By JASON GAY, The Wall Street Journal
Manny Pacquiao arrived at Chelsea Piers Monday dressed in suburban dad earth tones: a brown jacket, an olive sweater and a crisp white shirt over jeans. He looked less like a champion eager to promote a boxing match than a man ready to shop for bathroom fixtures. Mr. Pacquiao's hair has grown since his last fight in November, and it now covers most of his ears, sweeping across his forehead just above his eyes.
Yes: the great Pac-Man has grown a "Bieber."
Or maybe Mr. Bieber has a "Pacquiao." After all, there may be no one in the global pop cultural universe bigger than Mr. Pacquiao—boxing's most magnetic performer; a congressman in the Philippines; a part-time ballad-crooning action-movie hero. He came to New York to hype his next fight, a May 7 welterweight championship against Shane Mosley, and his entrance resembled a rock star's. As he took a seat by the stage, photographers swarmed inches from his face. An organizer warned the media not to ask for autographs or risk expulsion. In the back of the room, a jubilant chorus of fans waved the Philippine flag and chanted, "Mann-ny! Mann-ny!"
Mr. Pacquiao smiled and folded his arms, as if floating above the fuss. His promoter, Bob Arum, took the podium and did his best to push the Mosley bout, as TV representatives and the host venue, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mr. Mosley's trainer, Nazim Richardson, showered Mr. Pacquiao in praise. "If you don't like Manny Pacquiao, he's done something to you personally," Mr. Richardson said. "I think he's a phenomenal fighter."
Mr. Pacquiao nodded at the compliments, and whispered with his trainer, Freddie Roach. He gamely went along with a silly stunt in which he presented a giant Valentine's Day cake to his wife, Jinkee.
"Kiss! Kiss!" the photographers howled. The champ obliged with a smooch.
When it was his time to speak, Mr. Pacquiao was cheerful and brief.
"I'm happy to be back here in New York," he said. He made a joke about the cold, even with temperature hovering mercifully in the mid-50s. He looked toward the fans at the back to the room. "All I have done in my boxing career—being Manny Pacquiao—I am not here without your support."
He looked a little bored. What is left in boxing for Mr. Pacquiao? He has done everything asked—he's won titles in a record eight weight classes, devastated all his recent challengers and waited patiently for the one all-timer who eludes him, the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. With Mr. Mayweather delaying and self-destructing, Mr. Pacquiao occupies himself with politics and a stream of not-quite-there or fading opponents mostly grateful for the shot.
Mr. Pacquiao and Mr. Mosley—a gentlemanly former champ who lost a unanimous decision to Mr. Mayweather last spring—couldn't even play mock enemies. Standing side-by-side for photographers, Mr. Pacquiao kept cracking up whenever he looked into his challenger's green eyes.
Later, in a quieter moment, Mr. Pacquiao said he did not plan to retire after fighting Mr. Mosley. He spoke of his causes in congress—human trafficking, and building a hospital for his constituents.
"We don't have a hospital," he said. "Imagine that."
In the coming months, there will be the predictable worries if Mr. Pacquiao is too distracted by public life; if he's training hard enough; if he's respecting Mr. Mosley. But come May 7, it's all but certain Manny Pacquiao will give another good show. The only question is how much longer he will give them.
Source: online.wsj.com
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