Pacman (Part II)
By Paquito Iglesias III

Pacquiao’s next battle would be against the relatively unknown Fahsan (3K battery) Por Thawatchai from Thailand. Pacquiao was easily the crowd favorite, but Fahsan had much more to gain fromthis fight, so Manny had to be prepared. The fight was Manny’s first on Filipino soil for a long time, and so it was greeted with a lot of anticipation. It was held in MC Home Depot Open Air Arena in Taguig, Rizal and it drew a huge crowd. Ultimately, Fahsan was outmatched, and the hardy Thai fighter fell to Manny’s blows in the fourth round. Curiously enough, the Thai fighter was also knocked down four times in the fight. Though this fight was eagerly anticipated in the Philippines, fight experts around the world agreed that this was merely a warm up fight for the real challenge that would come next, Manny’s fight against another known Mexican champion, Erik Morales.

Pacquiao would gain weight in order to move up to the super featherweight division, and Morales was taller and had a longer reach than he did. This did nothing to dampen Pacquiao’s enthusiasm however, and he showed the world that he could match up to Morales in this fight, which was marred by a head butt that left a nasty cut over Paquiao’s right eye, and infighting between his trainer Freddi Roach and the management staff led my Murad Muhammad. Pacquiao would eventually cede the fight in a 12 round unanimous decision. However, the heart and perseverance he showed while fighting Morales dispelled all the rumors that he didn’t have the stamina to last a long fight. The hotly debated fight created the need for a rematch, if only so that Morales and Pacquiao fans could finally find out which man was the better boxer.

Pacquiao’s next fight would be a sort of tease, as he fought against Hector Velasquez of Mexico in a double feature which also included a Morales fight against relatively unknown Zahir Raheem. The results of the fight could not have been more lopsided. Pacquiao handily won his fight with a 6^th round stoppage of Velasquez, capturing the WBC International Super Featherweight Title in the process. Morales however, lost his match to Raheem in a 12 rounde unanimous decision. This greatly upset the oddsmakers, who until then had bet on Morales as the winner in his rematch with Pacquiao. There were even rumors that the fight would never happen because Morales was not going to ba big draw anymore, but Manny came over to Morales’ locker room the night ater the fight and “never mind. You and me, we fight.” And so the die had been cast, and a rematch was in the making come January 2006, but that’s a story I’ve already told.

Manny now looks forward to fighting any contenders, as long as he stays within the super flyweight division limit of 130 pounds. He doesn’t want to go any further than that because he’s convince that he’ll be much slower and weaker, and his opponents would have a distinct advantage over him. Who’s gonna argue with the champ? No one, and long may he live.

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5 February 2006

Pacman (Part I)
By Paquito Iglesias III

In celebration of Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Erk Morales, it seems fitting that we pay homage to the people’s champion by looking back at his life and the road that led him to where he is right now, one of the top rated pound for pound boxers in the world.

Emmanuel Manny D. Pacquiao was born December 17, 1978 in Kibawe in the Philippines. It is said that Manny ran away from the corn fields of his hometown because his mother forbade him from boxing. The Philippines should be thankful that he was hardheaded enough to follow his dreams and box in the ring. Michael Katz, a world famous boxing columnist, once wrote about Pacquiao:

He ran away from the corn and rice fields at the age of 12 because his mother didn't' want him to box. So he hustled at pool, conned a few kids at basketball, and turned pro right after his 16th birthday as a junior flyweight. Now he is on the cusp of becoming perhaps the greatest Asian fighter to conquer the West since Genghis Khan.

The 5’6” Pacquiao reportedly competed in 64 amateur boxing matches with a 60-4 record before turning pro at the tender age of 16. That began what would become a storybook career of which the last milestone was his stoppage of Erik Morales. After making the rounds and even holding the WBC Flyweight title for a while, Pacquiao’s big break finally came when he was put up against against IBF Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba of South Africa. Manny came as a last minute replacement for the fight, with only two weeks of intensive training, but he came away the new champion after 6 rounds of manhandling the gallant South African boxer.

The “Pacman”, as he was now called, would defend his title 4 times before his next big fight, which would be against his childhood hero Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico. Pacquiao was knocked down in the first round of the fight, but came back stronger and eventually defeated Barrera by way of TKO when his corner stopped the fight in the eleventh round. With this victory, Manny won the WBO and Ring Magazine People's Featherweight Title, but more importantly, increased his stature in the world of pugilism and marked him as one of the world’s best pound for pound boxers.

