By: William Holmes

The following is a special edition of the Boxing Insider notebook for the upcoming Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios fight in Macau, China.

Saturday’s HBO Pay-Per-View event airs live at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.

HBO Pay-Per-View airs live coverage from CotaiArena.

Saturday’s main event is a 12-round welterweight showdown featuring Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios.

Official Weights from Macau:

Manny Pacquiao: 145 lbs.
Brandon Rios: 146.5 lbs.

Join the conversation on Twitter: #PacquiaoRios

All three episodes of 24/7 PACQUIAO/RIOS air back-to-back Friday, Nov. 22 on HBO, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Remark Media Selected as Official Digital Distributor for Clash in Cotai Boxing Event

Remark Media, Inc.(NASDAQ: MARK), a global digital media company, today announced that it
is the official Digital Distributor of the Clash in Cotai boxing event headlined by Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios. Clash in Cotai is co-promoted by Top Rank and Venetian Cotai, and will take place on November 24, 2013, in Macao (Saturday evening, November 23, 2013, in U.S. timezones.

Remark Media is distributing the Clash in Cotai event live to consumers in greater China, with platform partner PPTV, and in South Korea withplatform partner UStream Korea. The Clash in Cotai is headlined by the Pacquiao – Rios bout, and features Evgeny Gradovich, Andy Ruiz, and 2-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming, the most decorated Chinese boxer in history. Audiences in greater China can visit http://leader.pptv.com/boxing/, and audiences in South Korea can visit http://www.ustream.tv/pacquiao-rios, to watch the fight live and free of charge.

Remark Media also today announced that it is creating China’s first Boxing Channel, which will be distributed on PPTV’s platform. The Boxing Channel will feature live boxing events, documentaries, feature films, interviews, analysis and highlights from the boxing world. The Clash in Cotai is the Boxing Channel’s inaugural event. The Boxing Channel, as with PPTV’s other leading sports channels which exclusively distribute the English Premier League and the NFL, will feature a main lobby allowing viewers to browse and view on-demand content, as well as watch live events as they are broadcast. Remark Media is marketing the Boxing Channel and its live events broadcast on the channel via campaigns on Chinese social media Weibo and Weixin, incorporating celebrities, sports influencers, and cultural opinion leaders. The Boxing Channel is online at http://leader.pptv.com/boxing/.

Pacquiao and Rios Quotables:

MANNY PACQUIAO
“Am I confident for my fight with Rios? I am more than confident. Rios is bigger than me. Remember Goliath was bigger than David and yet David needed just one stone to fell the giant. I enter this fight stronger than ever. I have the strength of my country and my people coursing through my body. I fight for them, not for me. I fight for their glory, not mine.”

FREDDIE ROACH
“Manny’s last training session was nothing short of amazing. We were supposed to do six rounds on the mitts and I cut it off after four rounds. They were the best four rounds of mitts I have ever done with Manny. He was blazing. He was throwing the heat. This was the happiest and most productive camp I have had with Manny in years. I know I predicted that Manny would knock Rios out inside six rounds but based on our last workout, I don’t see how Rios makes it past the fourth round.”

Rios and Garcia hosted a roundtable in their suite with the first wave of international media who arrived earlier in the day.

BRANDON RIOS
“I want to feel Manny’s power. I want to feel all of it. This is the first training camp I have kept to the game plan and done everything I was told to do. Manny Pacquiao is a big step. I am going to shut everyone up and prove I am the best. The second Alvarado fight was my bad. I was focused on knocking him out and that’s how I trained and fought, throwing one shot at a time trying to land that knockout punch. It was also the first time I ever lifted weights and by the third round I was slowing down. This time I am focusing on winning — not on the knockout — and Robert and his dad have designed a lot of ways for me to do that. My body clock has finally adjusted to Macau. I slept until 7 a.m. and was in the gym before 9 a.m. I know we are in Manny’s backyard and I want to win every round. I have trained not to give up a minute to Manny Pacquiao.”

ROBERT GARCIA
“Twice during the two episodes of “24/7” I’ve heard Freddie Roach say he will ask Manny Pacquiao to retire if he loses to Brandon Rios. Well, Freddie had better buy that gold watch for Manny, because the retirement party begins on Saturday night. I guarantee you this will be the last time you ever see Manny Pacquiao on an HBO Pay-Per-View.”

Watch the Weigh-In Live on HBO

Boxing fans can get a ringside seat for one of the sport’s most dramatic pre-fight activities when HBO telecasts WEIGH-IN LIVE: PACQUIAO/RIOS, the welterweight fight weigh-in, featuring ring rivals Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios. The hour special airs Friday, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on HBO.

Hosted by Jim Lampley, the fast-moving program will include the moment when both prizefighters tip the scales as well as providing boxing fans with unprecedented access to the festivities. Live interviews with special guests will be part of the hour-long presentation. All the action will take place from the Venetian Macao’s CotaiArena.

