FLOYD SCARED OF PACQUIAO – KHAN

MANNY Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the fight the world wants to see, but it may never happen at all because Mayweather is unwilling to risk his unbeaten record against the explosive Filipino world welterweight champion, according to British boxing star Amir Khan.

“I think I’ll get the fight before Manny,” said Khan, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation light welterweight champ. “Mayweather’s scared to fight Pacquiao.”

The 24-year-old Khan, who trains with Pacquiao under Freddie Roach at the world-famous Wild Card Gym in West Hollywood, told Brad Jones that Pacquiao is likely to beat Mayweather in the event of a ring showdown.

“Mayweather’s defense is so much better, but I say Manny’s attack is better,” said Khan in a one-on-one interview posted Wednesday in BoxingScene.com.

“What about the four, five, six, seven shots that Manny throws? So I think Manny has the edge.”

Khan said Pacquiao has the added advantage of having Roach in his corner, who could make Pacquiao “adapt to any situation.”

Moreover, Khan said that Pacquiao has demonstrated his ring resiliency, rebounding from three
previous losses and earning a record eight world titles in as many weight classes.

Continue reading at Special Correspondent

PACQUIAO SUFFERS LEG CRAMPS DURING TRAINING

Pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao suffered leg cramps while entering the final week of his training in Baguio City. According to Sunstar.com, Pacquiao experienced leg cramps during his early morning workout last Monday.

Pacquiao blamed the leg cramps to 2 days of inactivity. He spent the weekend with his family to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. “I’m OK… it’s because I went on 2 days without exercise,” he said in Filipino.

“There’s a little bit of concern here especially when you try to focus on doing to things at the same time,” said his conditioning coach Alex Ariza.

“But his condition is definitely okay,” he added.

Pacquiao is preparing to defend his WBO welterweight title against Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12.

Team Pacquiao plans to leave the City of Pines on Friday and continue his camp at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California.

Pacquiao will also crank up the volume of his sparring sessions to add intensity in his training.

“As the training goes, the more rounds I spar. That’s good because it develops my stamina,” said the fighting congressman from Sarangani province.


Continue reading at The Philippine Star

Pacman may never fight in Manila again

Bob Arum can find a million reasons to say that Manny Pacquiao can no longer stage any of his remaining fights in the Philippines. The living legend of boxing promotions was asked recently about the possibility, and he had a ready answer.

“Zero,” said Arum, citing a one major reason why Pacquiao can no longer fight at home. “We’re doing gates now in Las Vegas from $11 million to $12 million,” said the chief of Top Rank Promotions.

That’s as much as P473 million in ticket sales alone even if the bulk of the boxers’ earnings come from the guaranteed purse and pay-per-view sales.

As of yesterday, there’s just a couple left of the tickets worth $1,200, $900, $600, $400 and $200 for Pacquiao’s Nov. 12 fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.

It’s a guaranteed sell-out.

There are close to 17,000 seats at the MGM Grand, the fight venue, and Arum told ESPN.com that almost translates to $11.7 million. They also expect to break 1.4 million PPV hits at $54.95 a pop.

On the internet, ticket prices for Pacquiao-Marquez Part 3 have sky-rocketed, and the best seats in the house are already selling for as high as $17,000 or P730,000.

It will be impossible to sell tickets at such a price in the Philippines where millions live way below the poverty level.

Continue reading at Philippine Star

KO WIN WILL PUT EMPHATIC END TO TRILOGY'

Freddie Roach wants Juan Manuel Marquez down and out in November. “Victory is no longer enough. I want Manny to knock out Marquez,” declared the celebrated trainer from the City of Pines yesterday.

Pacquiao and Roach are entering their second week of training in Baguio, for the Nov. 12 showdown with Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Roach spoke to reporters yesterday and said he wants Pacquiao to finish Marquez off, and shut him up.

Pacquiao is coming off a unanimous victory over Shane Mosley last May, but experts felt the Pinoy champ was a little too soft on his opponent.

They touched gloves the whole fight, smiled at each other in the days leading to the fight, and hugged like brothers at the end of the fight.

Roach doesn’t want to see that in November.

“No more Mr. Nice Guy,” he said.

But he admitted that it’s not an easy thing to do with Pacquiao because “how can you teach him not to be (nice) when he is the nicest person around.”

Still, if he could have his way, Roach said it should be war inside the ring when Pacquiao and Marquez meet for the third time.

Continue Reading at Philstar

Manny Begins Sparring vs Venezuelan

Manny Pacquiao shifted to high gear when he started sparring as he prepares for his title defense against Juan Manuel Marquez in November.

