By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who handles both pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto isn’t taking sides on the “Fire Power” showdown between his two great fighters but says that Cotto is “in sensational shape.”
In an overseas telephone conversation with BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, the renowned promoter said Cotto “is absolutely confident of the result and its not false confidence. He has trained hard and is in the best shape that I’ve seen him in years and its no walk in the park for Manny, that’s for sure.”
At the same time Arum said that from what he saw when he recently watched Pacquiao train at the Wild Card gym “he’s doing extremely well but I check with Freddie (Roach) every day and he has no complaints. He is very enthusiastic about how Manny looks and how he’s training. The truth is Freddie is the expert and he is the only one that really knows and he says he couldn’t be more pleased.”
Arum was exuberant over the excitement generated “in the whole world” over the November 14 battle at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and said that even the criticism of Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila who said politicians should save the money they plan to spend on traveling as well as on ringside seats and donate the money to the poor, “will not keep the politicians away.”
However, Cardinal Rosales said on Radio Veritas“Of course we are also happy that our fellow Filipino is carrying the country's name abroad but they (politicians) can show their support by merely watching TV. They don't need to go to America." "
The top rank promoter who had promised to get Pacquiao on the big TV talk shows in the US described as “superb” Pacquiao’s performance on the popular ABC late night show of Jimmy Kimmel. He noted that “a lot of young people watch that show and everybody was blown away by how he (Pacquiao) conducted himself.”
Arum also noted that Pacquiao who sang “Sometimes When We Touch” to thunderous applause sang “pretty well considering he had only did one quick rehearsal with that band. That was terrific.”
The promoter said Pacquiao’s appearance on the cover of Time Magazine and the spread titled “The Great Hope was “incredible” even as he commended Pacquiao for being “a nice boy” adding that “when push comes to shove you know that Pacquiao is a nice person.”
The Hero of Asia stopped the flow of traffic in and around Vine Street where the Wild C ard Gym is located as he was about to leave for a commitment with Nike. It was reported that the crowd began to swell and the Los Angeles Police Department had to be called in to make sure that Pacquiao was able to get out of the parking lot in time for his appointment.
Pacquiao is one of the major endorsers of Nike alongside golfing great TigerWoods and NBA superstar Kobe Bryant.
