I am for Manny: The boxing journey continues

                                   

The place is packed with fans of all ages. Almost everyone is chanting a legendary name. Majority of the crowd are restless and excitedly awaits what many considered a historic boxing match that could end a brave soldier's unblemished win record or a great warrior's career.

Nope. I am talking about the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas but the excitement is as intense as that of the Nevada landmark. Alaxan, another quality product from Unilab, held a viewing party for the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley 2 fight at Outback Steakhouse in Glorieta 4, Makati City last Sunday.

Members of media and the blogging community gathered in this exciting event to witness a hell of a match between Pacman and Dessert Storm.

From round one to twelve, the two slug it out for the WBO Welterweight Championship belt which Bradley took away from Pacquiao in 2012.

In the end, our very own Pambansang Kamao proved to be te better man and won back his title via unanimous decision. Truly, the gentleman from Saranggani Province   has a #PusongPalaban and #KatawangAlaxan which proved too much to handle for Bradley.

With the impressive win, Manny assures his fans across the globe, "My boxing journey will continue!"

And the crowd went wild! 

Mark Barriga's Olympic Journey

(Photo by Murad Sezer, Reuters)

The evening of July 31 (Philippine time) marks the first step of lone Filipino boxer Mark Anthony Barriga in his quest for glory in the 2012 London Olympic.

The hope of the country where the best pound-for-pound boxer lives rest on the shoulder of this 19-year old fighter who seeks to accomplished what no Pinoy athlete has ever reached--- the elusive Olympic Gold medal.

Fighting in front of a full-house crowd that included his parents Edgar and Melita who flew in to London with the help of Procter and Gamble, Mark connected with a flurry of shots in the opening round, landing a solid straight in the last seven seconds that prompted a standing 8-count against the much taller Italian slugger Manuel Cappai. He continued his dominance en route to a 17-7 win.

Mark stepped on the ring once again on the evening of August 4 (Philippine time) to slug it out againts Birshan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan for the right to enter the Round of 8.

The young Pinoy boxer gave his all and led the match 10-8 entering the 3rd round.  But the table turns against the Philippine side when Barriga was penalized twice within the final salvo thus deducting 2 points from the judges score card.  The damage was so huge that he end up losing the bout in a close 16-17 decision.

Mark may have love his quest for gold this time but with more training and patience to achieve his dream, who knows, 2016 might be the right time for him to get another crack for glory and finally win the top prize for his country.

SWABE: Sunday Winners And Big Endings

Yesterday was one of the most exciting Sundays I've ever experienced.

Good thing I was not sleeping (Well, I had a 5-minute nap while hearing mass. Sorry po, Father... it's not you, it's me)

Anyways, if there is one word I can describe July 8, 2012--- it's SWABE because of the many Sunday Winners And Big Endings that just happened in the span of 24 hours.

Boom! From PH with love (Image credit: Yahoo.ph)

Sunday Winner no. 1: Nonito Doñaire
Big Ending: The Filipino Flash dominated South African Jeffrey Mathebula in their super bantamweight title unification held in California thus more people now agree that he is the Philippines’ newest candidate for boxing superstardom.

The newly-crowned Kitchen Star (left) and the proud owner of a brand new stainless Electrolux microwave oven (right)  (Image credit: Green Dei)

Sunday Winner no. 2: Rigette Osoteo
Big Ending: After undergoing a 2-day cooking boot camp under some of the respected and known chefs in the country and another 2 days of exciting kitchen competition, this petite soon-to-be chef took home a prize worth over Php 150,000 after being proclaimed as this year's Electrolux Wok-A-holic Kitchen Star.

The Big J and Big C--- Caguiao, that is (Image credit: Inquirer.net)

Sunday Winner no. 3: Robert Jaworksi
Big Ending: After almost 15 years since he wore the popular no. 7 jersey on the hard court, the Living Legend of Philippine basketball has finally received the fitting tribute that he rightfully deserved. His Ginebra San Miguel uniform was hanged to the rafters and forever will be displayed in Smart Araneta Coliseum where some of his epic battles took place.

