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BY JUN MEDINA SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
sports The Sunday Times SUNDAY S eptember 19, 2010
Manny Pacquiao over former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito in their November 13 fight at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
Sugar, 73, and former publisher- editor of Boxing Illustrated and Ring magazine, told
FanHouse.com’s Elie Seckbach in a brief video interview that Pacquiao is “too fast” for the bigger Margarito, a former three- time world welterweight titlist. Sugar also thinks that Marga- rito “throws a lot of wild pun- ches,” which would create open- ings for Pacquiao to deliver his power punches.
But boxing commentator and trainer Teddy Atlas thinks Margarito would pose serious problems for Pacquiao because of his size advan- tage and power. “As far as the fight goes with Margarito, I think that’s a danger- ous fight for [Pacquiao],” told Percy Crawford of
FightHype.com. “I personally think Pacquiao could lose this fight. I think that you’ve got a naturally bigger guy. He is really the bigger guy because Margarito is a big welterweight. He’s a horse,” Atlas said in breaking Pacquiao-Margarito. He said the 5’11” Margarito
throws a lot of punches and is capa- ble of hitting and hurting Pacquiao. “[Margarito] presents a lot of ar- eas of danger and real potential
US experts speak on Pacquiao-Margarito fight B
OXING historian Bert Sugar is picking World Boxing Organization welterweight champion
problems for Pacquiao that he hasn’t faced for awhile . . . The op- portunity is there to hit this guy [Pacquiao],” Atlas said. Atlas said that although Pacquiao has fought bigger foes before—Os- car De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey—none of them is as big as Margarito, who enjoys a five- inch height advantage and seven- inch reach edge over Pacquiao. Atlas—a trainer who has
worked with the likes of world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, light heavyweight titlist Danny Lalonde and featherweight champion Barry McGuigan—said he finds the Margarito fight too risky at this point in Pacquiao’s career, adding that there were less dangerous opponents available for him to fight and still make as much money.
“I’m not sure that if I was manag-
ing Pacquiao, that I would be say- ing, ‘You know what, at this point in his career, he needs to fight Margarito,’” Atlas said.
The HBO pay-per-view televised
Pacquiao-Margarito will be for the vacant World Boxing Council jun- ior middleweight title (154 pounds) at an agreed catch weight of 151.
■ Manny "PacMan" Pacquiao hits the mitts with trainer Freddie Roach. AFP FILE PHOTO PacMan offers words of wisdom to Ricky Hatton
FILIPINO boxing icon Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao expressed sadness over the personal crisis that British boxer Ricky Hatton is undergoing. Hatton, who suffered a second round knock out from Pacquiao in 2009, was recently diagnosed
with depression and a drink problem. “I feel so sad because of what happened,” said Pacquiao in Filipino. “I’m hoping he will learn to love himself and change. Drugs would do nothing good to him. It’s not too late
Adamson, Ateneo to face off at basketball semifinals BY JOSEF T. RAMOS CORRESPONDENT
FOR Ateneo de Manila mentor Norman Black, the clash between his Blue Eagles and the Adamson University Falcons would be an- other epic struggle. Black expects his players to enter the game tougher and wiser.
The Blue Eagles, currently No. 2, will shoot for the second champion- ship berth hoping to dominate the Falcons today in the Final Four of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball season 73 at the Araneta Coliseum. “It’s so hard to play against
RP posts win in Davis Cup
CECIL MAMIIT and Treat Huey kept all hopes alive for the Philippines in the Asia/Ocenia Group 1 Davis Cup after pulling-off an important win in the doubles competition on Saturday in Changwon, South Korea. Mamiit, a 2005 Southeast Asian Games gold medallist, ignored a hurting right hand and played alongside Huey to smother their Korean counterparts, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, but stayed trailing in their best-of- five showdown at 1-2. Mamiit and Huey, who took over from original doubles players Johnny Arcilla and Elbert Anasta, whacked Kim Hyun-Joon and Seol Jae-Min in doubles and revive the Philippines’ chances after the contingent suffered loss in the opening singles. The 34-year-old Mamiit injured his hand during his opening singles match against 17-year-old Jeong Suk-Young in the third set. He lost via 0-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 decision to Jeong. But he felt his body recovered very
well overnight to play in doubles. “Although Johnny was ready, Cecil really wanted to play and promised to win the doubles, he said his body is ok and recovered well last night,’” said team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier. Participating teams are allowed to change their lineup one hour before the matches, according to Davis Cup rules.
