January 22 - February 7, 2018
Six
months
after
the
controversial
fight
between
Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn
in Brisbane, Australia, Top Rank
Inc. CEO Bob Arum hints about
Pacquiao’s comeback in April of
this year.
Arum said he does not want to
complicate the fighting senator’s
schedule in the Philippine Senate,
so he is working around the
Senate’s recess.
“His senatorial duties would
allow him to fight in April and we
proposed a fight for Manny in April
and we are waiting to hear back
and I hope to see Manny back in
action,”said Arum.
Arum said that Pacquiao has
also expressed interest in fighting
in a big arena in New York and this
is the venue that Top Rank will be
arranging this week.
“We certainly have the plans
Philippine Showbiz Today
Arum says Pacquiao wants
to fight in the Big Apple
and who the opponent is but I’m
not going to say it until Manny
approves it and maybe we are
looking for a possibility of doing
something very, very unique for
Manny. Something that he would
love because he mentioned it to
me at one time and that is to fight
in the Madison Square Garden
in the big garden and in the big
stage,” he said.
Arum added that
Pacquiao’s
boxing
comeback is because of
his advocacy to help the
poor.
“One thing I know
about Manny is he uses a
lot of his money to take
care of people who are
in need. I think he wants
to box again because he
wants to build so many
more free homes for the
people,” he said.
Meanwhile,
27-year-old
Jerwin Ancajas is the new Pacquiao
protege. Arum believes that
Ancajas possesses phenomenal
boxing skills.
“Jerwin has a real shot to
be a big, big player in boxing.
He has great attitude. He has
a lot of skills. He is a very, very
exciting fighter. I saw him on the
23
SPORTS
Pacquiao-Horn fight card and he
looked tremendous and when the
opportunity came for us to sign
him we didn’t hesitate to sign him.
I think he is a great great addition
to Top Rank boxing,” he said.
With
the
prospect
of
becoming the next Pinoy boxing
phenom, Ancajas will be very busy
with the fights Top Rank has lined
up for him this year.
“If we are doing a fight in
Vegas, he will be in the card and
if we are doing a fight somewhere
else he will be in the card. I don’t
want to pigeonhole to a particular
city or particular region. He is so
exciting and we can make such
good fights for him that he can
fight any place,”said Arum.
For now, Ancajas and
Pacquiao are the only 2 Filipino
boxers with Top Rank. ●
- B. Llorente, ABS-CBN
ABAP training for Asiad goes full blast
The Association of Boxing
Alliances in the Philippines has
started its earnest preparations
for the Asian Games slated for
Jakarta, Indonesia in August this
year.
ABAP sec-gen Ed Picson
disclosed that boxing president
Ricky Vargas has given the
go-signal for several teams to
embark on tune-up tournaments
and training camps in the coming
weeks to evaluate the boxers
and to ensure they are in top
competition form.
“We also launched a local
“Battle of Champions”caravan-
type tournament where national
boxers match up against each
other in exhibition fights in different
local venues to get them used to
competition conditions and also
to assess their capabilities. The
first leg was in Urdaneta City,
Pangasinan last month,” said
Picson.
This Saturday, Jan. 27, six
ABAP’s Karina Picson was
boxers will participate in the Indian appointed by the Asian Boxing
Open, a 25-team tournament with Confederation as tournament
350 boxers.
supervisor for the event to be
held in the Indian capital of New
Delhi.
On the same date, eight
boxers will fly to Bangkok, Thailand
for a two-week training camp at an
isolated and vast training center
in the hills of Muaklek.
Fil-British boxer John Tupas-
Marvin, who won the light-
heavyweight (81 kg) gold in the
SEA Games last year, arrived from
London Jan. 15 and has been
training in the PSC-ABAP Training
Center in Baguio before traveling
with the team to the Thai camp. ●
- PS Sports
Team Manila, Melindo, Austria set to be honoured
Two
world
champions
and one of the country’s most
accomplished coaches will be
the recipients of major awards in
the coming SMC-PSA (Philippine
Sportswriters Association) Annual
Awards Night.
Team Manila and former
International Boxing Federation
(IBF) light-flyweight title holder
Milan Melindo, along with three-
time Coach of the Year Leo
Austria join seven other individuals
who will be recognized for their
exemplary accomplishments that
left a lasting impact on Philippine
sports in the year just passed.
The team of coach Ana
Santiago which ruled the Pony
International 18-U Girl Softball
World Series in California is the
major awardee in softball; Melindo
gets the same honor in boxing,
while Austria, the humble and
soft-spoken mentor of the fabled
San Miguel team, is the awardee
for pro basketball to be handed
out by the country’s oldest media
organization during its t