PACQUIAO LIKES THE IDEA THAT HORN COMES TO FIGHT
By Eddie Alinea of Spin.ph
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 28 Apr 2017
More than two decades as a professional boxer, who in that span has fought 67 times, winning 59, 38 of them via the short route.
Filipino ring living legend Manny Pacquiao could have come gloating and bragging on his enviable records last Wednesday when he and Australian challenger Jeff Horn met for the first time during a press conference promoting their coming titular fight set July 2 at Brisbane?s huge Suncorp Arena.
Everybody in the jampacked room was expecting him, like any pug should, to at least boast of what he?ll be showcasing in celebrating his 22-year anniversary as as a prizefighter. He, after all, is the only man on earth to win an unprecedented 11 world championships in eight weight divisions.
But there he was dressed in a dark suit, as what a respected member of the Philippine Senate ought to be, smiling throughout the entire proceeding and speaking politely merely repeating what he has been saying since arriving that he will fight the way he?s been fighting the entertain the fans.
Experience, he reiterated, is the only edge he possesses, which he will be utilizing in his bid to keep the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt he won for the third time last November last year at the expense of Mexican-American Jessie Vargas.
?Ganito pala talaga si Manny, walang kayabang-yabang,? a Filipino friend of this writer who works in nearby Perth, who, apparently hasn?t seen and heard Pacquiao for the first time, observed during an overseas telephone interview.
?Napaka-soft-spoken, halos di nga marinig magsalita, parang hindi boxer,? he said. ?Mabuti pa nga si Horn, medyo matapang magsabing kayang talunin ang bata natin. Yung mga kaibigan kong Australiyano bumilib din.?
?I like this fight with Jeff Horn because I was told he stands and fights. Natutuwa akong marinig na hindi siya tumatakbo sa ring. It will be a very exciting fight for the fans,?? Pacquiao noted in separate interview.
?I still can?t believe I?m actually here,?? Horn, for his part, told media men at the presscon held at the 55,000-seat site of the biggest site of his career. ?I?m getting ready to fight an absolute legend of world sport. It?s much more than a dream come true for me and all the people who have helped me get here but now I have to make that dream a reality and take a legend,? the former schoolteacher said.
The Pacman started his pro career as an obscure 106-pound campaigner under name ?Kid Kulafu? and had to put coins in his pockets to make the required weight limits.
From there he proceeded win the World Boxing Council flyweight, International Boxing Federation super-bantamweight, Ring Magazine featherweight, WBC super-featherweight, WBC lightweight, International Boxing Organization/Ring junior-welterweight, WBO welterweight and WC super-welterweight belts one after another since 1998.
No fighter in the history of sweet science has won world titles in more weight classes than the Filipino legend, an amazing run of championship conquest from the 106-pound category to as high as 154 pounds.
Pacquiao could have actually won belts in 10 of boxing's 17 weight classes had he campaigned at junior bantamweight and bantamweight levels. He skipped the two divisions and instead jumped to super-bantam.
Besides his eight-division jewels, Pacquiao is also the only fighter to have been crowned lineal champion in five weight categories ? flyweight, featherweight, junior lightweight, junior-welterweight and welterweight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea of Spin.ph.
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