pacquiao—marquez - The 3rd fight

LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao says he is through making friends with opponents in the build up to his championship bouts and vows to take a hard-line approach in his next fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.

The 32-year-old Filipino boxing champion has decisively won his last. three fights but failed to score knockouts over Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey.

“If my opponent is nice and friendly to me then that carries over into the fight,” Pacquiao said Wednesday. “Then I am not eager to finish the fight.”

The Filipino southpaw has vowed not to go easy when he puts his World Boxing Organization welterweight title on the line against Mexico’s Marquez on November 12 in Las Vegas.
“Before Marquez was saying bad things about me. Now he is saying good things about me,” said Pacquiao (53-3, 2 draws, 38 KOs).

In a sport that thrives on hype to sell tickets, staredowns and angry exchanges are usually common when two fighters get together to promote the fight. But that’s not been the case with nice-guy Pacquiao.

Mosley and Clottey were able to disarm Pacquiao with plenty of compliments and talk of how grateful they were the champion was giving them an opportunity to fight for a title, not to mention millions of dollars.

Margarito mocked and insulted Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach but stayed away from firing verbal jabs aimed specifically at Pacquiao.

The 144-pound bout will mark the third time Pacquiao and Marquez have tangled.

Both previous fights were close with just one round.separating the two. The judges’ scored the first bout a draw and Pacquiao was awarded a split decision in the rematch. Marquez insists he won both fights.

“I am thinking how can I shut this guy’s mouth,” Pacquiao said at a news conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

One boxer “Pacman” Pacquiao says he would have no trouble getting motivated to knock out is undefeated American Floyd Mayweather.”If that fight happens it would be a fight like there is no tomorrow,” Pacquiao said with a wink.

Previous fight talks between the two broke down over how drug testing would be conducted. Mayweather angered Pacquiao by accusing him of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

“I haven’t taken any drugs in boxing,” Pacquiao said Wednesday. “I don’t even know what he (Mayweather) is talking about. I don’t know what testosterone is. I don’t have any idea what he is talking about. He doesn’t want to fight.”

The Marquez bout will be a change from Pacquiao’s previous fights where he moved up in weight class to fight bigger, stronger boxers.

Pacquiao says this time he will be in his comfort zone and isn’t afraid of getting hit by a smaller fighter.

“For this fight I don’t have to worry about weight and size,” Pacquiao said.

“I won’t have to worry so much about the punches that I am taking in the ring because bigger guys punch harder.”

BACK TO BACK. Boxers Manny Pacquiao, left, and Juan Manuel Marquez pose for pictures during a news conference in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. The pair are promoting their upcoming WBO welterweighttitle fight on Nov. 12, 2011, in Las Vegas. AP 

Marquez is no shrinking violet. He captured his first world title in 2003 and has won belts in three different weight classes. He has recorded victories over Marco Antonio Barrera and Joel Casamayor but lost a 12-round decision to Mayweather in September 2009 in Las Vegas.

“This is the biggest fight for me because Pacquiao is the best pound-for-pound fighter,” Marquez said. “Clottey didn’t want to fight and Mosley was the same. But if Pacquiao wants to fight I will give him a fight.”

Pacquiao and Marquez have been on a whirlwind tour across the ocean to promote the fight. They were in New York on Tuesday and the Philippines before that where 100,000 people came out to cheer Filipino congressman Pacquiao.

The tour finishes in Mexico City Thursday where thousands of Marquez fans will get a chance to see their hero.

“The Philippines, New York and now here. I don’t even know what time it is,” said Marquez (53-5, 1 draw, 39 KOs).

Marquez is another in a long line of current and former Mexican champions Pacquiao has defeated in recent years. Pacquiao said he doesn’t have a scorched-earth policy against Mexican fighters but is just trying to find the best opponents out there.

“I am just doing my job in the ring. It is not my intention to fight all the Mexican fighters.”

