MANILA – Manny Pacquiao will be aiming to retain his WBA welterweight championship title when he battles American boxer Adrien Broner today at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This will be Pacquiao’s first time to put the world championship on the line since capturing it when he resoundingly defeated Lucas Matthysse of Argentina in July last year at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Both fighters have showed their readiness for the world championship clash as Pacquiao tipped the scales at 146 pounds while Broner submitted 146.5 pounds during Saturday’s weigh-in.
Pacquiao, who is fighting for the first time at 40 years old, said that he is confident with his chances against the foul mouthed Broner and will be pushing for a stoppage win if opportunity presents it.
“I’m still okay, I’m still fine. I’ve worked hard for this day, and you guys saw it when I was training and preparing for this fight,” Pacquiao said. “I feel like I’m 27 years old. Even if my teammates wanted me to stop training, I still continued to push myself to the limit.”
“I don’t need to dislike my opponent to want a knockout,” he added. “I’m just doing my job in the ring. If the knockout comes, it comes. We’re hoping to have that opportunity. I have to pressure him to make him open up. Wherever he goes, I’ll be there.”
Broner, for his part, said that he will be doing everything inside the ring to take off the world championship from Pacquiao and have his biggest win in his professional boxing career.
“Manny Pacquiao has done a lot for the sport. I’m going to beat him up,” Broner said. “I grew up in boxing and I know what’s going on. It’s a business, but don’t get it twisted. I’m going to dominate and win.”
“This is going to be a hell of a fight. I’ve trained so hard and I want everyone to know that I play around a lot, but when that bell rings, I’m going to be ready. I didn’t come here to lose or lay down. I came here to get this victory,” he added.
Pacquiao is set to parade his 60-7-2 win-loss-draw ring record, including 39 stoppage wins, while the 29-year-old Broner has 33-3-1 win-loss-draw slate, with 24 stoppage wins.
The Pacquiao-Broner clash will be shown on a slightly-delayed basis starting at 10 am. at GMA 7 and ESPN 5. A live blow-by-blow coverage of the bout will be heard at DZBB AM and Barangay LS FM starting at 9 a.m./PN