“Patindi na ng patindi ang training namin (It’s just getting tougher in training),” said the Filipino boxing sensation from the City of Pines.

He’s in his first week of training in Baguio, and while his chief trainer Freddie Roach said sparring should begin next week, it actually did yesterday.

Roach was impressed with what he’d seen in Pacquiao over the last couple of days, and this could be the reason why they went on with four rounds of sparring.

Pacquiao, who started doing light training almost four weeks ago, has lightweight Jorge Linares as his sparring partner in Baguio.

In a TV interview, Pacquiao said he decided to train with Linares because the Venezuelan fighter needs more sparring rounds in his buildup for his Oct. 15 fight against Antonio Demarco of Mexico at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Pacquiao also told local mediamen that while they’re doing the same training regimen, they’re putting more hours into it.

And more hours should mean greater results when the fight is held Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“Padagdag ng padagdag yung oras ng training,” he said.

A couple of weeks ago, Roach said he wants a different Pacquiao to climb the ring against Marquez for the third time since 2004.

Roach said Pacquiao will be “more scientific” this time compared to their two previous fights when they “got a little careless just trying to land a good shot.”

Also training with Pacquiao at the Shape Up Gym of the Cooyesan Hotel are Filipino boxers Lorenzo Villanueva and Rodel Mayol.

“I’m here to share with them everything I know,” said Pacquiao.

Trainer Buboy Fernandez said the “real thing” comes next week, adding that Pacquiao is not taking anyone lightly, including Marquez.

“Hindi basta-bastang boksingero kasi si Marquez kaya dapat paghandaan (Marquez is no ordinary boxer so we need to prepare hard),” said Fernandez.

“Kahit na sabihin na nating tinalo natin siya ng dalawang beses eh dapat handa pa rin si Manny (Even if we say we’ve beaten him twice),” added Fernandez.

The first fight, at 126 pounds, ended in a draw because one of the judges scored the first round at 10-7 when he should have scored it 10-6 because Marquez went down thrice.

“Kailangan nating mag ensayo ng mabuti (We still need to train hard),” Pacquiao said.

(source: Phil Star)

Roach Links Up with Manny

Freddie Roach arrived under cover of darkness yesterday and jumped into a waiting van that took him straight up to Baguio.

Roach flew in from Los Angeles at 5:30 in the morning, and moved on for the 250 km to trip straight from the airport.

Team Pacquiao insider Joe Ramos accompanied Roach. It took them seven hours to get to Baguio after only two brief stops.

Also with them was Venezuelan lightweight Jorge Linares who is gearing up for an Oct. 15 fight.
While he’s here, Linares will serve as Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partner.

By the time Roach and company checked in at the Cooyesan Hotel along Naguilan Road, Pacquiao was getting ready to train.

Roach wasted no time, and went to the gym, located on the second floor of the hotel, to work the mitts with the boxing superstar.

“He was still in jeans. The clothes he wore as he came in were the clothes he had on while he trained Manny,” said Ramos.

Local mediamen were barred from entering the gym, and it could stay that way for the remainder of Pacquiao’s stay in Baguio.

Roach loves to train Pacquiao behind closed doors, even when they’re at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.

It’s only on Saturdays that Roach normally lets people in, or when there’s an official media or public workout.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao started his high altitude training Tuesday morning with road runs at the Burnham Park.

Spending 21 minutes on the road and mid crunches in between, Pacquiao said, he can quickly adjust to Baguio’s climate and head for the three-week training here before his battle with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Team Pacquiao especially aired concern over Baguio’s traffic woes especially along Naguillan Road where the team is housed and the now busy Sta Lucia Golf and Country Estates.

The road repairs along Naguillan Road has diverted Baguio-bound traffic to the circumferential road passing by Sta. Lucia Estates where Pacquiao runs in the morning before gym workout.”
The Sta. Lucia properties has provided Pacquiao perfect uphill road runs while flat surface jogs are set at the Burnham Park.

Pacquiao immediately starts gym work-out at the Cooyesan Hotel gym Tuesday afternoon, though more serious mitt punches come when Freddie Roach arrives.

For the third time, Team Pacquiao arrived here Monday night to help train the fighting congressman who is facing Marquez for the third time.

The Saranggani representative is considered an 8-1 favorite to repulse Marquez, who battled the Filipino to a 12-round draw the first time they met in May 2004 and absorbed a split decision in the rematch in March 2008.

