LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) – If Filipino pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao gets his way on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), Shane Mosley will be seeing a blur of yellow at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.
The eight-division world champion and Filipino congressman plans to wear yellow boxing gloves in the ring for his world title fight Saturday as a symbol of his struggle to end poverty in his native Philippines.
“All my life I have had to fight. At first, as a child, I had to fight just to get something to eat,” said Pacquiao. “I believe this world needs new heroes. The biggest fight in my life is not in boxing, but it is now to end poverty in my country.”
“So this Saturday, I will wear yellow gloves as a symbol of unity.”
Pacquiao marks his return to Las Vegas for the first time since November, 2009, by fighting American Mosley for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title.
Tickets to the scheduled 12-round fight at the Garden Arena sold out five weeks in advance. Millions more are expected to watch the fight from the Philippines and around the world on pay-per-view television.
Pacquiao and the four-time world champion Mosley stood sideby-side and posed for pictures at a news conference in the Hollywood Theater inside the MGM hotel Wednesday.
They spoke briefly from the podium which also featured trainers, managers, and support staff from both camps. Promoter Bob Arum said they are pleased to bring Pacquiao back to Las Vegas after staging both of Pacquiao’s fights last year at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
“We had two fights in the stadium in Dallas, we are happy to be back here in Las Vegas,” Arum said. “Las Vegas needs to have these kinds of fights.”
The outgoing mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman and Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Hill were also in attendance. Goodman presented both fighters with “good luck mayor gambling chips”. The Grammy-award winning Hill has teamed up with aspiring singer Pacquiao who regularly covers Hill’s classic 1970’s ballad “Sometimes When We Touch.”
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