PACQUIAO VS. DIAZ FINAL
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
Wednesday, June 23, 2008,
Mandalay Bay
Manny Pacquiao:
“It is so important for me to win because I have dedicated this
fight to my countrymen and it will make them happy if I win.
After the fight I will get back there and I will do something
to help them.”
(Note: Filipino media brought it to Manny’s attention today
that many people at home are without food and shelter. But the
thing many are really worried about is if the power will return
by Saturday so they may watch the fight.)
“He can punch. He’s not careless in the ring. So he has a
chance to win (laughs).”
“He likes to come in and I like to fight a guy like that. I do
not take him lightly.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to get motivated to fight a guy like him
because he is not a name guy like Morales or Barrera. But I
have to fight him and I had to get in shape to do it. And I am
in great shape.”
“When I lost the 1st Morales fight I learned a lot,
not just in the ring, but outside of the ring because I had a
lot of distractions. I tried to do my best in that fight but
it was not good enough.”
“Moving up in weight, I feel better. I don’t know how much I
will weigh when I get into the ring on Saturday night. It
depends on how much water I drink. It is very hot here (100’s
all week) so I have to drink a lot of water.”
Do you feel if you win the fight you will be #1 PFP?
“What I try to do is maintain keeping the people, my fans,
happy when I am inside the ring. When I am outside the ring, I
try to be a good man.”
“I am not worried about punching power. In training camp I was
sparring with 145-pounders.”
“I don’t have any idea if it will go the distance. We won’t
know that until Saturday night.”
David Diaz
“I would like to thank Mandalay Bay for putting me up in this
real nice suite.”
“My dad took care of 9 kids and he put a roof over our heads.
He is my hero. And he got me interested in boxing. One time I
told him I wanted to go out and play football and he said that
sport is for animals! He told me boxing is mano-a-mano,
football is crazy.”
“Right now I am about 2-pounds over weight.”
“I have always done pretty good against southpaws. I hit them,
so I really should be all right.”
Any superstitions?
“That Billy Goat scared the heck out of me. Could you imagine
what it would be like if the Cubs started losing? I don’t want
that on my ticket.”
“My Olympic team was probably the most talented. We had
Vargas, Cauthen, Tarver, Mayweather, Gayardo, Clay-Bey, Eric
Morel, Zahir Raheem and Nate Jones. There will probably never
be another team like that again.”
Jim Strickland – Manager/Co-trainer Diaz:
“We were brought around the country from coast to coast
promoting this fight. There’s been enough talk. On Saturday
night, all the talk will take place in the ring.”