Arcilla, an experienced Davis
Cupper, acted as team captain and seated with Mamiit and Huey. Mamiit hopes for a succeeding win when he face Korea’s 19-year- old Lim Yong-Kyu, in the first of the reverse singles on Sunday while Huey meets Jeong in the closing match. The Koreans have also won the
last five ties and haven’t lost to the RP Cuppers.
JOSEF T. RAMOS
Woods could sit out some Ryder Cup matches – Pavin
AFP PHOTO
COREY PAVIN knows Tiger Woods will want to play the maximum number of matches at the Ryder Cup, but the US captain will sit the superstar down if he thinks it’s in the best interest of the team. Pavin, discussing his final preparations for the biennial match play showdown between the United States and Europe, Friday praised Woods’ talent and team spirit. “We’ve talked about how
many times he wants to play,” Pavin said. “He said, ‘I want to play five matches.’ We talked about him not playing as many, and he said, ‘Whatever’s best for the team.’” Pavin chose Woods 10 days ago with one of his four at large captain’s selections. The world No. 1 will once again be under intense scrutiny at the matches at Celtic Manor in
Wales as he tries to put a positive finish on a year marred by personal scandal and poor golf. Woods missed the 2008 Ryder Cup while recovering from knee surgery, and in fact his record in the competition is less than stellar. But Pavin said there was no doubting Woods’ commitment to the event. “He’s more than ready,” Pavin said. “When he’s there, he’s 100 percent there. Just because he doesn’t have a winning record in the Ryder Cup doesn’t mean he’s not fully committed to it.” Pavin said he has been studying possible pairings but is not yet ready to reveal any. He has a list of list of preferred partners from each of his players but said he hasn’t vowed to follow them. “I didn’t see any surprises,”
Pavin said, noting every player suggested at least three potential partners. “There might be surprises
in there for the fans, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.” Pavin, who served as an assistant captain four years ago, is enjoying his shot at the helm.
He has sought advice from Doc
Rivers of the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics, former Lakers executive Jerry West, some college coaches and some corporate executives about management and motivation. He said one of his goals is to keep his players relaxed. “Emotions run high during a
Ryder Cup week for everybody, and you have to be very aware of your emotional level,” Pavin said. “There’s a drain emotion- ally on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and you have to be ready to go Thursday.” The US team will depart for Europe on a charter flight after the US PGA tour’s Tour Championship in Atlanta September 23 to 26. AFP
Adamson. They are a very tough team, they are disciplined and I ex- pect a tough match-up against them,” said Black, A win by Ateneo would forge a best-of-three finals showdown against early finalist Far Eastern University, which beat De La Salle University, 69-59, on Thursday. But a triumph by the Falcons, who, since 1997, have lost their last 27 meetings against the Blue Eagles would send the semifinals series to a knockout game on Tuesday. Even though Ateneo won all its
two meetings in the eliminations, Adamson has lost by only an aver-
age of three points per game. Whatever the result of their semi- final duel against the Blue Eagles, coach Leo Austria is already satisfied with the way his Falcons performed this season.
“From No. 5 last year, we finished in No. 3 and we are very thankful and happy. For Adamson, it’s a big achievement for us to get this far,” said Austria. “But we’ll take one game at a time and fight.” This is the second time that the
Falcons, who endured two winless seasons in 2000 and 2001, made it to the Final Four. Adamson went to semifinals but suffered loss from
Ateneo, which in turn surrendered to 2006 champion University of Santo Tomas.
