LAS VEGAS // Manny Pacquiao was involved in a minor vehicle accident on Saturday but his management team said he was not injured and set for his WBO welterweight title defence against Shane Mosley later in the day.
"Manny is ready to go," the Filipino southpaw's trainer Freddie Roach said at the MGM Grand where the scheduled 12-round bout will held later today.
According to his management team, Pacquiao was returning from church when the sport utility vehicle he was in was hit from behind at low speed by one of his security vehicles.
A Pacquiao team spokesman said the 10-times world champion was "a little shaken up" but not injured.
The 32-year-old Filipino, already acknowledged as one of the best offensive fighters of all time, is a 6-1 favourite to beat American Mosley at the MGM Garden Arena.
Although Mosley is a former three-division world champion, at the age of 39 he is in the twilight of his impressive career.
Mosley, 46-6-1 (39 knockouts), has not competed in the ring since his draw with Sergio Mora in September.
Pacquiao, 52-3-2 (38 KOs), is fighting for the first time since he recorded a ruthless points victory over Mexican Antonio Margarito in November for his eighth world title in an unprecedented eight weight class.
______________
More
• Manny Pacquiao: a real creature of comfort
• Pacquiao armed for friendly fire against Mosley
• From Baguio to Las Vegas: following the Manny Pacquaio trail
• Mosley looks for crowning achievement in defeating Pacquiao
• Pacquiao's trainer to assist US at Olympics
_______________
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
