HOLLYWOOD—Manny Pacquiao will never back down from a fight. Especially against someone who refuses to accept defeat.

“Kahit sampung beses pa (We can even fight 10 times more),” said Pacquiao. “Tutal matanda naman siya sa akin (Anyway he’s older than me).” Read the rest of this entry »

There may never be another fight like Sunday’s Juan Manuel Marquez-Manny Pacquiao world 130-lb boxing championship in Las Vegas for a long, long time.You see, a few succeeding world championships could also turn inconclusive, controversial.

But there may never be an immediate major ring battle that could divide the boxing world the way the Marquez-Pacquiao championship did.

For the record, the judges picked Pacquiao—definitely not at his blazing best, contrary to what had been loudly advertised—winner by split decision.

However, many people who saw the bloody brawl felt Pacquiao did not honestly deserve the verdict.

Something evidently went wrong out there. Read the rest of this entry »

Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines knocked down Juan Manuel Marquez in the third round before going on to capture the WBC super featherweight championship by split decision on Saturday.Judges Duane Ford and Tom Miller scored the fight 115-112 and 114-113 respectively in favor of Pacquiao while Jerry Roth scored the bout 115-112 for Mexico’s Marquez.

The two men had previously fought in 2004, Marquez recovering from three first-round knockdowns to earn a draw.

There were no such early fireworks in the rematch, as Marquez, 48-4-1 with 35 KOs, scored well with sharp counter-punches and a tight defense.

However, in the third round, Pacquiao landed a right-left combination followed by a sweeping left which wobbled his opponent.

Marquez threw a right hand in response but a perfect counter left hand from Pacquiao dropped the Mexican fighter onto his back.

The defending champion hauled himself to his feet and was able to survive the round in the face of a furious Pacquiao onslaught. Read the rest of this entry »

After Pacquiao fights Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday in their super featherweight rematch, the Filipino champion will return to Las Vegas and the Mandalay Bay Events Center in late June for his next 135-pound (61-kilogram) fight against WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, promoter Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Thursday.

If Pacquiao (45-3-2, 34 KOs) stays on his winning roll, he will fight in Macau in the autumn — perhaps against new unified lightweight champion Nate Campbell, who holds the other three belts in a star-studded division after stunning Juan Diaz last week in Cancun. Read the rest of this entry »

LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao and Mexico’s beloved Marco Antonio Barrera bumped into each other Thursday afternoon at the lobby of The Hotel at Mandalay Bay as the Filipino was prepariing to leave for training.

Fortunately, there were no punches thrown and the two immediately smiled at each other, shook hands and posed for pictures.

Then, Barrera, who was stopped by Pacquiao in Nov. 2003 and was outpointed almost six months ago, leaned towards Pacquiao’s left ear and whispered something that made Pacquiao smile.

After a few seconds of exchanging pleasantries, Pacquiao headed towards his dark-colored van en route to the IBA Compound, grinning from earto-ear. Read the rest of this entry »

The Philippine Badminton Association is sending three upcoming shuttlers in a training camp in Guangzhou, China as part of strengthening its grassroots development program.

Sixteen-year-old Krisnin Camille Yang, Janelle Gloriane de Vera, 12, and Klara Lourdes Undan, 17, will join other youthful athletes from Laos, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and India in the three-week program slated on April 7 to May 2.

The training camp will have four to six coaches who are former Chinese champions. Read the rest of this entry »

“We know that it’s doable that’s why when Commissioner Barrios came on board that’s one of the areas that he was looking at,” Santos said.

“Right now we’re thinking of ways how to make the two import conferences different from each other. Kasi ang thinking ng mga fans magkapareho lang ‘yung two conferences na may import,” he added.

Recently, Barrios said that a three-conference format is favorable to the league and also to its followers, instead of the current two-conference setup of all-Filipino Philippine Cup and import-laden Fiesta Cup. Read the rest of this entry »

This development came after the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Health Insurance, Inc. (Philhealth) signed a memorandum of agreement yesterday formalizing the said health support.