The Blue Eagles will be led by Eric Salamat, who is the team’s leading scorer with 11.3 points a game. Nico Salva, Kirk Long, Justin Chua, Eman Monfort and Ryan Buenafe are also expected to deliver for Ateneo. The Blue Eagles is also gun- ning for third-consecutive final appearance. The Falcons will depend on Alex
Nuyles, the squad’s No. 1 scorer with 12.4 points a game, along with Eric Camson, Lester Alvarez, Jan Colina, Jerick Cañada and Kenyan center Austin Manyara.
for him,” The 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2 win-loss-draw with 38 knockouts), said in his boxing column “Kumbinasyon.” “Don’t tell God that you have a big problem, but tell your problem that you
have a great God,” Pacquiao added. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top
Rank Promotion commended the Filipino for his kind gesture, “That is the kind of guy that Manny is,” Arum said. JOSEF T. RAMOS
Thailand’s Thaworn takes control at Yeangder TPC
THAILAND’S Thaworn Wiratchant showed his determination to win his 12th Asian Tour title with a five-under-par 67 to take the second round lead at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) Friday. Thaworn remains on course to match compatriot and reigning Order of Merit winner Thongchai Jaidee’s record of 12 Asian Tour victories after a two-day total of eight-under-par 136 at the Linkou International Golf Club. Malaysia’s Iain Steel kept up his charge for his maiden win on the Asian Tour by adding a 69 to his opening 68 to take second place while Australia’s David Gleeson and Taiwan’s Tsai Chi-huang are a further shot back in third place on 138. Ben Fox and Matthew
Rosenfeld of the United States posted matching 139s to take equal fifth at the inaugural $300,000-full field Asian Tour event. While Thaworn is on track for the record-equalling feat, the 43- year-old Thai also believes that a victory in Taiwan will provide the impetus to mount a serious challenge at several upcoming high profile events on the Asian Tour Schedule. “I’ve been playing well this season and my good form has given me lots of self-belief. I’m feeling good about my game and I’m ready to contend for the title this week,” said Thaworn who marked his card with six birdies and one bogey on the par-three fifth. “A win will definitely be nice as it’ll give me confidence when I
play in the big events coming up in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore,” he added. Steel, who started the day tied for second, reeled in birdies on holes two and four before dropping his only bogey of the day at the par-three eighth. He then added two more birdies on the 11th and 18th holes after the turn to return in 69.
“I didn’t hit my drivers and approaches as well as I could have. It was like a ham and egg round today and I came out with three-under,” said Steel. “I still got to try to make birdies when I can. It’s quite tricky as the greens are very grainy. The par-fives are there for the birdies. The course is not very long but you’ve got to be careful and make some putts when you can.” Meanwhile Gleeson believes he
will have to improve on his driving if he wants to win his third Asian Tour title this week. “I played pretty poorly today. I made a couple of chips and putts but hit three bad drives on the par-fives,” said the Australian. Gleeson got off well with an opening birdie in his starting back-nine. He bogeyed the par- four 14th, but recovered with another birdie on the 15th hole. The Australian added birdies on the third and fifth holes after the turn but bogeyed his closing ninth to sign for a 70. Overnight leader Lu Wen-teh of
Taiwan failed to keep up the pace and returned a 73 for a share of seventh place.
Adamson shoots for 2nd V-League title tonight
ADAMSON University attempts for a big time sweep against San Sebastian College in Game 2 of the 7th Shakey’s V-League women volleyball finals second conference today at The Arena in San Juan City. The Lady Falcons withstood the
Stags’ fiery comeback with a nerve-joggling five-set victory to take the series opener and gain a one-game advantage heading to their second title since winning the 2008 crown. Game time is at 4 p.m. Four Lady Falcons delivered
double-digit scores in the series opener with Nerissa Bautista and fellow guest player Michelle Laborte leading the attack with 22 hits apiece and Angela Benting contributing 21 points. Pau Soriano also played a superb game with 15 hits along with 3 blocks. The Lady Falcons will sweep the Lady Stags to 4-0 this confer- ence if they win in Game 2 But the San Sebastian Lady
Stags were committed to fight back with more aggression turning the series into a winner-take-all affair on Thursday. JOSEF T. RAMOS
AFP
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