Immediately following WEIGH-IN LIVE will be the encore replay of the HBO reality series “24/7 Pacquiao/Rios.” All three episodes will air back-to-back beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Boxing Stars Align for Pacquiao vs. Rios Fight Week

Boxing’s royalty will be in Las Vegas this week talking about the historic 12-round welterweight showdown between Fighter of the Decade MANNY PACQUIAO and former world champion BRANDON RIOS. Broadcasting throughout the day Live from the Palazzo Waterfall Atrium inside The Palazzo Las Vegas — sister property of the The Venetian Macao, the resort site hosting Pacquiao vs. Rios — Thursday, November 21 and Friday, November 22, 13 national and regional radio shows will be interviewing a boxing’s Who’s Who — in-person, including Hall of Famers George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Pacquiao rivals Marco Antonio Barrera and Timothy Bradley, Rios’ professional nemesis Mike Alvarado, and former world champion Ray Mancini.

The appearance schedule was as follows:

Thursday, November 21
Timothy Bradley, undefeated two-division world champion who dethroned Pacquiao last year to claim his WBO welterweight title. Claimed his first world title in England, dethroning WBC super lightweight champion and hometown favorite Junior Witter.

Marco Antonio Barrera, former three-division world champion who fought the majority of his fights outside his native Mexico, including two fights with Pacquiao.
·
Mike Alvarado, the former WBO jr. lightweight champion who is 1-1 against Rios.

Friday, November 22

George Foreman, former two-time heavyweight champion. Fought all his world title fights outside the U.S. during his first title reign.

Sugar Ray Leonard, former five-division world champion who had one fight outside the U.S. — against Roberto Duran in Montreal — where he lost a unanimous decision — and his welterweight title to Duran.

Roberto Duran, former four-division world champion who fought the majority of his major fights outside his native Panama.

Ray Mancini, former lightweight champion who fought outside the U.S. once, in Italy, winning a narrow decision to retain his title.

“While the fight takes place in China, we want U.S. fight fans to be treated to the same real time experience they enjoy for all pay-per-view mega-fights,” said Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View. “With the star-studded group of fighters, the breadth of the radio stations broadcasting live, and the television and print interviews which emanate from Las Vegas, we will be able to provide a constant flow of news, information and entertainment which U.S. boxing fans can engage on their time. Additionally, the press conference and weigh-in from Macau will take place live at times which are convenient for the U.S. audience; and of course the live fight telecast on Saturday night November 23rd will take place at the usual time of 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.”

The seven boxing superstars will be discussing their experiences — the victories and the losses — when they fought on foreign soil as well as their analysis of the upcoming Pacquiao-Rios battle. Both Barrera and Bradley have first-hand knowledge of what Rios should expect from Pacquiao and what Rios will need to do to have his hand raised in victory in just five days. The same is true for Alvarado, who has tangled with Rios in two Fights of the Year. .

Sands China Donating to Typhoon Haiyan Relief Efforts

Sands China Ltd. is assisting the Macao community’s efforts to provide disaster relief to those affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded, which made landfall in the Philippines Nov. 8, causing widespread destruction and loss of life.

The company is spearheading several initiatives to raise donations to aid disaster relief efforts in the Philippines. The first is a cash donation of US$100,000 to the Macau Red Cross.

Additionally, to encourage team members to participate in the relief effort, Sands China will make a further Macau Red Cross donation, matching dollar-for-dollar the donations made by company employees to non-governmental organisations providing Haiyan disaster assistance, upon presentation of a valid donation receipt or bank-in slip. Moreover, Macau Red Cross donation boxes are being placed in the back-of-house staff areas at all Sands China Ltd. properties, to assist the individual donation efforts of Sands China team members.

Donation boxes will also be placed at the Cotai Arena on Nov. 23 during the Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios welterweight fight, as well as at the event’s live feed venues at The Venetian® Macao’s Milan Ballroom and the Bellini Lounge, giving attendees an opportunity to donate. Finally, 100 per cent of ticket sales revenue from the Milan Ballroom live feed event will be donated to the Macau Red Cross, with an additional dollar-for-dollar match by Sands China doubling the total donation amount. The event provides the public an opportunity to play a part in raising additional funds for the relief effort; ticketing information is available at www.venetianmacao.com/manny.

Provodnikov to Attend Pacquiao-Rios in Macau, China

One of the most interested spectators at this Saturday night’s welterweight clash between Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios will be WBO Jr. welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov.
Provodnikov will be ringside at the Cotai Arena in the Venetian and he will have more than a passing interest in the bout.

Provodnikov may see a future opponent as well he will be there to support Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach.
“I made sure I was in Macau to support my friend Manny Paquiao in his big return to the ring, and I will be rooting for him in this fight.”, said Provodnikov.

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