By Boxing Insider News
“The Clash in Cotai” may not be the catchiest name imaginable for the upcoming 12-round welterweight fight between Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios, but the two fighters are going to do their level best to make sure as many people as possible do indeed catch it.
The two will be traveling the world on an extensive press tour, beginning Saturday at the site of the November 23 event, the Venetian Macao. But that is just the start of a whirlwind series of excursions.
Next Monday (July 29) they will be taking a tour of Beijing, China – an area that is going to become important for pay-per-view sales with the participation of Zou Shiming, the Chinese gold medalist, on the undercard. Then the next day it is on to a press conference at the Park Hyatt Beijing, with a stop at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai scheduled for Wednesday.
On Saturday, August 3 there is a private event being held for Pacquiao and Rios at the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore, which will conclude the Asian part of the tour.
Then it’s the long flight over sea and land, as the fighters invade the United States. They will stop first at the headquarters of ESPN in Bristol, CT where they will spend all of Monday, August 5. Then on Tuesday they will move on to the New York City press conference, which will be held at the legendary Jing Fong restaurant, a massive eatery located on Elizabeth Street, south of Canal Street, in Chinatown.
Wrapping up the tour on Thursday, August 8 will be the Los Angeles press conference, which takes place at the luxurious Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard.
So who’s coming along? Well, of course it’ll be Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KOs), who was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in his last fight, and Rios (31-1-1, 22 KOs), who was defeated by Mike Alvarado, along with the respective trainers of the fighters, Freddie Roach and Robert Garcia. Naturally, Bob Arum, the CEO of Top Rank, will be heading up the promotional contingent, and the special guest star will be Edward Tracy, President and CEO of Sands China Ltd., which owns the venue that will host the bout.
It is estimated that the troupe will travel 23,722 miles in all.
Why “The Clash in Cotai”? Well, not only is the specific venue the Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena, but Cotai is also the name of the land area in Macau (a zone, if you will) on which the Venetian Macao was built.
Even though both of these fighters lost in their last outing, this is considered to be a potential pay per view winner (HBO will carry it, by the way) because of the fact that both competitors are known for providing nothing but action. Pacquiao’s reputation is, of course, known the world over, and Rios’ two bouts against Alvarado (which he split) were both regarded as “Fight of the Year” caliber.
One of the reasons the fight is held so far from what is generally considered to be the heart of the pay per view audience (in North America) is because Pacquiao is not interested in paying U.S. taxes after his bouts. Aside from that, Macau is considered to be the most profitable casino destination in the world and has an interest in becoming a center for major fights. Arum has often been ahead of the curve in boxing, and he is also arranging for a pay per view presentation that will penetrate China, so this holds some promise to be an extremely lucrative evening for everyone involved.
And now you know why it’s well worth traveling 23,722 miles.
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