Thursday, November 21, 2013

Manny! Redemption is here!

We all know what would happen come November 24, 2013, as the date fast approaches the excitement all over the boxing world also rises, for the supporters of Brandon "BamBam" Rios this would be one of his biggest opportunity to strengthen his position in the group of elites in boxing, while in other hand for the believers of Manny "Pac-man" Pacquaio this would be the perfect time for him redeem himself.

Photo from Google
Its no secret for all of us the two consecutive loses of Manny, first was at the hands of American Boxer Timothy Bradley, many have considered that fight to be a very controversial one, people got shocked with the decision at the end of the fight because clearly Manny controlled the whole fight, but that's boxing, anything can happen in boxing.

Photo from Google
And who can forget that Manny's devastating lost against his mortal enemy, the El Dinamita, Juan Manuel Marquez, that was one of the biggest shocker in the world of boxing, everybody knew that it would be a close fight but nobody expected that Manny would suffer such kind of defeat, Marquez really took Manny down to the canvass and made him asleep.

Photo from Google
All of Manny's fans were speechless, they did know what hit them, it was very uncommon to the eyes of the people who followed Manny's career from the start, everybody's low in moral, some thought that it was the end of his career, many had doubts, many started to believe that he will never return to the boxing ring, with such kind of loss, you cannot blame them because clearly it was a very terrible loss.

But with this coming fight at hand, all eyes to the people's champ, nobody knows what will happen, it certainly has this kind of excitement where no one knows if Manny can pull this one off or not, but one thing is for sure, it is going to be a tough and exciting match!

I myself can still feel that excitement that I used to feel when Manny fought Morales, Barrera, Dela Hoya, and etc. Rios has said in his previous interviews that he will send Manny to retirement but I myself refuse to believe in that, I strongly believe that Manny will come out strong as ever, he will bounce back from those two losses, he will show again to the world that he is not yet done.

This time, once again, let us show support to our people's champ, Manny carried all of us for so many times, and in times like this it is very important to show that we still got his back and that we still believe in him, that would be a big factor to fill Manny's heart with more courage, a courage that would bring back the glory to our nation.

Redemption is here! GO MANNY!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Bradley to Roach: I'm boxing, not running

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA, Philippines – Undefeated American Timothy Bradley vowed to give Russian fighter Ruslan Provodnikov a lesson in boxing when he defends his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title on March 16 in Carson, California.

Bradley was reacting to the comments made by Provodnikov’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who said the American star will run "like Forrest Gump" during their title fight.

"I've heard Bradley say he's going to take the fight to Ruslan. He said the same thing before his fight with Manny (Pacquiao). And when he feels Ruslan's power, like when he felt Manny's, it's going to be a remake of Forrest Gump," Roach said in a RingTV report.

Speaking with Luis Sandoval of Boxing Scene, Bradley said: "This is boxing, Freddie. All right? This ain't MMA (mixed martial arts). This is boxing."

"There's a difference between being a runner, sprinter. They run. I don't run. I box. That's what I do. It's called the sweet science, it’s called boxing," Bradley added. "That's what people need to realize, that this is boxing."

Bradley cited legendary fighters including Muhammad Ali and Pernell Whitaker, as well as reigning pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., as some of the best in the "hit and don't get hit sport."

"A lot of people can't deal with that. Ruslan Provodnikov ain't gonna be able to deal with that," he said. "So guess what we're going to do? We're going to outbox him."

Although Bradley defeated Roach’s top fighter, Pacquiao, in their June 2012 fight, the Hall-of-Fame trainer remains unimpressed with the American.

"When Manny was preparing to defend his title against Bradley last spring, I said any of Manny's sparring partners could beat Bradley. Ruslan will prove that on March 16," Roach said.

