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Pacquiao wants next fight again at Cowboys Stadium


Manny Pacquiao is not discounting the possibility of fighting again at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium when he gets back on the ring later this year. The 31-year old boxing champion made the insinuation in the light of the historic attendance generated by his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title defense against Joshua Clottey last week. The 12-round bout won by the Filipino behind a lopsided unanimous decision, attracted a crowd of 50,994, the third biggest in modern day boxing history after the Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks rematch at the Superdome in 1977 and the Julio Cesar Chavez-Pernell Whitaker showdown at the Alamodome in 1993. That Pacquiao was able to pack the marvelous $1.2 billion-stadium owned by billionaire Jerry Jones despite taking on an opponent who has not really established a fan base in the U.S. is a tribute to the status of the Filipino southpaw as boxing’s top draw today. What more if Pacquiao was to face next a marquee challenger who considerably has a big cult following especially in a predominantly Latino state such as Texas. Pacquiao has not minced a word about his desire to fight again at the Cowboys Stadium, which he describes as an “amazing arena." “It’s a great experience to fight in Dallas. I want to fight back here," he said shortly after the Clottey bout. “I hope this would not be my last fight here. So it’s up to Jerry Jones. That’s his decision." Trainer Freddie Roach also expressed his desire to come back in Dallas and has already envisioned knockout artist Edwin Valero and long-time Pacquiao nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez as possible foes for the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter. Roach even hinted the possibility of a blockbuster showdown should Pacquiao and Valero, two of boxing’s fearsome punchers today, finally squares off in the ring. “If we do Valero there, we could sell out the whole place. You don’t have to close half of it down," said Roach. Jones is also amenable to seeing Pacquiao fight in his multi-billion stadium again, saying the record attendance of his meeting with Clottey was beyond his expectations. “The crowd can be special to boxing. I believe we can have a fight that can do that in boxing with Manny Pacquiao and Bob Arum around," said the Dallas Cowboys team owner and general manager. Arum, Top Rank Promotions’ big boss, hasn’t categorically agreed to do another Pacquiao fight at the Cowboys Stadium, but was obviously impressed with the turnout of the first ever major boxing event in Dallas. “It’s one of the grandest spectacles in the history of boxing. I’ve never, ever seen boxing presented that way," Arum said. – GMANews.TV

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