LAS VEGAS, Nevada ? Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer brought the house down during the final press conference of the Oscar De La Hoya versus Manny Pacquiao ?Dream Match? at the Hollywood Theater in MGM Grand, here, December 3 when he declared that ?the most important politician who is on the side of Oscar De La Hoya is no other than Barack Obama.?
?Let?s welcome Barack Obama,? shot Schaefer. When reporters looked on the right side of the theater where Schaefer?s attention was directed, nobody emerged to join the presidential table.
?Barack missed the plane,? Schaefer quipped in jest.
His joke came after Top Rank big boss Bob Arum praised Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) for being a national hero in the Philippines, a popular politician ?who will soon become a congressman and, who knows, maybe the next president of the Philippines.?
This was the 78-year-old Arum?s answer to Team De La Hoya?s ?show of force? when Schaefer introduced on the stage some of the great former world champions from Mexico led by Oscar Larios and Juan Manuel Marquez who are rooting for De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) to belie the claim that ?Mexicans are for Pacquiao.?
?Let?s leave the Mexicans to us,? appealed Schaefer as he called the names of the former world champions who are raising funds for retired boxers in distress.
Marquez, 35, who lost by split decision to Pacquiao in their classic rematch on June 28, meanwhile, insisted that ?De La Hoya is too big for Manny Pacquiao.?
?It?s another story if Pacquiao is fighting in another weight which is De La Hoya?s weight,? he stressed. ?I don?t see Pacquiao winning against De La Hoya in the 147 pounds.?
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