Only 6 month after defeating Barrera, Pacquiao was once again pitted against a respected Mexican boxer, in the form of Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez was the holder of the WBA and IBF Featherweight Title at the time, and the odds were stacked against Manny in the official betting stations. Manny showed them that he was no pushover though, and beat Marquez to a standstill, even though he knocked Marquez down 3 times in the first round alone. The fight would go the distance, and would eventually be called a draw. Though Pacquiao had not defeated his opponent, he still gained a lot of worldwide respect for his toughness in the ring.

PBA Update
By Paquito Iglesias III

The PBA San Mig Coffee Fiesa Conference semis are heating up, and both the Purefoods Chunkee Giants and the Red Bull Barako have 3-1 advantages over their opponents.

The Giants absorbed an embarrassing 101-87 loss to the Air21 Express on RenRen Ritualo’s 40 point heroics, and didn’t have anything to counter the 3 year all star’s hot streak. Ritualo, who blamed himself for the team’s loss in game two, vowed to make it up to the team and made good on his promise by making 15-of-24 shots, including 9-of-18 from downtown en route to the new career high of 40, which is the most by any local in this conference so far. Ritualo also became the first local player in the league’s 31-year history to have four games in a career with at least eight three point shots in each of those games. Unfortunately, none of that saved the Express in the next game.

This time, Ritualo struggled for 23 points, going 4-of-10 from the three-point zone and 2-of-8 from the two-point area as the Express conceded the game 100-90. Local Noy Castillo gave his most explosive performance in years with 24 points, Marc Pingris had a career-high 23 points along with 15 rebounds and Kerby Raymundo came out with a solid 24 points as they counteracted Marquin Chandler’s poor showing of 10 points in the game. Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, whose original plan was for a more defensive minded game in order to limit 40 point outbursts like Ritualo’s instead ended up letting his wards duke it out with the poorly shooting Express, eventually ending with a 3-1 lead going into game 5, and 3 shots of taking a spot in the finals. Only one team in the history of the league has ever come back from 1-3 to win a best-of-seven playoff, which was Ginebra in the 1991 All-Filipino Finals versus Shell.

The torch bearers of that heralded Ginebra squad now find themselves in a similar situation, being down 3-1 against the Red Bull Barako. The Gin Kings lost game 2, 93-85, with rookie Larry Fonacier having a breakout game and scoring 22 points to lad the Barako to victory. Import James Penny also contributed an all around game with 16 points and 15 rebounds. In a telling difference, Barangay Ginebra’s leading local scorer Mark Caguioa only scored two, going 1-of-14 from the field.

Fonacier rode the the wave of confidence from the last game and once again led the Barako with 25 points to down the resilient Gin Kings 88-85 in the closest game of the series. This time, he was helped out by fellow local Enrico Villanueva, who scored 21 points and was responsible or his team’s final 12 points in the game, including the winning shot which came of a steal by Topex Robinson. The Kings actually held the lead in the 4^th quarter, but failed to stop the Red Bull rally in the dying minutes f the game. Only time will tell if they too, can overcome a 3-1 deficit.

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3 February 2006

Basketball Today: The Evolution

By Patrick Claviolo

In the previous article, we discussed the roles of the starting unit in a basketball game. I wrote that the job description of the point guard is to distribute the ball to his teammates and is the court general of the team. Long time ago, most point guards would pile up those assist stats and would score if the opportunity presents itself. The motto will be – “Pass first, shoot later.” For old school coaches like Larry Brown, this will always be the rule that should be followed to the letter. He molded Chauncy Billups to one of the great point guards we have today. Proof: In the NBA season 2002-03, Billups was averaging only 3.9 assists per game. In season 2003-04, his average climbed to 5.7 assists per game. He lead his Detroit team to the NBA championship and establishing him as an elite true point guard.

Nowadays, there are only a few point guards left in the league who still follow this philosophy. Steve Nash, Brevin Knight, and Andre Miller are a few examples. Many are in the “Shoot first, pass later” philosophy like Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, and Gilbert Arenas. But you cannot really blame them because these type of players are more of the offensive type, thus, the evolution of point guards. Most of them have retained their point guard status mainly because of the lack of a true point guard in their respective teams. Most coaches would rather harness the offensive talents of these players than to force them to pass the ball more often which might destroy their natural rhythm.

