NEW YORK CITY—Exuding confidence and oozing with excitement, Manny Pacquiao arrived here on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) raring to showcase his wares before the highly-discriminating US audience.
“Of course, I am looking forward to my return to the US,” said Pacquiao in the company of his team at his suite at the Mondrian.
“I missed fighting in America and I can’t wait to fight here again,” said Pacquiao, who will face Adrien Broner on Jan. 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It will be Pacquiao’s first defense of the World Boxing Association welterweight crown he took by stopping Argentine Lucas Matthysse last July in Kuala Lumpur.
Pacquiao’s trip here will be the kickoff leg of a two-city promotional tour that will also see him and Broner appear at the Waldorf Astoria in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Pacquiao, who turns 40 on Dec. 17, was joined here by wife Jinkee and twin sister Janet and partner Steve Jumalon and new aide de camp Joe Ramos and wife Joan on a Cathay Pacific flight that stopped in Hong Kong.
Newly-installed chief trainer Buboy Fernandez followed Pacquiao here in the Big Apple on a Philippine Airlines direct flight from Manila that hit JFK Airport shortly before midnight.
Pacquiao and Fernandez have discussed the eight-week training camp that will commence when the team returns to Manila from the press tour.
A few days after his 40th birthday, Pacquiao will pack his bags and head to Los Angeles for the second half of the buildup.
“The January weather is cold so I would like to get used to the weather,” said Pacquiao, whose clash with Broner could lead to a return match with Floyd Mayweather in May, June or July of next year.
Like Mayweather and Broner, Pacquiao is now also aligned with Al Haymon, though low-profile, is a major influencer in bigtime boxing.
The past few weeks, Pacquiao has been playing evening basketball to keep his condition in check.
The formal press conference of the Pacquiao-Broner slugfest takes place on Monday at the Gotham Hall. (Nick Giongco)
