SPORTS SHORTS 1: EMMANUEL PACQUIAO, THE "MESSIAH" OF PHILIPPINE BOXING
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 22 Dec 2020
Emmanuel signifies "God with us" (Matthew 1:23), and is the name of the child predicted in Isaiah 7:14: "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." According to New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia in newadvent.org, the Messiah was called Emmanuel, or "God with us", admits a pledge of Divine help and also a description of the nature of the Messiah.
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Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao was born December 17, 1978 (eight days before Christmas) in Kibawe, Bukidnon to Rosalio Pacquiao and Dionesia Dapidran-Pacquiao. He just turned 42 years old last Thursday. True to his name, Pacquiao emerged as the "savior" of Philippine boxing when we needed a fighter who could follow the footsteps as legend of the sport in the mold of Flash Elorde and Pancho Villa.
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Pacquiao was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and World Boxing Organization (WBO). In 2006, 2008, and 2009, he was awarded by Ring magazine, ESPN and BWAA as "Fighter of the Year". He was rated as the world's top pound-for-pound boxer by ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Sporting Life, Yahoo! Sports, About.com, BoxRec and The Ring, starting from his victory over David Diaz in 2008 as a lightweight until his losses to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez as a welterweight in 2012.
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In the May 2010 national elections, Manny Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani, the home of his wife Jinkee. He won by a landslide over the rich and politically established Chiongbian clan that held powerful positions in the province for more than thirty years. Pacquiao got 120,052 votes while his opponent for Congress, Roy Chiongbian, got only 60,899 votes. In 2013, he was re-elected to the 16th Congress of the Philippines unopposed.
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On May 19, 2016, Pacquiao was formally elected as a senator of the Philippines garnering 16,050,546 votes, placing 7th among 12 newly proclaimed members of the Senate. On December 2, 2020, he was sworn in as the new president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the political party of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. He said he was “praying over” his political future as rumors circulated that he was running for a higher national office in 2022.
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Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, presently boxing's biggest draw, dominated the previously undefeated champion Callum Smith and grabbed the WBA, WBC and The Ring magazine super middleweight titles on Saturday. The judges had it 119-109, 119-109 and 117-111, all for the Mexican Alvarez. Some 15,000 fans at the San Antonio Alamodome for 20% capacity witnessed Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) pummelled Smith (27-1, 19 KOs) for 12 rounds.
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The 6-foot-3 Smith of Liverpool, England had a 7-inch height advantage and an 8-inch reach advantage over the 5-foot-8 Alvarez of Guadalajara, Mexico. Alvarez has now beaten two Smith brothers, by knocking out older brother Liam Smithin the 9th round as a junior middleweight in 2016. He has already won The Ring magazine title in three different weight classes - light middleweight, middleweight and super middleweight.
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Canelo landed 43% of his punches and 57% of his power punches per CompuBox figures. Smith commented only 18% of his punches and 24% of his power punches. Alvarez said his main goal is to unify all the belts in the super middleweight division. Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 KOs) of Welwyn Garden City, England is the WBO champion, and Caleb Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) of Ashland City, Tennessee, USA is the IBF title holder.
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Gennadiy Golovkin stopped Kamil Szeremeta to set a record for the most title defenses by a middleweight in boxing history of 21. Golovkin dropped Kamil Szeremeta four times en route to a seventh-round stoppage to retain his IBF world middleweight title at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida last Friday. his first fight in 14 months, Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) of Karagandy, Kazakhstan sent Szeremeta (21-2-0, 5 KOs) of Białystok, Poland to the canvas at the end of the first round with a sweeping left hook.
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Golovkin's final knockdown was dealt by his stinging jab in the seventh round. The 38-year-old Golovkin also decked Szeremeta in the second and fourth rounds in a one-sided fight to surpass Bernard Hopkins for the most defenses at 160 pounds. “It was a lot of fun,” said Golovkin. “I come back. I told you I would come back after Canelo fight." Both wins by GGG and Canelo could lead to a huge money trilogy which could happen when the pandemic is over.
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