by Ronnie Nathanielsz
Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao and “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya together with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum took their highly successful six-city pre-fight act to San Francisco against the backdrop of the Golden Gate bridge.
The predominantly Filipino crowd gave Pacquiao a rousing welcome although De La Hoya, the Olympic gold medalist and ten-time world champion also drew the fans with his good looks and charming disposition.
But it was celebrated trainer Freddie Roach who appeared to steal the show even for a few moments when he made fun of De La Hoya’s supposed inability “to pull the trigger.”
Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin “Jeng” Gacal in an overseas telephone conversation with insidesports.ph, Manila Standard and Viva Sports said that Roach pulled out a toy gun and told De La Hoya “Oscar, I have a gun and can’t pull the trigger. I think its yours!,” handing over the toy gun to De La Hoya drawing a smile from Pacquiao.
Pacquiao himself reacted to De La Hoya’s boast during a visit to The Alamo in San Antonio when “The Golden Boy” said he would knock Pacquiao out and repeated the well-known phrase “remember The Alamo.”
Pacquiao shot back in San Francisco telling De La Hoya “the problem is I don’t know the story of the Alamo.”
Gacal said Pacquiao played almost three hours of basketball in his drive to stay in shape physically and, according to Gacal, Pacquiao was “running up and down the court.” He said Pacquiao will work out at the Wild Card Gym on Monday before the final tour stop in Los Angeles on Monday (Tuesday, Manila Time) and will also be interviewed by HBO for their four-part pre-fight special