There are also some point guards who are every coaches’ dream. These types are the “triple-threat” point guards – who can shoot, assist and rebound with exceptional ease. A few examples are Jason Kidd (14.9 pts, 7.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists average) and leading rookie of the year 2006 candidate Chris Paul (16.4 pts, 5.8 rebounds, 7.4 assists average). These point guards are a rare breed and most team owners will make them their franchise player. They can command maximum salaries.

The term “triple-threat” is now used a lot in basketball today. Not only point guards can be called as such, but forwards and centers can also be considered as “triple-threats”. The Lakers’ forward Lamar Odom (14.3 pts, 9.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists average) is one. The Kings’ center Brad Miller (14.9 pts, 7.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists average) is another.

Now this one takes the cake! Have you heard of the “quadruple-threat” player? I can only think of one player in this era who can fit that description. Utah Jazz forward Andre Kirilenko (15.5 pts, 8.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.82 blocks average)!! He is presently having a career year with the Jazz.

In my next article, we shall digress a bit and talk about how coaches plan strategies in winning games… how they formulate on who shall start in every game.

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The Sorcerer vs the Apprentice: Experience prevails

By Patrick Claviolo

Such was the description given to the two Australian Open 2006 men’s finalists: Roger Federer (Sorcerer) as the world’s number one player and also the number one seed against Marcos Baghdatis (Apprentice) as the unseeded world’s number 54th player. With his longtime idol Rod Laver as the special guest of the tournament watching on the sideline, Federer played one of his best matches and gave notice to all that he is still the most dominant male player in the tennis circuit.

The story of Cypriot’s Marcos Baghdatis became a source of inspiration for many. After claiming the juniors title back in 2003, he turned professional a year later and toured the ATP tennis matches. The best performance in his young career was in reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open 2005. In this year’s Open, he overcame the No. 2 seed Andy Roddick, the No.4 seed David Nalbandian and the No.7 seed Ivan Ljubicic on his way to the finals. A group of boisterous Greek fans came and supported him all the way to the finals.

The first set was pretty much even in the early goings. When Baghdatis broke Federer in the fourth game to lead 3-2, everyone broke into a frenzy. But Federer broke quickly in the next game via 2 double faults by Baghdatis to level the count 3-3. Buoyed by the crowd who loved the underdog, Baghdatis breaks again in the 11^th game on errors by Federer and won the first set by holding serve on the 12^th game. The score was 7-5 in the first set in favor of Baghdatis.

In the second set, Baghdatis again broke Federer in the first game, pressuring Federer in the corners with powerful groundstrokes and service games. But Federer is used to these kind of situations and quickly breaks twice to take the set 7-5.

It was all downhill from here for Baghdatis as Federer broke three times in the third set for a six to nil score. It was pretty obvious that Federer is now taking charge of the match as a dispirited Baghdatis tried to salvage his game to no avail. The fourth set was pretty much the same as the previous one as Federer broke twice to take the game and the championship. The official score was 5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2 in favor of Federer. He has kept his reputation as having never been beaten in any grand slam finals event.

A standing ovation was given to Marcos Baghdatis for the gallant effort. He is now the new sports icon for Greece as Manny Pacquiao is to the Philippines.

By winning his seventh overall grand slam title, Roger Federer has tied John MacEnroe’s record. And now he is on course to match Pete Sampras’ 14 grand slam championships.

Note: A touching scene took place in the awarding ceremony as Federer cried on the shoulders of his long time idol Australian Rod Laver. The Australian Open 2006 event took place in the arena also named after Rod Laver. For the record, Laver is a hall of famer who won the real grand slam twice in 1962 and 1969. He is the pride of Australia.

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NBA Update
By Paquito Iglesias III

Ron Artest finally got his wishes, and the ungrateful former Indian Pacer was traded off to another team for what he deems a fresh start. Last season, when Artest flew off the handle and assaulted a fan in the stands, I was of the same mind as a lot of people that what he did was perhaps warranted (the fan apparently threw a cup ofbeer at him) but way over the top. I, however, believed that his suspension for an entire year was a bit much, considering the fact that he was provoked. I lost all sympathy for him however, when he pulled a Vince Carter and asked that the Pacers trade him because he wanted a fresh start. To ask that of an organization that has been loyal to him despite the debacle at Detroit was low, and I have little respect for him now.

