Boxing
Carlo Pamintuan 6y

How the Elorde family helped make the Pacquiao-Matthysse card happen

Boxing

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Manny Pacquiao wanted to prove that he could keep fighting without the help of Top Rank and Bob Arum when he decided to promote his own fight against WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse of Argentina.

Throughout the lead-up to the fight, there were multiple questions hurled toward his way in an effort to question his capability but now that the fight card is a day away, surely there's nothing that can prevent that from happening.

Pacquiao, however, did not do it alone. He handpicked people whom he trusted to help out such as the Elorde family.

"Way before this, we discussed with Senator Manny the prospects of working together for a boxing event in the Philippines but being involved in this huge promotion in Kuala Lumpur came as a big surprise for us. He called us in for a meeting and told us he wanted us to run the production of the fight and we immediately agreed," said Liza Elorde at the Axiata Arena Saturday afternoon. While the boxers relaxed and rehydrated after the weigh-in, work did not stop for the Elorde family as they had to oversee the preparation of the venue.

Liza could have accomplished these preparations with her eyes closed if the fight was in the Philippines. Their group has produced so many fight cards throughout the years and also spearhead the annual Gabriel "Flash" Elorde Boxing Awards. However, Liza admitted that there were unique challenges in having the fight in Kuala Lumpur.

"It's very difficult. As early as three months ago, we were already visiting Kuala Lumpur. We were checking out the venues and we were looking for a place when Manny and the other fighters can work out," she said. "As we know, Malaysia is not really a boxing country so there are not a lot of gyms. We saw one but it was too far so we decided to install a pop-up gym at the parking lot of Le Meridien. It was difficult because we had to transport all of the boxing equipment from Manila and we had to make a new ring. It was tough and expensive but we're very happy because things have been running smoothly, from the training to the weigh-in earlier."

Liza and the rest of the Elordes will be very busy come fight day but they'll spend a few minutes to support one of their own.

"Senator Manny was very gracious when he offered a spot in the undercard for one of our sons and we decided it would be Mig who'll fight as Bai just came from a match," Liza continued.

"Initially, we had a debate about it in the family because we knew we were going to be very busy so we might not be able to give Mig the attention he needs for his preparations but ultimately we decided we could not pass up on the opportunity because it could be huge for his career so we said yes. Our only request was that he'd be the curtain raiser so we can watch him fight at 7 a.m. and then focus on the other work that needs to be done throughout the day."

The Elorde family was complete a day before the weigh-in when Nico, who plays for GlobalPort Batang Pier, finally arrived.

"It would have been better if I was back in Manila, preparing for the semifinals but immediately after we lost, I asked them to book a ticket for me because I wanted to be here with them," the point guard said.

His team forced the top-seeded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to a do-or-die game but they ran out of steam and bowed out in the quarterfinals.

"I'm very proud of my family. Senator Manny had confidence in them because they've been promoting fights for a long time and maybe he saw how my mom handles the Elorde awards night every year so he knew she could handle a big event like this," he said.

^ Back to Top ^