Bucharest, Romania – A hand injury to the champion has caused the sudden postponement of the World Boxing Council Light Heavyweight Championship bout between WBC Champion Adrian Diaconu and mandatory challenger Silvio Branco scheduled for November 15th. Event promoter Chris Ganescu of Gankor Promotions said as soon as the extent of the injury is determined and a new date is set a formal announcement would be made..
“Adrian is certainly disappointed, as this is to be his title defense, but these things happen in boxing. I’m working with OPI 2000 (Branco’s promoter) to make this happen,” said Ganescu from China at the WBC Annual Convention.
Diaconu earned the Interim Title with a decision win over American Chris Henry in April and became Champion when Chad Dawson vacated.
ESPN’S E:60 All-Access Feature on Five-Division World Champion MANNY PACQUIAO Now Available Online at ESPN.com
ESPN’s prime-time newsmagazine E:60 profile of MANNY PACQUIAO, the five-division world boxing champion from the Philippines, is now available online at ESPN.com (see below for links.)
Pacquiao, the reigning WBC lightweight champion, moves up TWO weight divisions to take on six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya in a 12-round welterweight battle, Saturday, December 6 at MGM Grand. The sold-out event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
ESPN’s E:60 Feature on Manny Pacquiao: “Thrilla!”
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?categoryId=2491554&brand=null&videoId=3669223&n8pe6c=2
ESPN’s E:60 Pacquiao Roundtable Discussion
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband /video/videopage?videoId=3669306&n8pe6c=1&categoryId=2491554
(From the ESPN release): Reporter Jeremy Schaap takes a look at Manny’s rise from poverty to national hero in the Philippines and, some would say, a fighter who is carrying boxing with his success and potential. Schaap is willing to do interviews with any media who might be interested in hearing about his time with Pacquaio – and things that might not make the final cut due to time restraints.
Here’s a brief overview of the piece:
Manny Pacquiao holds many titles. He is currently the WBC Lightweight Champion, was formerly the WBC Super Featherweight Champion, The Ring Featherweight Champion, IBF Super Bantamweight Champion and WBC Flyweight Champion, but as the first Filipino and Asian boxer to win five world titles in different weight divisions, his most prominent role might be as a hero / icon in his native country. This 29 year old from General Santos City, Philippines rose from the poverty of his country to be named by The Ring magazine as the top pound for pound boxer in the world in June, 2008 and is poised to become even bigger if he wins his December fight with Oscar De La Hoya. E:60 reporter Jeremy Schaap sits down with the world’s number one boxer to talk about Pacquiao’s big break in June, 2001, when he stepped in as a late replacement and beat IBF Junior Featherweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba by technical knockout. He has virtually destroyed most pugilists that have dared to step in the ring to face him since then and right now many experts agree Pacquiao is carrying boxing. With eight straight wins and a record of knockouts in terms of revenues from his recent pay-per-view fights, Pacquiao may be worth more than his weight in gold. According to Mark Taffet, senior vice president for HBO PPV, Pacquiao weighs 135 pounds (but) his PPV numbers look more like heavyweight numbers.” Tune in and find out why this fighter was able to generate a record $20.2 million in revenue for a featherweight bout.
Click http://espnmediazone.com/press_kits/E60 for releases, correspondents and executive production team bios and video clips. For complete E:60 features and expanded versions of the reporter-producer meetings, click http://www.e60.com
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“The Dream Match,” the welterweight collision between two of boxing’s biggest attractions, Olympic gold medalist and 10-time world champion “The Golden Boy” OSCAR DE LA HOYA and current Ring Magazine No. 1-ranked pound for pound champion MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 6 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, the bout will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., presented by Tequila Cazadores and sponsored by Ceverza Tecate, DeWalt Tools, Full Throttle Energy Drink, and Southwest Airlines, the fight sold out in hours, making it the second largest grossing gate in boxing history.
The De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao pay-per-view telecast has a suggested retail price of $54.95, and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com