Monday, January 18, 2010

Pacquiao to raise $.5m for Gorres

A fund-raising dinner that is hoped to generate $500,000 will be hosted by seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao for his fallen compatriot Z. Gorres.

Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s Canadian adviser, announced that the fund-raising dinner will be held within the next three weeks in Las Vegas just before Gorres leaves for home from almost two-month stay in the hospital following a ring accident.

Proceeds of the fund-raising scheme will go to the Manny Pacquiao Foundation, which in turn, will hand them over to Gorres for his future. Koncz said the plan was to hold the fund-raising immediately after Gorres was hospitalized, but added that Pacquiao feared that the proceeds might just go to his countrymen’s hospitalization and medical expenses and nothing is left for him and his family.

“This is the reason why Manny opted to hold it after the medical and hospitalization expenditures were all paid for precisely so that the amount to be raised will go to Gorres and his family,” he explained.

According to Koncz, Gorres’ hospitalization expenses amounted to $500,000, $450,000 of which was paid for by the Nevada State Athletics commission and the remaining $50,000 by Top Rank Promotions.

Koncz made the announcement last Saturday, the same day he informed a group of few Filipino media men of Pacquiao’s receiving a clean bill of health from the Nevada State Athletics Commission in regards to urine testing he undergone before the end of 2009.

Pacquiao, who did not even bother to attend the presscon, left for Los Angeles last Sunday evening to prepare himself for a pair of press conferences to hype his coming welterweight championship fight with Joshua Clottey set Tuesday in Dallas, Texas and Wednesday in New York.

The Filipino ring icon will defend his 147-pound title against Clottey on March 13 at the $1.3 million Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
He left for Los Angeles, California Sunday night in order to make it to the press conferences scheduled on Tuesday in Dallas, Texas and Wednesday in New York.

During the hastily-called press briefing, attended by four print media men and a pair of television crews, Koncz denied reports attributed to him that Team Pacquiao had been asking for a catchweight 145 pounds for the Clottey fight.

Gorres, won over Luis Melendez of Colombia in their 10-round bout in November by unanimous decision, went through an emergency brain surgery in November. He was hit by a powerful a left straight to the temple from Melendez near the end of the 10th round that caused a blood clot in his brain that needed two major surgeries.

He was discharged from the University Medical Center in Las Vegas which declared him out of danger last Jan. 15.
Returning to the ring as a fighter has been ruled out for what was then promising Filipino boxer due to the gravity of his injury.

Source: philboxing.com

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts with Thumbnails