Boxing legend and global icon, Manny Pacquiao is attending the groundbreaking event for the Bodden Town Boxing Gym at 10 a.m., Saturday, 7 January 2017.
Invited by the Minister for Community Affairs, Youth and Sports, Hon. Osbourne Bodden, the WBO welterweight titlist is expected to take an active part in the ceremony, open to the public at the Haig Bodden Playing Field from 10 a.m.
The event, the first phase of the government’s redevelopment of the entire sports venue, is expected to open in early 2018. The expanded venue will feature a state-of-the-art boxing gym and associated facilities, alongside basketball and netball courts. Officials expect it to attract increased patronage from across the eastern districts, as well as garner international fixtures now only staged in George Town.
During his first-ever trip to the Cayman Islands, the elite athlete will also host the Island Rumble Boxing event at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex from 7 p.m., Saturday evening. The Filipino senator will also fly to Cayman Brac on Sunday, 8 January.
The agenda for his visit to the Cayman Islands was organised by events company Cayman Mardi Gras, in partnership with the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Tourism. Other sponsors included global commodities firms SDKA and Cayman-based SDKA Securities.