LOS ANGELES – WBC lightweight champion David Diaz will pose more of a threat to Manny Pacquiao the longer their fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on June 28 because of his vaunted staying power.

That’s the assessment of Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz who said yesterday “for some reason, I’m a little more worried about this fight than I was when Manny fought (Marco Antonio) Barrera and (Juan Manuel) Marquez.” Read the rest of this entry »

New rules will take into effect when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) launches its 84th season on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.

One of the innovations is the challenge rule on the three-point shot patterned after the PBA. Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES – Manny Pacquiao is just too happy where he is right now.

After weighing in at 139 lbs Saturday afternoon at the oven-hot Wild Card Gym here, Pacquiao said everything has fallen into place for his June 28 date with WBC lightweight champion David Diaz in Las Vegas.

The fight, scheduled 12 rounds, is set at 135 lbs. And while Pacquiao may have had trouble making 130 lbs in his most recent fights, this time there’s really no concern regarding the weight. Read the rest of this entry »

World rated fighter Jimrex Jaca top-bills three other Filipinos seeing action in a June 27 boxing promotion presented by Australian Daniel Potter in Pattaya, Thailand.

Jaca, fighting out of the Wakee Salud stable, slugs it out with Thai prospect Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai in a 10-round lightweight bout. Read the rest of this entry »

Four-time World Cup champion Paeng Nepomuceno came up with big games to grab the spotlight on day 10 of the 37th Philippine International Open ten-pin bowling championships at SM Bowling Center in Mall of Asia, Pasay City.

Six-time world champion Nepomucno of PBC-Prima-Nutrilite narrowly missed scoring the tourney’s third perfect game by shooting 299 in the first game of the Open Masters qualifying. He added 226, 256 and 200 for a 981 that put him in sixth spot. Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao apparently has had enough of David Diaz.

Nonoy Neri, who has a dual role in Pacquiao’s training for Diaz, revealed that while he and Buboy Fernandez have been regularly reviewing Diaz’s past fights on the wide-screen TV, Pacquiao has opted to play darts. Read the rest of this entry »

All eyes are on Beijing Olympics-bound taekwondo athletes Tshomlee Go and Mary Antoinette Rivero as they undergo exclusive training in Korea in pursuit of the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal.

“They train at least six hours a day, but they don’t mind the hard work because they’re determined to achieve their respective goals in Beijing,” said Philippine Taekwondo Association president Robert Aventajado of Go and Rivero. Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES — It appears that Manny Pacquiao has already dotted the Is and crossed the Ts in anticipation of a rough and tumble duel with David Diaz next week and the remaining seven days of training should be dedicated to the fine-tuning of the game plan for next week’s slambang slugfest at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES – The David Diaz camp claimed Tuesday they’ve found kinks in Manny Pacquiao’s armor but would rather keep it to themselves heading into the June 28 showdown for the WBC lightweight crown in Las Vegas. Read the rest of this entry »

A stiff entry fee awaits the eighth member of the NCAA.

A source told The STAR yesterday that the new NCAA member may have to pay around P4 million for a spot in the roster starting next year.

“When Philippine Christian University and College of St. Benilde joined the league in the 90s, they paid P600,000 as entrance fee,” said The STAR source. “Now based on the inflation rate, it’s now worth about P4 million.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tom Molina, father of multi-titled Filipino swimmer Miguel Molina, has thrown his support behind Philippine Amateur Swimming Association president Mark Joseph who is the object of an ouster move by dissatisfied swimming stakeholders.

In an e-mail from Japan addressed to the Philippine Olympic Committee, Molina said he’s fully supporting the leadership of Joseph because of the association’s impressive showing in last year’s Thailand SEA Games where it emerged as the country’s top gold medal producer. Read the rest of this entry »

BOSTON – Boston Celtics assistant coach Clifford Ray said the other day he’s eager to visit the Philippines and check out players who might be potentials for the NBA.

“It would be like a sentimental homecoming for me,” said Ray. “I made many Filipino friends when I went over with the Walt Frazier group in 1975 and with Raymond Townsend in 1980. I saw a lot of basketball talent back then, like Bogs Adornado and Atoy Co. I’d be interested to find out if there are young Filipino players like them right now.”

Ray, 59, said if there are Filipino prospects, he would bring them to be trained in the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) where they could be showcased to NBA scouts. Read the rest of this entry »

The Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz championship fight will be seen live at the Manila Hotel on Sunday, June 29, beginning at 8 a.m.

It will be broadcast as it happens from Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Pacquiao tries to capture the World Boxing Council (WBC) title from Diaz in an encounter dubbed as Lethal Combination.

Pacquiao is trying to become the first Filipino and Asian to win four world boxing titles in different divisions.

Eleven days before his date with destiny, David Diaz provided fight fans a peek into the style that he will bring to the ring on June 28 against Filipino fireball Manny Pacquiao.

“I am not afraid of Manny Pacquiao. There is no fear in my heart,” Diaz said during a teleconference call in a lull in his training at the JABB Gym in Chicago. “He (Pacquiao) stops once in a while from going forward and when he’s resting that’s when we can attack.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Management Committee of the NCAA is likely to ban San Beda rookie Elvin Pascual from competing in the 2008 edition of the country’s oldest collegiate tournament for his involvement in the falsification of his high school documents two years ago.

Pascual was one of the five high school players from Philippine Christian University who were found to have “doctored” their papers in order to play for their team. Read the rest of this entry »