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By Eddie G. Alinea, Contributor
PROTAGONISTS Manny Pacquiao, the
Filipino World Boxing Council super featherweight champion, and
David Diaz, the Mexican-American lightweight titleholder, both
promised to put up a fight the boxing world will never forget in
their 12-round encounter June 28 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and
Hotel in Las Vegas.
The 29-year-old Pacquiao and
Diaz, 31, met for the first time at a press conference held Tuesday
(Wednesday in Manila) at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles
to hype their upcoming fight dubbed “Lethal Combination.”
For Diaz, who is staking his
135-pound belt for the second time since beating Eric Morales in
August 2007, he considers his duel with the Filipino icon the
biggest and the toughest in his young boxing career.
Pacquiao, winner the last time
over Mexican hero Juan Manuel Marquez via a split decision who is
eyeing a fourth championship in a fourth different division, sees
the fight as a “dream fight” on account of he and Diaz having
the same styles.
Both, as expected, look forward
to winning.
“This will be my biggest and
toughest fight in my career. I have been preparing for this and I
expect to come out victorious,” Diaz, a 1996 US Olympian who owns
a 34-1-1 with 17 KOs record, declared. “I don’t want to lose, I
am working very hard and I promise everybody to see a good fight.”
Same with Pacquiao (46-3-2, 35
KOs), who at one time or another also held the 112-pound and
122-pound crowns, who said, “I’ll try my best to win and not
disappoint my countrymen and country. Diaz is a good fighter but I
promised the Filipino people I will win.”
Bob Arum and Top Rank Promotions
hosted the media bash, the first of many press conferences they plan
to hold, which was also attended by Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie
Roach and his counterpart in the Diaz Camp, Jim Strickland.
There was none of the boasting
and intimidation that are all too often seen and heard in other
events like these. Both Diaz and Pacquiao know that none of those
stuff are needed to sell the fight. People will always support
fighters who tend to prove their worth on the ring and not through
the media.
Bob Arum aptly described the
Diaz-Pacquiao fight as “lethal combination,” owing to the fact
that both fighters have similar styles and temperament and thus,
both will go at it until the last bell.
This early, people in the know
about the betting odds at Las Vegas pegged the fight in favor of
Pacquiao. The Filipino fireball is plus 400 while the gentleman
warrior from Chicago is minus 320.
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