Pacquiao and Mosley tour to hype upcoming fight
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 17 Feb 2011
If the four-stop tour to hype the Manny Pacquiao-Sugar Shane Mosley world welterweight championship bout is to be the gauge, expect all tickets sold within the next few days with still three months into the fight on May 7 at MGM Grand.
That the last leg of the tour in Washington D.C. was a hit was understatement with, of course, the ?Pacman? coming out as the better salesman of the two, as expected. The Filipino world pound-for-pound king and eight-division belt-holder, not only was the crowd-favorite, he, too, proved to be one to members of the U.S. Senate and the White House staffer, headed by President Barack Obama, the most powerful man on the planet.
Wire reports had it that Pacquiao stopped traffic outside the White House on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), on the way to meeting the American Chief of State in the company of bosom friend Sen. Harry Reid.
The Filipino boxing sensation, reports said, was crossing the street to the White House when several drivers, trying to snap photos of Pacquiao with cell phones, caused a multicar pileup. Nobody was reported hurt though.
Pacquiao, who engaged in menial jobs like selling cigarettes and pandesal during his poverty-stricken life as a young boy and an elected Congressman in his wife Jinkee?s province of Sarangani, spent time talking a lot of things from boxing to basketball to business with the President.
"This is an unforgettable moment in my life,'' Pacquiao told a battery of media men in his large entourage earlier in the day.
The Pacman, who came with Jinkee herself, Top Rank?s Bob Arum and wife Lovee, posed with Obama for several photos, including a boxing pose, in the Oval Office. The President gave him three grocery bags full of light blue M&M's with the presidential seal, along with a watch adorned with the seal, and said he hopes to someday visit the Philippines.
Pacquiao invited the President to his fight against Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Sternburg said. Obama said he would be busy but promised to watch on television.
While Pacquiao was making the rounds in Washington DC, Sugar Shane Mosley worked the New York City scene. He appeared as guest on Boomer and Carton radio show, then hit the Opie and Anthony show, and Hip Hop Nation Ear Candy with his trainer Naseem Richardson.
After that Mosley showed NY Knick star Amare Staudemire some fancy ball handling at Knicks Training Facility in Tarrytown, before stopping for a bite to eat in at 7 Brothers Dinner in Yonkers en route to ESPN Headquarters in Bristol CT.
Pacquiao said it was very impressive being in the Oval Office, seeing it for the first time He said it was a great honor to meet the President of the United States, who he noticed is ?a very tall man.''
Obama used to play basketball, another sport that catches Pacquiao?s interest, during his student day in Honolulu where his family stayed for a while.
The U.S. President also promised to visit the 32-year-old fighter and the Philippines someday.
Earlier, Pacquiao roamed the halls of the Capital as the guest of Reid, a Democrat and long-ago boxer whose recent re-election was no doubt helped by Pacquiao's campaign appearances.
After Reid and Pacquiao exchanged national flags, Reid was asked how long he would last in his prime if the two exchanged punches.
"About five seconds,'' Reid said.
Pacquiao arrived in town by train on Tuesday, wrapping up a press tour promoting his next fight that began in Los Angeles and included stops in Las Vegas and New York. The fact that he's arrived on the scene has been good for boxing, making plenty of high-profile fans and bringing some mainstream attention to a sport that has been seemingly dying for decades.
"You can become a great athlete and still be a great person,'' Reid said.
It was Sen.Reid who set up Pacquiao's meeting with Obama on the strength Pacquiao's huge following in the land of sweet and honey.
"I try not to bother the president, but I bothered him on this occasion,'' Reid told newsmen.
Arum, for his part, said Pacquiao's visit to the White House was reminiscent of the heyday of Muhammad Ali, whom he also promoted.
"He comes at a very fortuitous time,'' Arum said. "If anybody can bring boxing back to the mainstream ... it's Manny Pacquiao.'
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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