Bradley will be making the first defense of the WBO championship that he won from Pacquiao.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Bryant does his Magic by turning from scorer to passer


source: www.spin.ph

MINNEAPOLIS — For 17 years, Kobe Bryant has been a supremely confident, ultra-aggressive offensive force who believed that the more he scores, the better the odds the Los Angeles Lakers win.

Even by his standards, Bryant was on a blistering run to start this season. He averaged just over 22 field goal attempts, right up there with the highest averages of his career. He took 31 shots in a loss to Houston, 41 in a win over Golden State and 32 in a loss at Toronto.

Off to a 17-25 start, and with the playoffs slipping away, Kobe has revamped his game. He's channeling more Magic than Michael now, becoming the Lakers' chief playmaker to jumpstart the struggling team. After posting double-digit assists just once in his first 42 games, Bryant is averaging 11.2 assists over the last five, a stretch that has produced four victories to offer some hope that all is not lost.

"It feels good," Bryant said on Friday (Saturday, Manila time), when the Lakers beat the Timberwolves. "You're just trying to do whatever it takes to win. Trying to figure things out, even if you're adjusting your game as dramatically as I have, it's just doing whatever it takes to get your team to win."

Passing hasn't exactly been absent from Bryant's game over the years. It just hasn't been at the forefront of his approach to breaking a team down. He's always thought of himself as the best one-on-one player in the world, and that mentality has fueled a get-out-of-my-way approach that has helped him fly up the career scoring chart.

He's averaged a healthy 4.7 assists for his career and was right at that number through the first 42 games this season. Bryant has more career assists than any of the five players who have scored at least 30,000 points. But he has completely changed his role in the last two weeks.

In the four-game losing streak that preceded the Lakers' mini-surge, Bryant attempted 25, 32, 22 and 23 shots and dished out a total of 14 assists.

In the last five games, he's taken 10, 12, 12, 17 (the only loss) and 13 shots and picked up 56 assists.

"I just try to dominate the game through passing and getting to the rim and scoring when the opportunity presents itself," Bryant said. "There's many ways to dominate a game."

For someone as notoriously stubborn as Bryant, it's quite an eye-opening transformation.

"It's not the easiest thing in the world to change a mentality," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "But he's definitely trying."

In the twilight of his career, and with Steve Nash and Dwight Howard not close to the All-NBA players they have been, it's also been absolutely necessary for the Lakers' survival. They are 21-26, good for 10th place in the competitive Western Conference.

"It's different now playing against him than watching him on TV," Wolves forward Derrick Williams said. "He's just a deadly weapon. If you leave a little space he's going to knock down a shot. If you get too close to him, he's going to hit people with backdoor passes."

His teammates are feeding off the newfound unselfishness, too. Pau Gasol had struggled for most of the season, but he had 22 points and 12 rebounds against the Timberwolves on Friday night. Antawn Jamison has scored in double figures in four straight games, and Nash is adapting quite well to playing off the ball and knocking down all the open shots that come when Bryant draws so much attention from the defense.

The Timberwolves certainly didn't have an answer for his new game Friday. In the first quarter, he relentlessly backed down the overmatched Luke Ridnour in the post, drawing double teams from a scrambling Wolves defense. Bryant easily surveyed the scene, kicking to wide open shooters on the perimeter for easy shots. The Lakers hit eight of their first 10 3-point attempts to build a 29-point lead in the second quarter.

Bryant said he studied Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson and John Stockton as much as he did Jordan while he was growing up. And whenever he's asked about Magic — widely considered Bryant's biggest competition for title of the greatest Laker — he smiles broadly.

"That's the thing that gets lost as the years go on," he said. "People forget how good he was and some of the passes he makes. You go back and look at some of that (stuff) he was throwing around out there, it's outrageous. Some of the things he sees. And me growing up a huge Magic fan, I'm very familiar with that."

If Bryant can somehow dig these Lakers out of the rubble and take them to another title, it will be the sixth of his career — tying Jordan and moving him past Magic on the ring count.

