Pacquiao in Dallas ready to rumble -- Manila Bulletin

By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin

DALLAS — Manny Pacquiao returned to the site of his landmark victory last March when he arrived here late Monday night and vowed to put on a show of fistic fireworks when he collides with Mexican bomber Antonio Margarito this weekend at Cowboys Stadium.

“Whenever I fight, I always give my 100 percent so this Saturday night, expect the same from me,” said Pacquiao upon his arrival here from Los Angeles on board a leased American Airlines Boeing 757.

Pacquiao was joined in the two-and-a-half hour trip here by his immediate family and select members of his training team on the first class section of the airplane that numbered 22 people, while the remaining 163 were on cattle class.

Gourmet sandwiches, fruits, powerbar, desserts and almost all kinds of drinks were served on board for the passengers to enjoy with copies of the official inflight magazine of American Airlines featuring Pacquiao on the cover on every seat for them to take home as souvenir.

Pacquiao did the rounds of the economy section to pose for pictures and exchange pleasantries with the passengers, many of them his friends from Los Angeles as well as from the Philippines.

Also on the flight was rising Mexican junior-middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., British super-lightweight world champion Amir Khan and award-winning film director, producer and cinematographer Leon Gast, whose 1996 work When We Were Kings (about Muhammad Ali) won him the Academy Award.

Gast, who was in Manila during the 1975 Thrilla in Manila as a staff of Don King, is reported to be doing a documentary on Pacquiao.

Before leaving Los Angeles, Pacquiao sparred for the last time at the Wild Card Boxing Club, showing the moves that kept coach Freddie Roach in a jolly mood heading into the last few days before the fight.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao’s conditioning coach Alex Ariza said he expects the Filipino pound-for-pound king to continue with his morning run and gym work until Thursday but stressed that he won’t be surprised if Pacquiao decides to miss one or two sessions.

“I don’t know his program,” said Ariza.

Local referee Laurence Cole will be the man in charge in the ring and Roach said he doesn’t have any problems with the choice of Cole as the third man on the ring.

“He is fair,” said Roach.

Source: mb.com.ph