“This plan has been long overdue and we are thankful for the people behind these,” PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said during the signing at the Manila Yacht Club in Roxas Blvd.

“This plan is not actually to save money on benefits but to attend more to the needs of the Filipino athletes,” he added.

The health insurance package, according to Ramirez, is just one of the provisions of the Republic Act 9064 also known as the Athletes’ Incentive Act aimed at providing more benefits for Filipino and retired Filipino athletes. Read the rest of this entry »

HOLLYWOOD–As the fight draws closer, the odds get bigger in favor of Manny Pacquiao.
In a trend that has boosted the stock of the Filipino ring icon, bookmakers have installed Pacquiao as 2-1 favorite to dethrone Juan Manuel Marquez in their showdown for the World Boxing Council super featherweight crown on March 15 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Read the rest of this entry »

The local government unit of Puerto Princesa is looking at finishing by the end of March the refurbishing of all the venues which will be utilized for the Palarong Pambansa on April 20 to 26.
Read the rest of this entry »

Pitong tulog na lang at bakbakan na nina Manny Pacquiao at Mehikanong Juan Manuel Marquez.Sa Mandalay Bay sa Las Vegas, Nevada ang labanan, pero dito sa Pi­lipinas sa araw ng laban, titigil ang pag-inog ng mundo.

Lahat nakapako ang tingin sa TV, sa mga sinehan o higanteng screens para mapanood ng live ang salpukan. Ang iba’y nakapagkit ang mga tenga sa radyo.
Marami ang maka-Pacquiao. Read the rest of this entry »

Ipinakita ni Manny Pacquiao (kanan) at kanyang trainer na si Freddie Roach sa isang media workout sa Los Angeles, kahapon ang matipunong porma ng Filipino boxing idol. Hahamunin ni Pacquiao si Juan Manuel Marquez, ang kampeon ng super feather-weight ng WBC na taga Mexico, sa Marso 15 sa Las Vegas.

When the Philippine Team guns for its first ever Olympic gold medal in this year’s Beijing Games, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will be there to support and cheer the Filipino athletes.

Malacañang officials yesterday confirmed Arroyo’s presence at the Olympics slated August 8 as it informed the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) led by its president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr.

“We received an official confirmation (from Malacañang) that the President will definitely attend the Beijing Olympics,” Cojuangco said. Read the rest of this entry »

With flyweight Violito Payla officially declared out of the Philippine PLDT-Smart boxing team to the second and final Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan, the focus is now on bantamweight Joan Tipon.

The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, through its president Manny Lopez, announced yesterday that the 29-year-old Payla will no longer be included in the team because of the recommendation made by Dr. Raul Canlas, chief of the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine.

In his letter, Lopez said it was physically impossible to rehabilitate Payla in two weeks due to the extent of his injury. Read the rest of this entry »

MARLON “Marvelous” Manalo is back to his winning ways as he defeated American Rodney Morris, 15-10, in their celebrated One-on-One Winner-Take-All $5,000 showdown Tuesday held at the Hollywood Studio in Los Angeles, California.

Manalo, 31, scored four straight racks in getting a 9-7 advantage after being down earlier via a 5-7 tally.

Manalo, the 2005 World Pool Championships third placer and proud member of the Philippine Billiards Development Foundation (PBDF), revealed his plans of campaigning in the prestigious 2008 WPA Fujairah World 8-ball in United Arab Emirates. He also plans to compete in several more tournaments in the United States.

The Manalo vs. Morris duel is also dubbed as the 3rd International Pool Tour (IPT) 8-Ball Challenge.

Manalo is coming off a forgettable campaign in the just concluded Guinness 9Ball tour where he failed to advance in the knockout stage of the event.

Johnny Archer defeated fellow American Earl Strickland in the 1st IPT match last December while Francisco “Django” Bustamante crushed another American ace Corey Deuel in the 2nd IPT match last January.