The third fight will be at a catch weight of 145 lbs with Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown on the line.

The Summer Capital has become a part of the Pacman’s training attributed by the cool climate and the high altitude, which have contributed to his excellent physical conditioning.

(source: Phil Star)

Mayweather Win Hardly Impresses Pacman

Manny Pacquiao made sure he’d catch the fight on TV. He didn’t like what he saw.

Very poor sportsmanship,” said the Filipino pound for pound champion in the aftermath of Floyd Mayweather’s controversial knockout of Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas yesterday.

Pacquiao said he didn’t’ see anything illegal with what Mayweather did because he thought that the referee, Joe Cortez, had already ordered the fight to continue.

“It was not illegal,” he said.

Still, Pacquiao, a clean fighter, felt it was unsportsmanlike.

Freddie Roach talked to The STAR right after the fight, and felt it was a “cheap shot” from Mayweather.

“Yeah,” he said over the phone.

“The referee was still talking to someone at ringside. And I didn’t see him said ‘box’ like they always do. I think he lost control,” said Roach.

Pacquiao’s adviser, Mike Koncz, felt the same way, too.

“Poor sportsmanship,” said Koncz who watched the fight with Pacquiao.

“I feel the same way. Floyd just took advantage of the inexperience of the young fighter like Ortiz. I agree that it was a cheap shot,” he said.

Koncz was asked if Pacquiao ever talked about the possibility of fighting Mayweather as they watched the fight on TV.

“No. We’re not concerned with Floyd right now. We’re working on the (Juan Manuel) Marquez fight (on Nov. 12),” said Koncz.

“Ortiz was too trusting. It was his fault. But Floyd showed he is not a sportsman in its true sense,” said Pacquiao’s legal adviser, Franklin Gacal.

“It was very clear Cortez was still talking to somebody when Floyd threw the cheap shot at Ortiz. That punch hurt not Ortiz but the sport of boxing,” Gacal added.

Mayweather stretched his unbeaten record to 42 and became the new WBC welterweight champion when he caught Ortiz with two solid punches with just a second left in the fourth round.

It was a clear knockout except that Ortiz wasn’t protecting himself because Cortez appeared to be talking to someone at ringside, maybe the commissioner or one of the judges.

The referee’s eyes were not on the boxers.

That’s why when Mayweather landed the first blow, Cortez looked stunned, his eyes and mouth wide open. Yet, when Ortiz fell to the canvas he was so quick to give him the count.

Cortez defended his actions.

“Time was in. The fighter needed to keep his guard up. Mayweather did nothing illegal,” Cortez firmly said after the fight.

Prior to the knockout, Ortiz pinned Mayweather on the ropes, and banged away at the undefeated American. Then he must have been carried away, and lunged at Mayweather – with his head.

Ortiz was deducted a point for the intentional headbutt that opened a cut on Mayweather’s chin.

“I got hit with a dirty shot,” Mayweather told HBO analyst Larry Merchant inside the ring.

Mayweather insisted that Ortiz should have protected himself at all times.

“Meaning even though it appeared that he wasn’t protecting himself…. That you unfairly took advantage of it,” Merchant continued.

But Mayweather evaded the question, and instead thanked everybody who bought the fight on pay-per-view and those who came out to Las Vegas to watch.

“We’re not (here) to talk about what he did dirty or what I did dirty. I was victorious. If he wants a rematch he can get a rematch,” Mayweather said.

Merchant got into Mayweather’s nerves, and soon after the flamboyant and cocky American was right in the face of the 80-year-old boxing expert.

“You don’t ever give me a fair shake. So I’m gonna let you talk to Victor Ortiz, alright? I’m through. Put somebody else up here to give me an interview. HBO needs to fire you because you don’t know (expletive) about boxing. You ain’t (expletive),” Mayweather ranted.

“If I was 50 years younger, I would kick your ass,” was Merchant’s reply.

Then he turned his back on Mayweather.

(source: Phil Star)

Pacman Starts Buildup

With the press tour done and over with, it’s time for both fighters to hit the road and gear up for their Nov. 12 clash in Las Vegas.

It’s only two months before the fight that should put an end to all the controversy surrounding their first two meetings.

Pacquiao arrived home Saturday morning from the whirlwind press tour that covered 25,000 miles in less than a week.

From the NAIA Terminal 2, he took a connecting flight to his hometown in Sarangani, and hosted his popular game show in the evening.

This week, Pacquiao said he plans to train at the Planet Jupiter Gym in Makati, as he awaits the arrival of trainer Freddie Roach from the US.

