U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
February 1, 2016
February 1, 2016
Manny Pacquiao insists he’ll retire after Bradley rematch
FINAL FIGHT? Manny Pacquiao answers ques-
tions during a news conference in Beverly Hills, Cali-
fornia. Pacquiao is scheduled to face Timothy Bradley
on April 9 in Las Vegas for the World Boxing Organiza-
tion welterweight title. Pacquiao insists it will be the fi-
nal time he steps out of a boxing ring. (AP Photo/Nick
Ut)
By Greg Beacham
AP Sports Writer
EVERLY HILLS, Calif. — With a
beatific politician’s smile on his
face, Manny Pacquiao calmly
insisted he’ll step out of a boxing ring for
the final time on April 9 after his third
fight with Timothy Bradley.
After all, the eight-division champion
has a senatorial campaign to plan and a
loving family to please. The 37-year-old
Filipino phenomenon quietly claims the
spring is a good time to take his last
punch.
“I’m so happy hanging up my gloves
after this fight,” Pacquiao said. “I’m sure
I’ll feel sad after that, but that’s life. It’s
time, I think.”
That note of uncertainty is familiar to
Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum. After a
half-century in the fight game, the Top
Rank boss knows a boxer’s word on
retirement is hardly ever the last one.
“I will not promote it as Manny’s last
fight,” Arum said. “He says he’s going to
retire, and maybe he will. The truth is that
you never know with any boxer, but I
haven’t known Manny to say things he
doesn’t mean. But we all realize this could
be the last time he fights.”
Nearly nine months after he failed to
hurt Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the most
lucrative fight in boxing history, Pacquiao
is back stateside to promote his grand
finale. His camp insists Pacquiao is
recovered from shoulder surgery required
to repair a rotator cuff injury that affected
the Mayweather bout, and he’ll be ready
for a full training camp with Freddie
B
Minorities make up 14
percent of state lawmakers
By Jesse J. Holland
The Associated Press
W
ASHINGTON — Only 14 per-
cent of state legislators are
minorities, according to a new
report.
The New American Leaders Project
surveyed state lawmakers in 2015 and
found that black politicians held around
nine percent of the seats, Latino and
Latina politicians held about four percent
of the seats, and Asian-American
politicians held about two percent of the
seats. Native-American officeholders
numbered less than one percent. This
number is far below the racial and ethnic
makeup of the U.S., with minorities
making up 40 percent of the population.
Sayu Bhojwani, president and founder
of the New American Leaders Project, said
the major political parties could do more to
help usher more minority candidates to
state-level offices. She also wants more
support for minority candidates once they
decide to seek office and foundations to
invest in preparing future lawmakers.
“Part of the reason for the representa-
tion gap is because the existing and
traditional parties are not reaching out
and encouraging Asians and Latinos and
Latinas to run,” she said.
Having more minority officeholders at
the state level would mean minority
communities would have someone who not
only understands their issues but also
likely has experienced what they are going
through, she said. “If we could reduce the
barriers, we could have a much more
representative government,” she said.
The survey also found a gender gap in
state legislatures, with women holding 24
percent of the lawmaking jobs and men
holding 76 percent. Republicans also held
a decisive advantage, holding 56 percent of
state-level legislator positions while
Democrats hold 43 percent. One percent is
held by third-party candidates or indepen-
dents.
Roach.
Pacquiao realizes that if he looks
impressive in beating Bradley, he could
stoke interest in a healthy rematch with
Mayweather, who retired last fall. Even
after their anti-climactic first meeting, a
second bout would be another enormous
financial windfall for the two biggest stars
in boxing.
Pacquiao insists it’s irrelevant to look
beyond Bradley.
“(Mayweather) retired already, so I’m
going to retire also after this fight,”
Pacquiao said. “I never regret. In fact, I
thought I won the fight. A lot of people, my
fans, believe I won the fight. ... I know (it’s
Lin, Curry,
Harden in
NBA TV spot for
Lunar New Year
NEW YORK (AP) — The
National Basketball Asso-
ciation (NBA) is celebrat-
ing the Lunar New Year
with a TV spot featuring
Jeremy
Lin,
Stephen
Curry, and James Harden.
The ad is called “Dining
Table” and shows the stars
sharing a New Year meal
with a Chinese family. It is
being broadcast until Feb-
ruary 22 across all of NBA
China’s television and
digital partners’ platforms.
The Lunar New Year
begins February 8 and
celebrates the Year of the
Monkey. Lin plays for the
Charlotte Hornets and is
the first American-born
NBA player of Chinese or
Taiwanese descent.
Houston, Golden State,
and Washington will wear
uniforms with the team
name in Chinese and host
arena events. Other NBA
teams will celebrate the
holiday and pay tribute to
Chinese culture.
Fifty-one games will be
broadcast or streamed in
China, showcasing all 30
NBA teams for the first
time.
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time to retire) because after this, I have
another big responsibility in the
Philippines, which is serving the people.
My family wanted me to retire before I
fought Mayweather. I started this boxing
just to help my mother, and I’ll end my
boxing career to help the country.”
Pacquiao will face Bradley at the MGM
Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas,
completing a trilogy between two of the
world’s top welterweights. Bradley won a
hotly disputed split decision over Pacquiao
in their first meeting in June 2012, but
Pacquiao earned a unanimous decision
victory in the April 2014 rematch.
Pacquiao is certain he won the first
fight, and his opinion is shared by Roach
and Arum, who promotes both fighters.
Bradley believes he won the rematch, a
position shared by fewer observers.
Arum considered the likes of Terence
Crawford and Amir Khan to be Pacquiao’s
final opponent. Arum said the rising
Crawford, likely a future pay-per-view
star, was deemed too unknown by
executives from the cable companies and
satellite providers charged with selling the
bout. Arum said Khan “was pretty much a
non-starter because they kept shifting the
goalpost on me and had an inflated idea of
what he was worth.”
With a guaranteed $20 million payday,
Pacquiao happily agreed to take on
Bradley for a third time.
He claims the reasons weren’t just
financial: Pacquiao believes Bradley “has
changed” since their last two fights, and he
wants to see how he’ll do against the
revamped version of an already tenacious
opponent.
Bradley hired veteran trainer Teddy
Atlas before his last bout with Brandon
Rios, celebrating the change with a
ninth-round stoppage victory.
“I heard Manny Pacquiao chose me
because he knows me,” Bradley said. “I
think I’m different now, I honestly do. I
think this fight will be different than the
first two altercations we had.”
Nevada opens tourism office in New Delhi, India
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada is opening a
tourism office in India, hoping to capture a larger
share of travellers coming to the United States.
Lt. Governor Mark Hutchison said in a state-
ment that his trip to New Delhi was to launch the
new international branch promoting travel and
tourism to Nevada.
The state said Nevada has a 6.5 percent share of
the India travel market and that the research
shows the top reasons for travel are to visit family
and shopping.
A survey of more than 800 visitors indicated
they also enjoy large malls, wildlife viewing,
camping, and historical monuments while
overseas.
The state said Indians on average budget a
maximum of about $5,400 per year for
international travel.
Nevada recently closed its tourism office in
Beijing, China.