MMA Fight! Magazine: Pacquiao dedicates bout

Friday, 15 November 2013

Pacquiao dedicates bout

Last Updated: November 13, 2013 1:48pm

Manny Pacquiao: Crucial fight next weekManny Pacquiao has dedicated his WBO welterweight title clash with Brandon Rios to the victims of the typhoon Haiyan in his native Phillippines.

The former pound-for-pound king admitted feelings of anguish and regret after the final stages of training for the must-win fight on November 24 kept him from visiting the area.

Pacquiao said he felt “very bad” for the thousands killed and displaced by super typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful ever recorded, which swept through central islands.

But Pacquiao, who is training out of harm’s way in his home city of General Santos, said he could not jeopardise preparations for his showdown with the American.

“I really want to visit the area and personally do what I can to help our countrymen who have suffered so much in this terrible tragedy but I’m in deep training in General Santos City for a crucial fight so I regret I cannot go.”
Manny Pacquiao

“I really feel very bad over what happened in the Visayas region where more than 10,000 people are believed to have lost their lives,” Pacquiao said in a “statement to his people” posted on his website.

The 34-year-old Congressman pledged to send aid to affected areas, where the desperate search for supplies has turned deadly with eight people killed in a crush at a government rice store.

“I will send help to those who need it the most and I join all of you to pray for our country and people in these trying times,” he said.

Pacquiao, a former champion in eight weight divisions, is bidding to turn back the clock and recover from two consecutive defeats when he faces Rios in Macau.