LOS ANGELES – Manny Pacquiao will be traveling in style when he goes on a two-day publicity tour of Dallas and New York next week to promote his March 13 battle with Joshua Clottey of Ghana at Cowboys Stadium. “Manny will be flying on a private plane all the way (from Los Angeles to Dallas and to New York and back to Los Angeles),” said Top Rank chief Bob Arum as he eagerly awaits the arrival of the Filipino pound-for-pound king from Manila.
Pacquiao will grace the kickoff press conference at Cowboys Stadium on January 19 then head to New York for another media affair at the Madison Square Garden the next day. From the Big Apple, Pacquiao will return to Hollywood on the same day so he could show up at the Wild Card the following day for the first day of training camp under Freddie Roach. Arum can’t wait to get things started although when the press tour makes a stop in Dallas, he will allow Texas billionaire Jerry Jones – owner of the Cowboys Stadium and the fabled National Football League team – to take the spotlight.
“Jerry Jones could be the greatest promoter in the world,” said Arum. “He is a crazy guy--crazy in the kind of way. The guys in Texas are very, very excited.”
Going up a notch, Arum said Jones might end up being a great promoter of boxing after the Pacquiao-Clottey clash. “He is better than me and (Don) King,” said Arum, adding that the alluring Cowboys cheerleaders are also going to be in attendance to add glamour to the already-appealing event.
Immediately after signs pointed to a collapse in negotiations for the fancied showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd May-weather a few weeks ago, Arum said Jones expressed his interest in bringing Pacquiao to his brand-new $1.2 billion facility in the city of Arlington, which is just outside Dallas.
Jones had attempted to land the botched Pacquiao-Mayweather tiff but the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was awarded the rights to host that fight. Having a private plane on hand has become a tradition starting with Pacquiao’s landmark fight with Oscar De La Hoya. After Pacquiao polished off the Golden Boy in Dec. 2008, Arum has arranged for the same VIP treatment for the world’s premier puncher against Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto last year. Flying on private jet is ultra-expensive but Arum believes Pacquiao deserves to be treated like a true VIP, being the representative of his sport.(mb.com)
