No ‘grand arrival’ for Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas?
It’s no secret Bob Arum is less than enamored with the management of the MGM Grand. But since Arum has very little say in what happens in next week’s megafight between Manny Pacquiao, whom he promotes, and Floyd Mayweather Jr., whom he used to promote, Arum is making use of what leverage he does have.
Arum has told reporters that Pacquiao will not attend the “grand arrival” at the MGM Grand Garden Tuesday. The grand arrival usually kicks off the fight week festivities and it’s the first opportunity for the fans to see the fighters up close.
“It’s a waste of time,” Arum said. “And for what? We’ll have the writers come over to the Delano (where Pacquiao is staying in Las Vegas) and talk to Manny over there.”
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said Pacquiao doesn’t want to participate because he knows the magnitude of the event and he can’t handle the pressure.
“This is the big leagues. This is Floyd Mayweather,” Ellerbe said. “This isn’t Chris Algieri in China. I think (Pacquiao) is feeling the pressure and he’s scared.”
Freddie Roach, who trains Pacquiao, scoffed at that assertion. He told Yahoo! Sports that Pacquiao probably doesn’t even know he’s not going to attend the arrival Tuesday.
“Manny didn’t make that call,” Roach told Yahoo. “Bob made that call. Just like Bob decided to pull the plug on the conference call the other day.”
Arum stopped Pacquiao’s teleconference with reporters Monday after one call because the quality was so poor that no one could hear anything and also because Arum wasn’t pleased with the selection of reporters getting to ask Pacquiao questions.
According to Ellerbe, the terms of the contract stipulate that Pacquiao attend the opening news conference in Los Angeles, which he did; the final news conference for the fight, which will be Wednesday at the MGM; the weigh-in on Friday at the Grand Garden; and the fight itself on May 2.
“(Pacquiao) says he does everything for his fans,” Ellerbe said. “This event is for the fans Tuesday. So why is Manny ducking his fans? Floyd’s met every obligation asked of him and you can rest assured that Floyd will be at his arrival Tuesday at the Grand Garden.”
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.