"We're trying to find that balance a little bit," he said. "We're obviously not reaching our full potential if I go through a full half without really shooting the ball. But at the same time, I think the most important part is to get everybody in rhythm. I can always find my offensive rhythm throughout the game."

That's an ongoing conversation with D'Antoni.

"You need to be aggressive and make the right play," the coach said. "When you take off and they collapse on you, make the pass. If they don't, then score. I think you need to do it for four quarters. You can't come into a game and be a facilitator for a quarter, (then say) 'OK, now I'm going to be a scorer.'"

Bryant is getting more and more comfortable with each passing game, and all of a sudden these Lakers have new life. Once buried under a pile of injuries and dysfunction, they're 3½ games behind Houston for the eighth seed and charging. They're close enough that Bryant is starting to peek at the standings again.

"A little bit now because you kind of want to have in your mind's eye what's going on," he said. "But we'll catch up."

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

NBA: Heat too hot for Nets in the third


source: www.gmanetwork.com

The Brooklyn Nets had a huge run to tie the game at the half. The Miami Heat used an even bigger run in the third to put this one away.

The visiting Miami Heat used a 36-14 third quarter to blow out the Brooklyn Nets, building to a 105-85 win, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The victory by the reigning NBA champs ended an eight-game win streak by Brooklyn on their home court. It also improved Miami's record to 29-13, to keep them on top of the Eastern Conference, and dropped the Nets to 27-19.

Nine points by LeBron James in the first quarter helped the Heat to a 30-20 advantage after twelve minutes. Lay-ups by Dwyane Wade got it to a first half high of 12 twice, at 36-24, and then at 41-29, the latter coming with 7:30 still to play.

However, the home team Nets used an 18-6 run, fueled by a combined 10 by big men Brook Lopez and Andray Blatche, to knot things at 47-all. A Chris Bosh dunk momentarily gave the lead to Miami anew, but Deron Williams canned a jumper with 2.3 ticks left in the half to forge just the second tie of the game up to that point.

The third quarter saw the Heat reassert their dominance though, as the team shot 15-of-23 from the field, or 65.2 percent, en route to their 36 points. Their defense meanwhile, held the Nets to just 14 points, all from three players, Lopez, Williams and Joe Johnson, for an 85-63 lead.

Brooklyn couldn't cut into the huge deficit any more than 17 points in the fourth, which led to both sides sending in their bench to close this one out.

LeBron James led all sides with 24 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Dwyane Wade added 21 markers. Chris Andersen, signed to a second 10-day contract, was a nice spark off the bench, tallying three points, five rebounds, a steal and a block in under 10 minutes of play.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Joe Johnson scored 16, but needed 15 attempts, while Deron Williams was held to just nine points and five assists. Williams was also forced into a team-high six turnovers.

Miami wound up shooting better than 50 percent from the field, 51.8 percent, and beyond the arc, 57.9 percent. The Heat also got a whopping 20-to-4 advantage in fast break points. - AMD, GMA News

NBA: Spurs overwhelm Bobcats in Popovich's return


source: Reuters through www.gmanetwork.com

The San Antonio Spurs gave recuperating coach Gregg Popovich a welcome return to the sidelines on Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time) by romping to a ninth consecutive win with a 102-78 thumping of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Popovich had missed the last three games through illness and despite the absence of big man Tim Duncan for a fourth straight contest with a knee injury, the NBA-leading Spurs were far too strong for the Bobcats.

Tony Parker stepped in to fill the void left by Duncan and recorded 22 points with seven assists, as Kawhi Leonard added 18 points to help San Antonio cruise to another comfortable win at home, where they are 21-2 this season.

The Spurs (37-11) set the tone for an easy night's work when they opened the game with an 8-0 run and never fell behind.

San Antonio enjoyed a typically efficient shooting performance with an impressive 55 percent success rate from the field, including 9-of-16 from three-point range.