Bozeman's buzzer beater (Image credit: Interaksyon.com)

Sunday Winners no. 4: Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings
Big Ending: After the Jaworski tribute, the Gin Kings played a very physical yet exciting ballgame against sister team Petron Boosters. All throughout the game, the Brarangay was outplayed by Petron until the "never-say-die" spirit that the Big J exemplifies somewhat jolted into each and every player of the team en route to a game-winning shot from Ginebra import Cedric Bozeman with .3 seconds left in the ballgame.

Lola Ilang's pink kung pink birthday cake

Sunday Winner no. 5: Lola Ilang
Big Ending: Our beloved lola celebrated her 90th birthday with a big feast in my in-laws home in Quezon City. She vowed to stay as loving and sweet as she is for 30 more years. I was not able to take part of some of the surprises since I was "on duty" in another place the whole afternoon but I was able to witness and the last part of the party--- packing of leftovers! Thus, we had a big dinner in our own house in Pasig.

With this, I wish for more SWABE to come! Let's drink to that!

Manny Pacquiao is a boxing world champion and PLDT myDSL Watchpad is a Knockout!

I used to hate watching boxing matches.

My tatay would always spend the whole weekend scanning almost every boxing card on TV and just bribe me with a few coins for me to get a snack and a bottle of soda while I sob because I missed another episode of my favorite cartoon show.

Also, I find the matches boring compared to those exciting sequences in WWE where people fly out of the ring, hit one another with steel chair and make someone die for a few moments and rise again when the audiences started to chant the grappler’s name.

But my impression about boxing changed because of one man --- the People’s Champ and eight division world champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. There is no single adjective to describe this Filipino icon who is considered by many as the greatest boxer who ever lived. Aside from being a great athlete (he also played amateur basketball as a member of MP Warriors in PBL-Liga Pilipinas last year, btw), he has also a string of self-produced films and hit songs (deny or it not, but you have sang with one of his popular tunes either inside a sardine-like FX or while watching his post-fight concert). Of course, we should not forget that he was elected as the Representative of Saranggani province in the most recent national election.

Pacquaio is like a magnet (right, Jinkee?) that can attract even non-believers wherever he goes. He brings the crowd up into the rafters of the venues of his fights whether it’s in Dallas or Vegas (not to mention the local gyms and basketball courts converted to mini theaters for the live broadcast of the Pacman’s exploit against just about anybody who has the balls to share the ring with him. One of the few times that we feel that our Mayor is really doing something after all). Manny indeed is the Big Ticket of the Philippines. He is the face of boxing who has given fans of all ages some of the most exciting fights in the last 10 years. Thus, earning him the “Fighter of the Decade” award from the prestigious Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).

This coming November 13 (Sunday), Pacquaio will again showcase to the world the fighting heart and world-class skills of a Pinoy fighter as he battles for the third time Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez, the current WBA Super, WBO and The Ring Lightweight World Champion, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I will definitely watch this fight and have to drop any schedule that will come that day. Everybody takes a day-off when Manny fights. Even hoodlums and criminals keep their guns and ice picks under their pillows during the most anticipated match-up in boxing this year.

One way of getting the best seat watching the Pacquaio-marquez fight is via PLDT myDSL Watchpad Big Ticket. Watch LIVE with no commercial breaks.  Free for myDSL Plan 1995/ 3000 subscribers who are registered to Watchpad. Sign-up now for PLDT myDSL now at 10Mbps and be one of the first to catch this mega fight and celebrate what many predict will be another rousing victory for our very own the People Champ--- Manny Pacquaio. For more information, log on to www.myworldmydsl.com.

Entertainment is better than it’s ever been, it’s awesome! This guarantees that you'll be spared from the almost endless strip of TV commercials after every round of the fight when you watch the delayed telecast with faster live streaming online courtesy of  PLDT myDSL Watchpad, it's a knockout!