun, claiming it must have belonged him because ?he can?t pull the trigger?. De La Hoya has used Roach?s comments as a motivating factor in his fight with Pacquiao. Everyone had a good laugh at the obvious joke and fun play, except De La Hoya?s new trainer, Ignacio ?Nacho? Beristain.
Beristain, who is not one to hide his feelings, characterized Roach?s act as disrespectful and not in good spirit. Maybe there was just a lost in translation moment for Nacho. The comment did not make Freddie very happy. Nacho added another verbal jab when he explained that now that Oscar has gotten rid of the person who made him lose against Floyd Mayweather (you can figure out who he was referencing), nothing will stop Oscar from winning on December 6. Manny also had his fun when he came to the podium to speak to the large crowd at the Fort Mason, in the Marina District of San Francisco (also the site for this year?s Octoberfest).
Manny recalled when Oscar proclaimed to the fans to ?Remember the Alamo? on Friday in San Antonio. Pacquiao responded to that comment in San Francisco, a much more friendly place to Pacquiao than San Antonio, ?I don?t remember the story of the Alamo.?
Oscar had his fun as well when he ordered Manny to look him in eye and told him when they fight in Las Vegas in December 6, after all is said and done, ?don?t say you left your heart in San Francisco,? and winked afterwards.
Overall, the many fans of both Oscar and Manny enjoyed the 30-minute press conference. The venue was a last minute change and many went to the original location the press conference was set to be in.
QUICK JABS
During the press conference, Promoter Bob Arum mentioned that there would be a beauty contest between Mexicans and Filipinos, leading up to the fight. Arum predicted that a Filipina will win the contest and be announced to the crowd.Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaeffer, mentioned a number of way people can receive a discount on the PPV show by buying certain sponsor products. Stay tuned for latest updates.
Top photo: Oscar de la Hoya (L) and Manny Pacquiao pose for photos during a press conference at Fort Mason, Marina District in San Francisco on Oct. 4.
De La Hoya (L), Arum and Roach (R) react to Pacquiao's speech.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jason Aniel.
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