22 Philippine Showbiz Today
22 Philippine Showbiz Today
October 22 - November May 8 - 21 7 , 2017 2018
Filipino handlers of challenger Manny Pacquiao allayed fears of the that the eight-division champion can be over-trained in his preparations for his coming fight with World Boxing Association welterweight belt-holder Lucas “ La Maquina ” Matthysse .
Pacquiao is eyeing Matthysse ’ s 147-pound plum in the 12-round encounter billed as the biggest boxing extravaganza since Malaysia played host to the Muhammad Ali-Joe Bugner world heavyweight championship classic 43 year ago .
“ No , hindi mangyayari yun ,” Pacquiao ’ s boyhood pal Buboy Fernandez , who is now in charge of Pacquiao ’ s trainingassured in a telephone talk with this reporter the other day .
“ We know what we ’ re doing and we won ’ t put Manny ’ s health in danger for this , very important fight of his career ,” Buboy assured . “ Nagsimula kaming mag-training nang maaga dahil halos isang taong nawala sa boksing si Manny at maraming dapat gawin para mabalik ang katawan at isip nya sa boksing .”
“ It ’ s not only rustiness that we must eliminate . Hindi rin lamang
Softball
Some 200 school children representing the cities of Cabuyao , Calamba , Sta . Rosa and Binan became the initial beneficiaries of the first baseball and softball grass root development program of the “ Cabuyao Athletes Basic Schools ” launched last weekend .
The ambitious program is part of the total city sports project initiated by Cabuyao Mayor Mel Gecolea aimed at identifying raw an fresh talents not only from these four cities of Laguna but other cities and towns in the province .
Many towns in the province , particularly Canlubang , used to be the major breeding grounds of international-caliber baseball and softball players that represented the country in many Asian and world level tournaments .
Gecolea himself was a youth baseball standout who saw action in several Asian Regional competitions on the way to the PONY Baseball World Series in the 1980s .
“ This is long overdue . It ’ s about time , I think , that this kind of program is launched if only to revive the country ’ s glorious days in baseball and softball , “ Rodolfo “ Boy ” Tingzon , president of the Philippine of Baseball Association , one of several entities supporting the program , said .
Tingzon , son of Rodolfo “ Totoy ” Tingzon , acknowledged as the father of youth baseball movement in the country and Asia , is urging other ci-
No way Pacquiao will be overtrained – Buboy
Cabuyao youth baseball and softball program launched
ties , municipalities and provinces to adopt the CABS progra
“ It ’ s been a long time since he Philippines won an Asian baseball championship , 1954 pa . We have yet to win an Asian crown in women ’ s softball although our Blu Girls were once the third best in the world ,” Tingzon reminisced .
“ The Blu Boys , on the other hand , were Asian champ four time besides ending fourth in the world before . We were alwo nce he hird be baseball-playing country in he world ,” ingon , likewise recalled .
“ We really need siguro a stronger youth grassroot program to recapture our glorious years in these two sports , which , incidentally are the only team sports where the Philippines is capable of excelling in Asia add even in the world as we had already proven before ,” the younger Tingzon said .
Other groups that throw their all-out support to the program are HMR & Loro-Sports and former PABA official and may-time national coach Ely Baradas .
Boy Tingzon , a former Cabuyao vice mayor , expressed hopes the program be a regular feature of the province ’ s annual sports calendar . ●
kondisyon ng katawan ang dapat maibalik . We also need to re-introduce his mind and body sa boksing na matagal nawala sa kanya ,” Buboy explained .
“ Dapat nating alalahanin na Manny is coming from a loss . Mabigat na pagkatalo na we didn ’ t expect . A lost which we all thought we won ,” he stressed . “ Kaya nga unti-unti ang inihanda naming training program na hindi lahat ay gugulin namin sa roadwork , gym activities , etc .”
Starting last Monday , Nonoy Neri , who completes Pacquiao ’ s training team along with Roger “ Haplas ” Fernandez , Buboy ’ s younger brother , said after each training session , they and the Figher of the Decade himself meet to monitor the progress of the preparation program .
“ That ’ s what we ’ ve been doing everyday starting last Monday . We ’ ll continue doing that until such time na ma-realize namin na ayos na ang lahat , including the psychological aspect of the scheme ,” Neri said .
“ Pagdating sa panahong iyon , saka lamang kami pupukpok nang ensayo na naka-focus sa puro boksing , incljuding plotting fight strategies , etc .” he asserted .
“ Madali na lamang naman yun . Kilala naman natin si Manny . Sabi nga natin Manny knows . Alam nya kung ano pa ang kailangan , kung ano na ang hindi na dapat gawin ,” he said .
Buboy , Neri and Haplas agreed that conditioning won ’ t be a problem since Pacquiao has been playing basketball regularly as part of his cross-training .
Likewise , all three want to assure the all the Pacquiao fans all over the world that they will be preparing the Pacman to win that Matthysse fight and bring him back to where he belongs -- the pedestal of international boxing . ●
Photo by Wendell Alinea / OSMP
The some 200 youth baseball and softball hopefuls from the Cities of Cabuyao , Calamba , Sta . Rosa and Binan pose for a family a the end of grassroot-oriented program launched last weekend in Cabuyao .
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