• March 10, 2010 ( wednesday)… tba
• March 11,2010 ( thursday )  ….. tba
• March 12, 2010  ( Friday )     ….  tba

Bob Arum called it the biggest news conference he’s ever seen. Manny Pacquiao said he felt like a football player.

In Texas, they do things big. And a boxing match will take place in the biggest NFL stadium on March 13.

“I feel really good about this,” Pacquiao said. “The fans will like what we do in the ring come March 13.”

Pacquiao, considered the best fighter in the world, will defend the WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium. It’s the first boxing match in the $1.2 billion facility.

The main event will be held in front of a seating capacity of 40,000 on HBO pay-per-view.

Eight bouts will take place on the fight card, including four on television.

“This is going to be the Super Bowl of boxing,” said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer.

This fight came about after a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao superfight fell through after Mayweather outlined a drug testing plan Pacquiao wouldn’t accept.

Had that fight come together, it would have been in Las Vegas. So as far as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is concerned, things worked out just fine.

“It did,” Jones said, smiling. “This gave us an opening. We were very aggressive. We were pretty quick to make a deal.”

Before the fighters broke out into groups and talked to reporters Tuesday, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders danced for a crowd of about 500 and several retired Cowboys and Fort Worth boxers were introduced.

Smoke surrounded the fighters as they entered from the same tunnel the football players use.

Jones presented Pacquiao with a No. 3 jersey featuring his name on the back. Clottey received a No. 13 jersey.

The significance? It’s shorthand for the date of the bout: 3-13.

Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, has promoted fights at the Astrodome and at Yankee Stadium. He predicts Cowboys Stadium “will have a big role in boxing for years to come.”

“I have never, ever seen anything like it,” Arum said. “There is nothing in the world like this place. It just blows you away.”

Jones vowed that fight night will be even splashier than the news conference.

“We’re going to make this one of the most interesting fights to view that there’s ever been,” he said. “It’ll have everything to do with the flexibility of this board right above the ring. We’re going to have some fun with it.”

The fight itself should be pretty good, too.

In November, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) beat Miguel Cotto, who beat Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs) last summer. However, that fight was a split decision that many felt should’ve gone to Clottey, a native of Ghana who lives in New York.

The stadium is hosting the NBA All-Star Game next month and will host the Super Bowl next year. A Final Four is on the way, as is a Notre Dame football game. It’s also in the running as a World Cup soccer site, should that event come to the United States.

“We want to have big fights here,” Jones said. “This is the first step to doing that, and I’m excited we could get a fight like this here.”

Still, for all that it has going for it, the building is right off an interstate highway in a suburb midway between Dallas and Fort Worth. There’s a nearby amusement park and some strip centers, none of which will ever be confused with the Las Vegas Strip.

But money talks and Jones believes he can make it financially worthwhile for fighters. His goal is to host up to four or five fights a year, “once we establish that we are the place to fight and have the kind of stature that we want to have.” He used Madison Square Garden as a comparison.

Arum said he hopes more than 40,000 fans can attend the bout because the stadium can expand its seating capacity to as much as 80,000.

Jones already has gotten ticket requests from former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells. Jones and Barry Switzer have gone to fights together, so he’ll probably ask for a seat, too.

Parcells, though, is the biggest fight fan of the bunch. In fact, Jones once looked into investing in Pacquiao’s career.

“Bill really encouraged me to meet with the guy who had Pacquiao,” Jones said. “I had him come in and sit down and talk about backing Pacquiao. You could see his potential at that time.”

Information from ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins and The Associated Press was used in this report.

SOUP

Pumpkin and coconut cream soup

 

Crab corn soup

SALAD AND ENTREES

Mixed Green Salad

 

STIR FRY NOODLES

Singaporean noodles

RICE

Chicken Fried Rice

Spicy Veg. Fried Rice

Plain Steamed rice

Garlic fried rice

 

MAIN COURSE

Prawn curry w/ pineapple & asparagus

Thai Red Chicken curry

Beef Curry w/ Red & green chillies

Dry Beef Curry w/ onion & peanuts

Sweet & Sour pork

Ginger Lemon Chicken

 

DESSERT

Vanilla Ice Cream with Lychees 

The official announcement was made hours before the Pacquiao-Hatton showdown which Mayweather Jr said “tonight any man c an win. Its  agamble. But when you are betting on Floyd that’s for sure money.”

Marquez who fought Pacquiao twice in what were considered controversial decisions has been chasing Pacquiao for a third fight after Pacquiao dropped him three times in the first round of their initial encounter where Marquez counter-punched his way to salvage a draw and a rematch in which Pacquiao dropped Marquez in round four to win a close split decision to grab Marquez’s WBC super featherweight title.

Marquez said if he wanted to be the best fighter in the world he had to be the best claiming that Mayweather Jr was the best fighter in the world. Marquez said their July 18 fight was to decide who is the No.1 fighter in the world.

Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya didn’t endear himself to Filipinos for sure when he said “I don’t care what they say, Juan (Manuel Marquez) beat him (Manny Pacquiao.) So I believe Juan can beat Mayweather. Marquez can never be counted out.”

The statements were made before Pacquiao, in a spectacular performance, dropped Hatton twice in the opening round and knocked him out with one second to go in the second proving beyond doubt his stature as the pound-for-pound king no matter what Mayweather, Marquez and De La Hoya.

De La Hoya who was seen on the Solar Sports satellite coverage of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight on pay-per-view at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday wearing a Hatton mask was roundly booed by thousands of fans not merely at the coliseum but in other venues around the country.

Golden Boy Promotions vice president and international matchmaker Eric Gomez informed www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports about the Mayweather Jr – Marquez battle and said “people think its easy” for the bigger Mayweather Jr who  has to come down to the agreed upon weight of 143 pounds, indicating that Marquez could offset the size with his technical skills.

6th yr anniversary

The bike washer of  Handlebar Bar & Grill 6th yr Anniversary!!!

Saturday is just as fast paced, with the ten’s on you’ll need some cooling down so here’s the sports menu..
The Super 14’s kick off as a lunch treat with the Highlanders and Crusaders in kiwi local derby at midday.
The chiefs play the hungry blues at 2.
The Waratahs brow beaten after last week take on the defending champions, the Crusaders at 4.35.
and the Western Force are at the home to the sharks at 6.40.
After that the six nations boots off..
Italy meet a rampaging France at 9pm.
England after thrashing the French meet Scotland at 11.15.
and Premier League fans won’t die of thirst.. Fullham face Manchester united at 10.55.

Sunday..the cricket day 3 Aust vs. South Africa at 4, and the Windies meet England in another big one day shootout.
plus a huge six nations match sunday morning, Wales play Ireland at 1.30am.
in football, newcastle play arsenal at 1.25am.
and Liverpool and Aston Villa are head to head at 11.55.
Cricket fans get day 2 of Australia vs. South Africa from 4pm.
League fans can see the knights and sharks in action at 4.30.

It’s another huge weekend of sports and partying at Manila’s hottest spot for entertaintment..Handle bar we’ve got you covered  and next week watch for the Hong Kong 7’s live here at HB!!!