MANILA, Philippines—Top Rank boss Bob Arum not only hyped the mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather, he also gave a history lesson close to him.
“Growing up as a young boy, I remember the Philippines for their graciousness and kindness,” Arum said in the prefight conference Thursday early morning (Manila time) in Los Angeles. “I remember the horrible time during the holocaust where the doors of most countries of the world were closed to those fleeing the holocaust, including this country.”
“The doors in the Philippines were not only open but welcoming. And they took in thousands of refugees fleeing the holocaust on the order of the president of the Philippines, [Manuel] Quezon.”
And with Pacquiao by his side, Arum could not help but put the spotlight on boxing’s only eight division World Champion and how Pacquiao mirrors the Filipino in every way possible.
Arum said that Filipinos have the “graciousness and kindness,” which is very evident in American healthcare where almost 80 percent of health workers in California and Nevada are Filipino.
“So we know the graciousness and kindness of Filipinos exemplified by this man, Manny Pacquiao, who gives fortunes away supporting charities in the Philippines, whether it’s founding hospitals, schools, building churches, supplying fishermen with motors so they can increase their catches, getting out to the deep water quicker,” Arum said.
Yes, Filipinos are that gentle, yet Arum said that the race has that fierceness in them which was on full display during World War II when the Japanese occupied the Philippines.
And that fierceness lives within Pacquiao.
“But like those Philippine warriors, he has a fierceness about him that most Filipinos have, a toughness. He is a fierce fighter who doesn’t quit, who gives his all and will bring his best on May 2nd.”
RELATED STORIES
Arum says Floyd Mayweather is a ‘chicken’
Pacquiao not leaving Arum for Mayweather bout