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Bulldogs end season with win over UST

MANILA, Philippines - Despite not qualifying for the post-season, the National University (NU) Bulldogs still ended their Season 74 campaign on a high note, routing the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers 73-49 to finish with a 6-8 record.
The Bulldogs controlled the game from start to finish, never letting the Tigers get into their offensive rhythm.
The Tigers were clearly out of sorts as they played without big man Karim Abdul, who was suspended after incurring 2 unsportsmanlike fouls in the season.
Without Abdul protecting the paint, the Bulldogs were able to waltz their way inside. NU's Emmanuel Mbe was especially effective in the early goings of the game as he scored 10 first half points, mostly on lay-ups.
The clear star of the game was Bobby Ray Parks, who displayed his considerable scoring skills on his way to 22 points. He added 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.
Parks also made one of the best highlight plays of the season: toward the end of the game, he saved the ball from going out of bounds and it somehow found its way to the bottom of the net.
Mbe finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
With the loss, UST slides to the fourth seed and will face defending champion Ateneo Blue Eagles in the semi-finals.
The Tigers were able to keep the game close in the 2nd period after back-to-back 3 pointers by Louie Vigil and Jeric Fortuna.
The physical UST defense also held the Bulldogs down to only 6 points in the 2nd quarter, allowing them to go into halftime down only by 4, 29-25.
The Bulldogs then got their offense going once more in the 2nd half, especially in the 4th period wherein their 3-pointers started falling.
The Tigers, for their part, had to bleed for their points and were unable to penetrate the strong defense put up by the Bulldogs.
Jeric Teng topscored for the Tigers with 19 markers.

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Adamson dumps Ateneo, foils Blue Eagles sweep

Ateneo's Kirk Long (right) challenges the defense of Adamson's John Brondial in their game on Saturday at the Big Dome. Photo by KC Cruz

A lot of firsts were at stake in Saturday's Ateneo-Adamson match in the 74th UAAP men's basketball tournament.
Ateneo was gunning for the first outright finals berth and on the verge of completing the school's first 14-game elimination round sweep. Adamson, on the other hand, yearned for its first win against the Blue Eagles since 1997 while coach Leo Austria eyed his first victory against Norman Black.

In the end, it was the Falcons who managed to secure their firsts in their highly-anticipated match opposite the three-time defending champion Blue Eagles.

Adamson thwarted Ateneo's bid for an elimination sweep as the Falcons led from start to finish to beat the Blue Eagles black and blue with 62-46 margin, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ateneo never led—the only time it happened this season—as Adamson put the clamps on the Blue Eagles to arrange a Final Four instead of a step-ladder playoff where Ateneo could have enjoyed a thrice-to-beat advantage in the finals.

Adamson won for the first time in almost 14 years—29 games to be exact—after a Gherome Ejercito-led Falcons defeated Ateneo, 54-52, on September 18, 1997 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

"I don't know what to say. It's overwhelming," said Adamson coach Leo Austria, whose Falcons improved to 10-4 while Ateneo dropped its first loss after 13 straight wins.

"A lot was at stake here. We arranged a Final Four and we got the twice-to-beat advantage but more importantly, we now believe that we are capable of winning a championship. It's more than a championship for us because the drought, all of sudden, vanished," Austria said.

Adamson came back in a big way after a crucial loss to University of Santo Tomas, 74-58, last week with its victory over Ateneo secured for the Falcons a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.

"I told the boys to enjoy the game, relax and don't be eager to win. After the loss to UST, it was really a blessing in disguise. All the doubts are gone," said Austria.

Alex Nuyles exploded with 21 points including 13 in the third quarter where the Falcons used a closing 11-0 run to pull away for a 50-31 advantage.

The Adamson crowd erupted even more after Austin Manyara scored on a putback dunk over Greg Slaughter to make it a 52-32 count in the fourth.

Adamson took a 5-0 lead on Lester Alvarez' lone three and a Nuyles jumper.

Kirk Long and Kiefer Ravena scored at the others end but the Falcons answered with a 7-0 spurt as the first period ended, 16-8, the first time Ateneo was held to single digits this season.

That record was quickly erased in the third period when Ateneo only scored seven points after a 27-24 Adamson halftimes lead.

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