Opinion | Manny who? Most Chinese have little idea who he is
Promoters say Macau could become the fight capital of the world but it won't happen unless an indigenous champ boosts the sport
Distractions abound at The Clash in Cotai and that's a good thing for the local media. A very good thing as it turns out, because while this part of Asia is steeped in money culture, it definitely is not in boxing culture.
A few months back, selected members of the Chinese media in Hong Kong were invited to come and watch Manny Pacquiao train in the Philippines. What they returned with were not stories on his training methods and how hungry he was to get back on the winning track. They ran pieces instead featuring copious pictures of his mansion in General Santos and his limited-edition cars.
And you know what, it certainly is not their fault that the focus was more on lifestyle than sport. The greatest Chinese fighter of all time was Bruce Lee while the greatest Chinese boxer of all time is, um, yeah. There isn't one, at least not yet, and that's why an appearance by soccer superstar David Beckham and any sighting of the shapely ring girls elicits more of a media stampede than a sit-down with Pacquiao's sage trainer Freddie Roach.
The greatest Chinese fighter of all time was Bruce Lee while the greatest Chinese boxer of all time is, um, yeah
Boxing was actually banned on the mainland for years because it was deemed to be brutal and ruthless, the so-called characteristics of capitalism. These days, few places in the world are more ruthless and brutally capitalistic then China and maybe that's why boxing is making a slow but steady comeback.
But there are generations of Chinese with no knowledge or appreciation for the sport. They missed the golden era of heavyweights like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton and Larry Holmes as well as the middleweight boom of Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. That's a massive hole in boxing culture with very few in the Chinese world able to regale youthful generations with tales of yore from boxing's recent history.
All of this is relevant because people in the industry, most notably promoter Bob Arum, are saying that Macau and the Venetian could become the fight capital of the world. Thanks to the massive gambling revenue in Macau - last year five times more than Las Vegas - he claims they can afford any fight they want. The big question is, what fights do they want? Even Pacquiao, the greatest Asian fighter ever, has limited cachet among Chinese in Macau, Hong Kong and on the mainland.
"Manny did a press conference in Beijing so some of us know him," said one writer from a Beijing paper. "But in general most Chinese have no idea who he is."