Roach said he’s flying in on Sept. 17, and the following day they leave for Baguio City for three weeks of intense training at the Shape Up Gym.

Roach is bringing in Jorge Linares, the former WBC featherweight champion from Venezuela, as sparring partner for Pacquiao.

Sparring begins on the second week of training in Baguio.

Pacquiao is not starting from scratch because the week before he left for the press tour, he’s been out running and visiting the gym.

Even while in New York, he went out for a 50-minute run in and around Central Park.

Juan Manuel Marquez has his training calendar checked as well, and he told the press during the tour that he’s looking at 12 weeks of training.

“If Manny trains for 10 weeks, I train for 12 weeks. I want to be ready and prepared for this fight with my speed, power and strength,” he said.

While he was in Manila last week for the tour’s kick-off leg, he did a few rounds of the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta.

Ricardo Jimenez of Top Rank said Marquez has been alternating road work and indoor strength exercises the last couple of weeks now.

“If he’s not out running, even inside his hotel room during the tour he’s been doing strength exercises. It’s 45 minutes a day on these exercises,” said Jimenez.

Marquez went out for a run in Mexico the other day, and yesterday he was at the gym. Jimenez said serious training begins tomorrow.

(source: Phil Star)

Manny Keeps Ringing em in Big Apple

NEW YORK – After a nice, slow and easy day, Manny Pacquiao hits the road Tuesday, starting off with an early-morning run at Central Park and a whole day of activities to promote his coming fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao hit the Big Apple early Monday morning following a back-breaking trip from Manila via San Francisco, and while he stayed in his Loews Regency Hotel suite most of the time, he had time to look around.

Pacquiao and his small entourage of six went straight to his 20th floor suite for breakfast of steak, rice, vegetables and fruits. He found the suite a little smaller than the one he occupied for the Shane Mosley press tour last February.

He asked where the piano was, and immediately Mike Koncz called for one. In no time, a white Yamaha was brought up to his suite, and then after Pacquiao worked on a couple of Beatles songs like “Imagine” and “Let it Be.”

Pacquiao freshened up and caught the tailend of the Jason Statham’s action flick “Blitz” then towed the gang out to the city on board a chauffer-driven, black SUV. First stop was the Apple store to check on the latest gadgets.

“Tingin-tingin lang,” he said.

Up next was the nearby Louis Vuitton store along Fifth Avenue where Pacquiao kept the cash register ringing. He came in wearing a pair of Dickies shades and came out wearing a pair of stylish, gold-plated LV sunglasses worth $3,000.

Continue Reading at philstar

Pacman, Marquez ready for press tour

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez : Photograph Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines - The stage is set for the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez press tour, and chief promoter Bob Arum said a couple of days ago he can already feel the excitement.

“There is no question, there has never been a press tour that will have encompassed this distance,” the ageless and energetic Top Rank chief told Ring TV.com.

“This is incredible because it’s one complete tour that is going around the world,” he said of the tour that swings by Manila, New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City in just six days.

It will cover a total of 25,000 miles, and both fighters, plus members of their small entourage, will practically hop in and out of planes, both commercial and private, night and day.

It’s green and go.

But that’s unless Hurricane Irene, with gusts of up to 115 mph and an incredible wingspan of 500 miles, stands in the way of the tour’s New York City stop on Sept. 6.

People will start arriving in Manila on Sept. 1, including Marquez and his handlers, Arum and his team, Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, and a handful of mediamen.

Continue Reading at Philstar

Manny Pacquiao nominated for 'Choice Athlete: Male' at US Teen Choice Awards 2011

Photo courtesy of: pacquiao-margarito.com

The reigning pound-for-pound boxing king Manny Pacquiao has been nominated for "Choice Athlete: Male" award at the Teen Choice Awards 2011, an annual teen awards show being presented by US TV network Fox.

In the category, Pacquiao will be up against mixed martial artist Jon Jones, hoopster Dirk Nowitzki, baseball player Albert Pujols and surfer Shaun White.

Teen Choice Awards honors the year's biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, as voted on by teens aged 13–19. The announcement of this year's winners will be held on August 7th.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao was also nominated at the ESPN's ESPYs (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Awards 2011 for "Best Fighter" award. Fellow boxers Bernard Hopkins and Sergio Martinez, and MMA fighters Jon “Bones” Jones and George St. Pierre were also nominated in the category. The ESPYs Awards Show will take place in the Nokia Center in Los Angeles on July 13th.