However, he did get his wish (what could the Pacers do?) and got traded to the Sacramento Kings for shooter Peja Stojakovic. Artest scored 15 points in his opening game with the Kings (18-25) who dropped the game to Boston (18-25) 84-74. Artest, well rested after a one month stint on Indiana’s bench for his trade antics, scored seven of the team’s first 15 points in the first quarter, but faltered in the end from lack of shape. Kings coach Rick Adelman was relatively pleased, seeing as Artest really hadn’t had much time to prepare and gel with his new team. Boston also featured a new trade in the form of Wally Sczcerbiak, who was traded to Boston for swingman Ricky Davis and center Mark Blount (Michael Olowakandi was also sent to Boston). Sczcerbiak finished with 10 points in 24 minutes.

Is this a sign that Kobe Bryant is starting to mature? After leading the LA Lakers (23-19) with 81 points over the Raptors, he felt no pressure to try to duplicate or even surpass the feat in their 106-105 win over the Golden State Warriors (19-23). Bryant scored only(!) 30 points in the game, most of which came in the 4^th quarter and OT period. Bryant exercised caution in the fist three quarters after he went 2 for 12, but turned on the juice when his team needed it the most. Baron Davis scored 29 points to pace the Warriors.

Carmelo Anthony and his Denver Nuggets (25-21) have to be pleased that they won’t be going up against the Los Angeles Clippers (25-16) anytime soon. The surging Nuggets, who’d won 11 of their past 13 games before going up against the stingy defense of the Clippers, surrendered two of their most lopsided games yet, losing 112-79 and 105-87 in the last game. The Clippers’ superbly balanced attack spoiled Marcus Camby’s homecoming from a nagging injury. Cuttino Mobley scored 19, Elton brand and Sam Cassell scored 17 apiece, and center Chris Kaman contributed 11 points and 15 rebounds, while Denver’s Melo and Kenyon Martin scored 16 and 13 respectively.

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31 January 2006

The Rules of Boxing – Part 2

The Boxing Ring.

This is the place where the actual fight is staged. At least three ropes, attached to posts near each corner, establish the dimensions of the ring. The ring may measure from 16 to 20 feet square (4.9 to 6 meters) for amateur bouts, or 16 to 24 square feet (4.9 to 7.3 meters) for professional bouts. The ring floor stands 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters) higher than the arena floor, and has a canvas covering stretched over felt or foam rubber. For professional championship fights, the boxers may select the ring size with the local boxing commission's approval.

The equipment.

A boxer's hands are wrapped in soft cloth bandages. Over the bandages, he wears padded leather gloves. The gloves soften his punches and so help protect his hands as well as his opponent from injury. There are many kinds of boxing gloves. But we will discuss only brands made famous in the first Pacquiao-Morales fight. In the first fight, the Winning glove brand was used to the detriment of Pacquiao. This is because the Winning brand is made more for defensive purposes. The pads inside the leather gloves are a few centimeters thicker than most gloves. This will protect the hands of the boxer from possible injury. The downside is that the punches thrown will be less effective. Since Pacquiao is more of an aggressive boxer, the Cleto Reyes glove was chosen for the second fight. The pads in these gloves are a lot thinner and the punches thrown will have a more destructive repercussion.

Boxers wear trunks and lightweight shoes. A mouthpiece of hard rubber protects the teeth, and a plastic cup protects the groin area. Amateurs and professionals wear a protective leather helmet when they are training. Amateurs may also wear a helmet in competition, though professionals do not. The helmet covers the back and sides of the head and the ears.

Time periods of a boxing match are called rounds. Each round lasts two or three minutes in amateur matches. Rounds in major professional bouts last three minutes. In all matches, there is a one-minute rest period between rounds. A professional bout may be scheduled for 4 to 15 rounds. Most professional championships are 12 rounds. Amateur fights, including championships, are scheduled for either 3 three-minute rounds or 5 two-minute rounds.

Fight officials.

During a round, the referee is the only person in the ring besides the boxers. He sees that the fighters obey the rules. The referee warns a boxer who violates a rule. He may disqualify a fighter for committing a serious violation or for committing too many violations. Examples of such rules are: No hitting below the belt. No head butts. No grabbing.

Two or three judges sit at ringside and score most fights. However, amateur championship fights require five judges. The timekeeper keeps track of the time and sounds a bell to signal the beginning and end of each round. This person also begins the knockdown count that the referee picks up and continues. An official ring physician is present at every bout to provide medical treatment and also to advise the referee how serious an injured fighter's condition may be.

(To be continued)

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30 January 2006