He already backed Manny Pacquiao up once. International wrestling star Dave Batista is placing his bet again on Pacquiao when the Filipino ring icon and undefeated American superstar Floyd Mayweather face off in a mega bout slated March 13.
“I think Manny is going to kill him. And I believe that,” the Filipino-Greek Batista said during a press conference Saturday. “Even if I wasn’t a fan, just watching him in the ring, he’s so impressive. He’s in a different league.”
Batista met the billionaire boxer for the first time last May when he was invited to join the prefight entourage of Pacquiao during the Filipino’s world light welterweight clash against Britain’s Ricky Hattton in Las Vegas.
“First and foremost I’m a fan because of his skills,” said Batista. “If you’re an athlete, or even if you’re anybody, he’s just amazing. But then there’s that [Filipino] connection.”
Pacquiao made history when he bagged the welterweight title, his seventh in as many divisions, with a 12th round technical knockout of reigning WBO champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in Las Vegas last month.
“He’s an unbelievable athlete,” Batista noted. “Everybody for sure is in awe of Manny Pacquiao. People around the world are just starting to notice him and I think he represents a lot of great Filipino athletes.”
STRONG>Triple H for ‘Pretty Boy’
Batista, who stands at 6-foot-6 and weighs 290 pounds, also admits to getting a lot of ribbing from fellow wrestling star and boxing fan Triple H.
“Triple H is kinda tight with Floyd Mayweather so there’s a constant argument with us,” Batista said laughing. “But at the end of the day he knows that I’m right.”
Batista also relates to the hard work and passion Pacquiao has for his sport.
“We do all these crazy moves, but we’re doing a lot of storytelling in the ring,” Batista, the official spokesperson of the new energy drink Xplode, added during the product launch at Bar One, Crowne Plaza in Ortigas.
“Some people just don’t really understand it. I think maybe they’ve never taken the time to watch it. Wrestling 20 to 30 years ago is not the same as today,” he said.
“We’ve come a long way. They’ve never really seen the incredible matches. When they think of wrestling, they think of big guys hitting each other with chairs. They’ve never really sat down and watched with an open mind. I think it’s their loss.”
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