Pacquia-Marquez Fight

Pacquiao-Marquez tour
While Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is still weighing proposals from HBO and Showtime as he decides which company will handle the Nov. 12 Pacquiao-Marquez III pay-per-view, he is making plans for the most elaborate promotional tour he has ever staged.

Arum said the four-city international press tour will kick off Sept. 3 in Manila, where he believes Pacquiao -- the national icon of the Philippines -- can draw a crowd of 500,000.

"We're doing it in a big public park," Arum said. "We have people on the ground making the arrangements for it. It is going to be spectacular."

Sept. 4 falls on a Sunday, and Arum said he is attempting to arrange for the Archbishop of the Philippines to give Holy Communion to Pacquiao and Marquez.

Arum said the tour would then travel to New York for a press conference on Sept. 6, and then another the next day in Los Angeles.

"Then, late Thursday afternoon we'll fly to Mexico City and do a press conference on Friday in a big square in the city," Arum said. "We think we can get 50,000 to come out. I'd like to get the president of Mexico to speak at that press conference. I'm doing this so elaborately because it makes a statement that Pacquiao is a worldwide figure, therefore you do it worldwide. It's the appropriate thing to do."

Arum said that in addition to lining up sponsors for the fight, Top Rank also has sponsors coming on board just for the press tour -- an unprecedented move.