History was made on Wednesday October 1st as Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao stood at the base of the Statue of Liberty and announced the December 6th “The Dream Match.” The first ever press conference held at on Liberty Island was a success from the second the reserved media ferry departed from Battery Park. As the fighters arrived on the Island, they were overcome with the meaningful start to their “dream tour” around the country. A son of Mexican immigrants and a fighter from the Philippines standing together in the place by which millions of people entered America was truly a sight to behold. De La Hoya quipped “Being here is the best feeling in the world. It is a blessing and an honor.”
Photo Credit: Will Hart - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions
Oscar De La Hoya
“Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, when I look at the Statue of Liberty, I feel proud to be American. I feel proud knowing that I am American. It is a privilege to be standing here with our Lady.
“My family came from Mexico as Mexican immigrants. I was very honored and still am to be born in this country.
“Who thought that a kid from East Los Angeles can go on and win the Gold Medal and be an example of hope for a lot of people?
“This is one of the greatest moments of my career. When I stood on the podium at the Olympics with the Gold Medal around my neck listening to the National Anthem, it was a great feeling. Being here is by far the best feeling. It is a blessing and an honor.
“When I read reports from Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao, it is an instant threat. I feel challenged. Every top athlete looks for that challenge to motivate them.
“I need this event to get into the mountains and isolate myself for three months. It is a huge challenge for me. I have to prove to myself that I can still do this.
“We are both going to be in tremendous shape. I know the abilities of Manny Pacquiao. The heart that he has and the fire that he has is a big threat to me.
“Be ready for a long fun fight. The reason I say fun is because with Manny Pacquiao, there is no boring fight. For me, it will be an honor to be with you (to Pacquiao).
“I hope the fight on December 6 can distract us to be with friends and family. We will forget about the economy and the problems for one night to come together and enjoy a classic fight.”
Manny Pacquiao
“I know you are excited, but there is no one who is more excited than me.
“Some people are saying I only took this fight for money. On December 6, I will prove you wrong.
“It will be a great boxing match, you have seen my previous match and you know how Manny Pacquiao fights.
“Fighting Oscar de la Hoya is a great honor and a privilege and I can assure you that I am fighting to give glory and honor to my country.
“Thank you to all of the fans. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love New York.”
Richard Schaefer, CEO Golden Boy Promotions
“Today marks the start of our press tour, or should I say Dream Tour, for the Dec 6th showdown between Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.
“This press tour, just like the name of the fight is all about dreams, starting right here at the Statue of Liberty. It is mind blowing that we are here. It really is an amazing event to start the tour. From here, we are going to Chicago to the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the United States. Many people had dreams as the sailed past the Statue of Liberty, just as they had dreams when they built the largest building.
“From Sears Tower we are going to the Space Center Houston. Many dreams have been fulfilled there as well.
“From Houston we continue on to San Antonio at the Alamo where people fought for their dreams of freedom and independence.
“Then we are going to go to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, a bridge which is connecting people, just like these two fighters will on December 6th.
“Then we are going to end up in East Los Angeles and it is where dreams are made for Oscar de la Hoya.
“These two fighters will do their best to give us a great night of boxing to all the fight fans around the world.
“Records are meant to be broken and we have the two most exciting fighters in the world today. Will it be the younger, faster Pacquiao or the Golden Boy of boxing De La Hoya? Find out on December 6, you won’t want to miss this fight.”
Bob Arum, Chairman of the Board, Top Rank Inc.
“This is truly a dream match. Oscar de la Hoya—the most famous fighter in the world and Manny Pacquiao, recognized by everyone as the best fighter in the world.
“Some say that Manny might be taking it a step too far. Yesterday, I was in synagogue and read the story of David and Goliath…and we all know who won that fight.
“From New York to Los Angeles, at every one of the six stops of this tour, I know that there will be more Filipinos at those press conferences than any one else. (To the crowd) Tell your cousins, your aunts and your uncles to come out and cheer for Manny Pacquiao.
“Today you have gotten a little taste of the passion this fight is going to bring.
“At Top Rank, we have one abiding principle; we don’t put fighters in fights that we don’t think they can win and this fight is no exception. Sometimes they lose that’s the nature of the sport, but going into it we don’t put anyone in that we don’t think can win.”
Ross Greenburg, President of HBO Sports
“I would like to personally thank Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao for being such an important part of our history at HBO.
“When fights like this are made, it is really boxing putting its best foot forward.”
Bob Halloran, Vice President of Sports, MGM Grand/Mirage
We at MGM have been holding the December 6th date for something special and with De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao, we got our wish.”
Nacho Beristain, De La Hoya Trainer
“I want to thank Golden Boy Promotions for making me a part of Oscar de la Hoya’s team. I am going to work as hard as possible to bring a victory to Oscar and to America.
“I read an article that says I am getting a lot of money to give Oscar water and wash his mouth pieces. I can tell you I am very proud to have worked with 16 champs, to have given them water and washed their mouth pieces and I am happy to do it for the seventeenth.”
Michael Konz, Pacquiao U.S Advisor
“When we got the call about this fight, I thought about Oscar being four inches taller and probably 15 pounds heavier than Manny and we did our best to talk many out of this fight.
“We said it was going to be too dangerous for Manny to fight Oscar, but two things happened, when Manny is faced with something people say he cant do, he automatically wants to do it. The other is that he only fears one person and that is the Lord himself, so he told us to do what we had to do to have the fight.
“Manny is not doing it for money he is doing it for the Philippians and pride.
“The only person that can beat Manny Pacquiao is Manny Pacquiao himself.”
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao Trainer
“This is a big one. I had a opportunity to train Oscar against Mayweather and I learned a lot during that period, and now I am going to use it against him.
“I know his strengthens and his weakness can he still pull the trigger? I don’t know, we will find out.”
Source: http://www.goldenboypromotions.com/media/2008/oct/10.13.08/10.13.08.htm
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