Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey were all smiles during the press conference of their upcoming fight Tuesday as they were standing under the largest high-definition television in the world at the Cowboys Stadium and surrounded by the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
After many weeks of on-and-off negotiation between the camps of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., team Pacquiao has instead sealed a deal for a welterweight fight against Joshua Clottey of Ghana.
The fight, which is billed as “The Event,” is scheduled on March 13 and is to be held at the grand Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was optimistic about the match saying, “This gave us an opening. We were very aggressive. We were pretty quick to make a deal.”
The two boxers exchanged praises and were astounded by the glitzy news conference that Pacquiao said, “I like the introduction… I’m surprised. I feel like I’m a… football player”, to everyone’s laughter.
Pacquiao indeed turned to look like a football player after he was presented by Jones with a No. 3 jersey. Clottey, on the other hand, received a jersey with a No. 13 at the back.
Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, was also smitten by the stadium saying, “I have never, ever seen anything like it… There is nothing in the world like this place. It just blows you away.”
Jones said that they have seen nothing yet as he will ensure that the fight night will be more spectacular than the flashy news conference saying, “We’re going to make this one of the most interesting fights to view that there’s ever been… We’re going to have some fun with it.”
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, was enthusiastic and even stated that the event “is going to be the Super Bowl of boxing.”
This will be the first time that a boxing match will be held at the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium, which is the largest dome stadium in the world.
Arum forecasted that the stadium will play an important role in boxing history.
For the fight, the Cowboys are planning to sell 40,000 seats of the 80,000-seater stadium.
Pacquiao is the current best boxer and pound-for-pound king of the world. Clottey, on the other hand, although was beaten by Miguel Cotto whom Pacquiao in turn defeated on November 2009, has only lost three times in his career and has never been knocked out.
