Rey BelenAs Philippine boxing pride Manny Pacquiao‘s fight against Chris Algieri in Macau draws near, more news come to play.
One of the most recent is AirAsia committing to fly Manny Pacquiao and the rest of his team to Macau for the fight.
I was blessed to witness the public meet of AirAsia’s big man Toni Fernandes and Manny Pacquiao.
Toni Fernandes flew in to GenSAN personally to formally forge the partnership between the eight-division champ Manny Pacquiao and the multi-awarded low-cost carrier, AirAsia.
I can see how professional and dedicated the two guys are in their fields. Manny Pacquiao continued practicing attentively, while Toni Fernandes made time to meet one of boxing’s heralded fighters. During Pacquiao’s brief break from practice, it was an opportunity for both men to meet with the media and seal the deal in public for the forging of the two giants in their industry – Pacquiao and AirAsia.
The event also signalled the #PacmanViaAirAsia contest of the carrier to bring lucky people to win in their contest and fly two people to Macau and have them watch the fight, live, for free.
Just follow the instructions on AirAsia’s Facebook account on #PacmanViaAirAsia contest.
This gathering made public the chartering of Team Pacquiao to Macau via two chartered AirAsia planes. Plus the formal announcement of AirAsia to launch its Manila-GenSan-Manila flights starting December 2014. Toni Fernandes also expects to finish a specially-designed AirAsia plane with Manny Pacquiao wrapped around its plane to both take pride in the Pacquiao-Algieri fight, as well as boosting the exposure of the carrier in the Philippines.
As for me, the occasion made me see how a regular practice before the games is to Manny Pacquiao. You can actually see the sharpness and tenacity in Pacquiao’s eyes as if it were his first fight in the ring. Plus, the discipline he puts in on the practice. I mean, the drills he does is not just your regular workout routine. If you think your workout sessions are hard, whew, it is WAY harder than that.
The 35-year-old Pacquiao (56-5-2) is set to fight against the undefeated Welterweight champ 30-year-old fighter from United States, Chris Algieri on November 22 at Venetian Casino and Resort, Macau. Personally, I am confident that Manny Pacquiao can beat the 5’10 Algieri and hoping to knock him down.
Watching the Pacman do his training live, made me feel more confident that at his age, Pacquaio can still beat anyone in the ring, including Floyd Mayweather Jr. Indeed it was a memorable Wednesday for me. Seeing two of the biggest names in different fields at one time. Manny Pacquio and Toni Fernandes.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to get a photo with Manny Pacquiao, but hey, I might as well get it next time. Though I got a chance to snap a photo with Coach Fred Roach and AirAsia’s Toni Fernandes (2nd time).
Rey Belen
