PPV Showtime Fight Announced For MGM Grand In Las Vegas
Boxing promoters held a pair of press conferences – one in New York and another one here in L.A. – to announce the Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner fight, taking place Jan. 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas that will be Pay Per View on Showtime.
I’ve been to thousands of press conferences, both in front of and behind the podium and this one in Los Angeles was like none other.
For starters, it was not like a standard press conference. It was more like a pep rally for a college football rivalry game. There was not just press at it but fans and family members of the ever-popular Pacquiao. When the famed champion boxer walked into the room, there was loud cheer and whenever he spoke, the people clapped, yelled and cheered. About all that was missing were cheerleaders and a pep band.
In the media, only the wankers (usually the homer radio guys) cheer at press events.
Some women brought their babies. Pacquiao’s wife was seated in front of me. There were so many family and “friends” at the event that the tiny room at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills seemed to strain to hold all of them.
When Pacquiao walked onto the stage, cell phone cameras lifted up above people’s arms so much they blocked my view. It was like being at a rock concert where you thought you had good seats.
When it was over, I half expected a DJ to start playing and people to start dancing and partying. Some did, I’m sure. I knew fighters traveled in large entourages and now I’ve witnessed it up close.
As far as the press conference itself goes, it was pretty much similar to all the others I have attended in my journalism and PR career. It began with an emcee introducing the all-important executives and sponsors, all of whom gave short (thankfully) speeches.
I was looking for some fireworks from the fighters. I was hoping for one of those old-style boxing press conferences where one pretends to take offense at what the other said and fakes going after the other fighter, only to be held back by the other people on the stage.
Broner appeared ready to do so, coming off some lively comments from the day before at the New York press conference. He’s got the right idea for these things, to create some attention by saying something controversial. And he got right to it, making a joke about Pacquiao’s driving ability because Pacquiao – who is from the Philippines – is Asian.
But the crowd was not with him. They were there to see and listen to Pacquiao, do Broner was like a comedian bombing at an LA comedy club. He had the microphone and paced the stage as if he were waiting – hoping – for a one-liner to connect with the audience.
Broner told another joke about Asian drivers – some took these to be racially insensitive but I took it to be bad attempts to be funny – and cracked a comment about Pacquiao’s IRS troubles that many speculated would keep the Filipino from ever fighting in the USA again, but instead of getting laughs from the pro-Pacquiao crowd, he got blank stares. So he changed his tactic and went into a bit of a shell, only going so far as to say he was completely confident he would win the fight.
Pacquiao, too nice of a person to get involved in any trash talking, simply complimented Broner’s ability as a fighter. Frankly, he sounded like a modern-day college football coach, praising his opponent and pointing out all the strengths while ignoring any weaknesses.
Afterward, the frenzy of the media continued as the press (and likely others; it was hard to tell, quite frankly) swarmed around Broner for one-on-one and small-group interviews. In another room, Pacquiao held court with more reporters. He sat in a chair, spoke in a very soft voice and again complimented Broner.
I guess the real action between the fighters will have to wait for the actual fight.
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