Monday, April 28, 2008
David Diaz believes his coming showdown with Manny Pacquiao is the fight of his life.
It's bigger than when he won the World Boxing Council lightweight crown and bigger than when he bested Mexican legend Erik Morales.
"This is the kind of fight people will talk about long after you're done and gone," Diaz told Ron Borges of TheSweetScience.com. "This is the biggest fight of my life. Bigger than when I won the title. Even bigger than beating a legend like Morales."
Diaz (34-1-1, 17 KO) said this is because Pacquiao, the Filipino WBC super featherweight titlist, is in his prime.
"He's a guy who's been beating up people in different weight classes. Now I have a title he wants and he's trying to put me on the mat. It's one of those fights where you got to prove yourself to yourself," added Diaz, who has opened his training camp in Chicago for his showdown with Pacquiao on June 28 in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao is still in Gen. Santos City, getting back into shape by running in the morning and playing basketball in the afternoon.
Initially bent on touring Olympic venues in Beijing upon the invitation of the Chinese government, Pacquiao had a change of heart.
Saying he needs to fulfill numerous commitments at home, Pacquiao intends to leave for Los Angeles only on May 10 for full-blast training at Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym.
Pacquiao said seven weeks of intense preparation would be enough for him to reach peak form.
Diaz admitted that he wants to fight Pacquiao because it will also give him the biggest purse of his career.
"I'm finally getting paid what champions get paid," said Diaz. “This is a fight where I can set up my kids for college. It's about making their life better but win this one and next fight maybe I can set up David Diaz."
Diaz also rebuffed skeptics who think he doesn't stand a chance against Pacquiao after a so-so performance against Ramon Montano in the under card of the Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez rematch won by the Filipino.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Gerry Peñalosa of the Philippines beat challenger Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight title on Sunday at the Invasion: Philippines vs The World boxing event at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.Peñalosa won after the referee stopped the fight with 29 seconds remaining in the eighth round. Peñalosa knocked down the Thai thrice, in the fifth, seventh, and earlier in the eighth before the referree stopped the fight.
It was in the fifth round that Peñalosa started punishing the Thai with a series of combinations that nearly knocked him down, at one point sending him down on his knees. Vorapin, however, managed to put his arms around Peñalosa's waist to break his fall.
The event featured four Filipinos, who won all their matches.
In the third bout, Rey "Boom-Boom" Bautista of the Philippines knocked out Genaro Camargo of Mexico in the second of a 12-round match to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) inter-continental super bantamweight title.
Bautista knocked down the Mexican twice in the first round and sent him down for the third and final time 57 seconds into the second round.
In the second bout, Ciso Morales of the Philippines also defeated Yoo-Shin Kim in a 12-round match, which the referee stopped in 2:24 of the fourth round, seeing that Yoo-Shin, face bloodied with a cut on the left eye, had taken enough punishment from the Filipino, who successfully retained his WBO oriental super bantamweight title.
In the first bout, A.J. "Bazooka" Banal of the Philippines defeated Caril Herrera of Uruguay in a referee-stopped fight in the fourth of a 12-round bout.
Herrera had to take a standing eight-count in the third round after being brought down to his knees by a series of face punches by Banal. The fight, ruled a technical knockout in favor of the Filipino, was stopped at 1:18 into the fourth round.
The first match was an eliminator for the the International Boxing Federation (IBF) move up to the No. 1 spot.
Among the spectators at the event were Sen. Ramon Revilla; Manny Pacquiao, the new World Boxing Council super featherweight champion, with wife Jinkee; Juan Manuel Marquez, the Mexican WBC former super featherweight champion whom Pacquiao just defeated; and Luisito Espinosa, former World Boxing Association bantamweight champion.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The main event is the title fight between reigning WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Peñalosa and challenger Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand. The undercard will feature three title fights:
Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista versus Mexico’s Genaro Camargo
AJ “Bazooka” Banal versus Uruguay’s Caril Herrera
Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales versus Korean Yoo Shin Kim
“Invasion” Philippines vs. the World which was slated at the Araneta Coliseum will be aired live on April 6 on ABS-CBN.
