Morales, Pacquiao to hype up bout among LA fans

To drum up their forthcoming showdown dubbed as "The Grand Finale," Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales have agreed to go the extra mile.

According to Ricardo Jimenez, the Mexican publicist of Top Rank Promotions, the two fighters who will square off on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas will have to do some additional legwork.

Jimenez said they plan to parade Pacquiao and Morales in Mexican and Filipino communities in Los Angeles a week before the scheduled fight at the Thomas and Mack Center.

Pacquiao will take his turn on Nov. 13 or the day before he leaves with his entourage for Sin City.

Common practice calls for Pacquiao motoring to Vegas five days before the fight.

Morales, on the other hand, will visit the Mexican and Filipino communities on Nov. 14. He arrives from Tijuana to Los Angeles on Nov. 13.

In his two previous fights with Pacquiao, the first in March of 2005 at the MGM Grand and the second last January also at the TMC, Morales was flown in straight to Las Vegas from Tijuana.

This time, it seemed that the 30-year-old Mexican agreed to drop by Los Angeles first for the promotional sortie before taking his private jet to Las Vegas.

The two previous fights between Pacquiao and Morales were certified blockbusters on pay-per-view screen.

The third one, actually the decider after a 1-1 standoff, is no different.

In fact, a record-breaking 19,835 have answered Top Rank’s "Who Will Win? — Pacquiao of Morales" online poll.

So far, the 27-year-old Filipino is way ahead in the polls with 12,438 votes against Morales’ 7,397.

With still three weeks left before the fight, the on-line voting has already surpassed the previous high of 16,000 plus that was recorded last January for the Pacquiao-Morales rematch.

"Those kind of numbers are another indicator how hot this event is," said Bob Arum of Top Rank. "Ticket sales are phenomenal, as is fan interest."