Pacquiao-Rios Promotional Tour Starts Saturday
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 25 Jul 2013
MANILA (PNA) -- Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and next opponent Brandon Rios will undertake a long and winding 2,722-mile press tour starting Saturday highlighting the two-week promotional gimmick for their coming November 23 welterweight fight at the Venetian Macao. Their respective trainers ? Freddie Roach and Robert Garcia ? as well as ageless, 80 plus-year-old promoter Bob Arum, will accompany the two dancing partners in the ring in the multi-time zone, seven-city trip that will see them barnstorming to as far as New York and Connecticut in the United States.
The energy-sapping tour starts tomorrow with a press conference at the Venetian Macao, the same day Arum?s newest prot?g?, Chinese Olympic gold medalist Zou Shimming sees action in his only second professional bout in the same venue.
The Pacquiao-Rios entourage proceeds to Beijing on Monday and Tuesday then to Shanghai on Wednesday to induce Chinese fans to see the fight. The party flies to Singapore Aug. 3 where a special event will be held on the same day at the Marina Bay Sands a posh sister resort property of the Venetian.
Then comes the state-hopping visits to the ESPN headquarters on Aug. 5 in Bristol Connecticut where several appearances are scheduled before they head to New York for another news conference on Aug. 6. The final stage of the promotional tour will be on Aug. 8 in Los Angeles prior to the 12-round protagonists in the non-title ramble return back to their respective origin.
It is during the trip, according to Roach?s Filipino assistant at the Wild Card Gym, Marvin Somodio, where the trainer and his prized pupil will be charting the training program Pacquiao will undergo in the hope of bouncing back from the twin-setbacks the Filipino ring icon suffered in 2012.
A controversial split decision loss to undefeated American Tim Bradley and a devastating sixth round knockout at the hands of Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez stained Pacquiao?s nearly a decade 15-win campaign that led many to believe the Filipino boxing hero?s career is on the downtrend.
?Actually, mayroon nang plano sa training program, kaya lang hindi pa nasasabi ni coach Freddie sa amin,? Somodio told the Philippines News Agency in an overseas telephone conversation last Tuesday.
?Coach Freddie told me before he left for Macau last week that Manny will be pitching camp in General Santos City,? Somodio said. ?Manny ruled out Baguio City as site of the camp.?
?Freddie also hinted that the final schedule of training will be decided during the media tour where they will be together for at least two weeks.?
?Coach Freddie also said that he will be in the country from the very day Manny starts his build up program,? he disclosed. ?He told us na kelangan lang ni Manny focus sa training. Wala kahit ano?ng distraction.?
?He also expressed belief that Manny still has what it takes to bounce back to his winning ways,? Somodio said. ?Lahat nanan ng nakapanood nakita na panalo siya kay Bradley.?
?Against Marquez, Manny was leading on points until the final second of the sixth round before he got careless and absorb that powerful right shot of the Mexican,? he said. ?Freddie told us Wild Card staff that it won?t happen again. We will be preparing him for a knockout triumph.?
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