Ramon Sessions scored 20 off the bench to pace the Bobcats (11-34), who lost for the 10th time in 12 games. - Reuters

Manny Pacquiao OK with fighting in September instead of April


source: www.interaksyon.com

With plans for him to fight in April falling apart, Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said he doesn’t have a problem with postponing his comeback for September instead.

“Puwede naman, puwede namang September na lang,” said Pacquiao, who is coming off consecutive losses — to Timothy Bradley in a controversial decision and to Juan Manuel Marquez in a shocking knockout — last year.

According to Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz, putting together an April fight for the fighter was a massive undertaking, especially with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum expressing his preference for a later fight date.

The Pacquiao camp reportedly considered Singapore, Macau, Dubai, and Manila as possible venues for an April fight, but was unable to secure support to stage the bout. But the venue was not the only problem, according to Koncz.

“We have to work with HBO. They’re the expert in choosing the television dates,” he said.
Koncz also denied rumors that Pacquiao’s desire to fight in April was motivated by politics. Pacquiao, the incumbent representative of Sarangani, will run unopposed for a second term in May’s elections.

The Final Score: Rajko Toroman rejoins the race


source: www.gmanetwork.com

Rajko Toroman runs on a Wednesday morning with nothing but his thoughts. No earphones. No mp3 player. He hears the sound of his own breathing. His mind is engrossed, not by the frenzy of traffic around the Ortigas area, but by plans for his new PBA team, Barako Bull.

It’s the weekday drill for Toroman. Wake up at four. Watch a Euroleague game. Then by six, head out the door and begin a daily nine-kilometer run. As always, he runs for an hour.

On this midweek jog, Toroman’s brain is probably working harder than his feet. He thinks about Wednesday’s scheduled practice game against GlobalPort. He doesn’t think about the controversy surrounding his title as PBA Head Coach. He thinks about the new players on his team, instead. He imagines how JC Intal may finally unlock his potential. He pictures how Barako Bull will benefit from Allein Maliksi’s versatility.

Someone inside a jeepney shouts, “Coach! Good morning!”

The coach momentarily stops thinking about basketball, smiles and waves back.

Toroman returns to his reflection. He knows coaching Barako Bull won’t be easy. He has to convince PBA players to leap out of their comfort zones. Spend more hours in practice. Spend less time freelancing on the court. It’s the only way they will prosper under his watch. It’s the only way his system will work.

“I love the offense, “ Mick Pennisi, Barako Bull’s bearded veteran, admits. “It’s perfect for me because I’m an unconventional big man. We just need time to make it work. I just need to tell the younger guys that the system takes time.”

Toroman runs past the PhilSports Arena. He inhales. He exhales. There’s a map of sweat on his shirt. He’s not gasping for air at this point. He’s excited. He can’t wait for the tournament to start. He can’t wait to show critics that the Toroman Way can succeed.

[Related: Barako Bull shake up roster, dealing with four different teams in blockbuster]

Many believe Barako Bull greatly benefited from the recent five-team, 10-player PBA mega-trade. I agree, albeit cautiously. They brought in brand new players to beef up a brand new team. That team now plays under a brand new coach. On one hand, the set-up exudes possibilities. On the other hand, I worry about a cavalcade of untested variables.

“They say Filipino players have a hard time succeeding internationally because of size,” Toroman, who is fully aware of his widespread reputation as a drill sergeant, explains. “So if you’re smaller compared to players from other countries, shouldn’t you train even harder than the bigger guys? Right now, bigger players from other countries train harder than the players here. I want to change that.”

Toroman can see the Ynares Center along Shaw Boulevard from a distance. A scene from practice pops in his head: Moments after he completed his first practice session with Barako Bull, Jonas Villanueva started to experience muscle cramps. Sean Anthony approached Villanueva and comforted his new teammate by saying, “Welcome to the Serbian Military Camp.” Toroman heard Anthony’s quip and revealed a wry smile. -- GMA News