HUGE INTERNATIONAL ENDORSEMENT DEALS LINED UP FOR PACQUIAO

Pound-for-pound king and “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao is about to cash in on what Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has described as “some enormous international endorsement deals.”

Arum and Top Rank president Todd DuBeof last February 25 circulated a letter to prospective sponsors stating that Pacquiao had authorized Top Rank to handle his endorsement deals and that they had appointed a former vice president of golf development and sales of the International Marketing Group –IMG- to handle all sponsorship deals.

Arum told the Inquirer that “it was the proper thing to do because he (Pacquiao) is now like a worldwide figure, like a Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and he should have deals that reflect that.

The astute promoter said he would spend the next week in Los Angeles and had “a lot of meetings set up with Manny” because of the huge endorsement deals lined up.

Bill King of Sports Business Journal recently reported that Pacquiao lags well behind other current boxers in recognition according to the Davie-Brown Index which measures a celebrity’s attributes but noted that Pacquiao’s endorsement score ranks highest among current boxers.

Arum said “everything is going well thank God and I left Manny in good spirits.”

Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza said Pacquiao had another great day in his workout for the showdown against former three-time world champion Shane Mosley on May 7.

Ariza who has taken over in the absence of trainer Freddie Roach who is in England with WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan who defends his title against European champion McCloskey on Saturday said Pacquiao’s training “went really, really well. He did twelve rounds on the mitts with Filipino trainer “Buboy” Fernandez who despite the rigorous nature of the workout pushed through it.”

Ariza said Pacquiao ran in the morning along with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and was “doing everything that he is supposed to do and looks very good.” He said Chavez is “such a big fan of Manny. Even Julio Cesar Chavez Sr showed up at the gym today and took some pictures with Manny.”

Source: http://philboxing.com/