Mitt Romney Picks a Boxing Match for His First Post-Election Public Appearance
Mitt and Ann Romney have largely stayed out of the public eye since losing the election a little over a month ago. Last night they made their first public appearance together at a rather unlikely event -- a boxing match.
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Besides getting caught at a gas station, picking up some Papa John's, or going to Costco, the Romneys have been invisible for the most part since his loss. It's been hard on them. But Mitt and Ann were out for the first time Saturday night in a place where they knew everyone would see them, where they knew there would be cameras. Mitt had his trademark slicked-back hair and CEO suit. Ann's hair was on point. The couple were in Nevada for the fourth fight Manny Pacquiao and Jaun Manuel Marquez as the guest of Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Bill Brady, who helped fundraise for Romney's campaign.
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And what do you get when you attend a prize fight, and you're the former Republican Presidential nominee and BFF with the head of the most powerful boxing commission in the country? You get to meet Manny Pacquiao, of course. Romney was in his dressing room before, and after, the fight. His trademark dry, dry, dry sense of humor was on display once again. According to one of Pacquiao's publicists, this is what he said to the Philippino superstar before the fight:
"Hello Manny. I ran for president. I lost," Romney told the fighter, according to Pacquiao publicist Fred Sternburg.
And what a fight it turned out to be! The two fought three times previously, with Pacquiao taking decisions in the second and third fights while their first fight was ruled a draw. The Phillipino superstar was leading on the scorecards thanks to crisper, cleaner punching and effective head movement that was confusing the noticeably bulkier (and possibly juiced) Marquez. Until the very last second of the sixth round, when Pacquiao looked to be closing in on a finish. Marquez was wobbly. Pacquiao was tagging him repeatedly with hard shots. If he made it out of the sixth, the fight was almost certain to end in the seventh. Marquez threw the punch of life, a straight right hand that connected perfectly with Pacquiao's jaw as he was leaping in for a jab.
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And that was all she wrote. Pacquiao dropped to the canvas like a sack of potatoes. The knockout is almost unanimously being deemed a classic already.
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Mitt and Ann could be seen on camera the whole night while they sat at ringside. One intrepid viewer even caught Romney's amazing reaction to the knockout:
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