SPORTS SHORTS 128: MANNY PACQUIAO VS. MIKEY GARCIA NEGOTIATIONS IN ITS FINAL STAGES SAYS PACMAN AIDE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 12 May 2021
Manny Pacquiao is in the "final stages" of negotiations for a match against Mikey Garcia, an aide to the Filipino fighter-senator stated. The date and venue for a Pacquiao-Garcia fight could be announced next week, Jayke Joson, special assistant to the former eight-division world champion, told AFP.
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Likewise earlier, Arnold Vegafria, Pacquiao's business manager posted a teaser of the senator's next bout on social media. Vegafria said they are still finalizing the date and venue, but they are sure that the fight will take place in Dubai. It will be between July to August and they are still selecting a date with an available venue.
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Four-division world champion Mikey Garcia has added more fuel to much-talked about fight against Pacquiao. In a video posted by Cesar Portillo on Philboxing on Sunday, Garcia said he wants to visit the Philippines to possibly arrange a fight against Pacquiao, the former pound-for-pound king of the world.
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“Big shoutout to all my Filipino fans. I love you guys. I love the support you have always given me. We hope to see you soon,” said Garcia on PhilBoxing. "I wanna come over there, visit and maybe we can do something big, maybe we can do something with Manny, finally. Thank you, guys.”
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Garcia is rated No. 2 by WBC, No. 3 by WBO, No. 4 by WBA, No. 4 by BoxRec, No. 8 by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and No. 10 by ESPN in the welterweight division.
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He was the WBO and The Ring featherweight champion, the WBO junior lightweight champion, the WBC and IBF lightweight champion, and the IBF junior welterweight champion.
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Garcia has always been mentioning of his dream fight against Pacquiao since last year and it was interrupted by the pandemic. But World Boxing Organization titlist Terence Crawford came into the picture so Mikey faded momentarily from the scene.
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Then comes the money failure of the negotiations of the Pacquiao-Crawford match and the rumors of the Pacquiao-Garcia started to hug the sports headlines again.
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Mikey Garcia says he was supposed to fight Manny Pacquiao last year but negotiations did not materialize due to the coronavirus pandemic
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Mikey Garcia has indicated that the potential bout with Pacquiao was almost a done deal when the pandemic struck. "Nothing has happened," Garcia said in a YouTube video posted by KO Artist Sports on Saturday, May 8. "We're hoping we can finally maybe get that. But I'm also ready to move on if that is not going to happen."
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"We've been in talks for almost 3 months. If that does not happen, then we're ready to move on and search for another fight."
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"Conversation started again this year, like in February, so we thought it was pretty much done. It has not quite happened so we'll see what happens," Garcia said.
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Erroll Spence, Jr. is a big welterweight and dealt the smaller Garcia his first career loss in March 16, 2019. In his first fight in the welterweight division, Garcia was dominated by Spence who won in a convincing 12 round unanimous decision where Garcia failed to win a single round on all three judges' scorecards.
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It has been a year since Garcia last appeared in the ring, when he defeated Jessie Vargas in a non-title bout via unanimous decision on February 29, 2020. Garcia won 116-111, 116-111 and 114-113 to prepare himself for a bigger fight because he wants to remain at the welterweight division.
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Pacquiao was impressed of Canelo Alvarez's knockout victory over Billy Joe Saunders. “Those body shots by Canelo,” said Pacquaio over Twitter with a shocked face emoji. He added at the final bell: “And still… congrats, Canelo!”
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Rower Cris Nievarez became the eighth Filipino who will participate in this year's Tokyo Olympics. He had qualified for the Men's Single Sculls, becoming the third Filipino rower to play in the Olympics after Ed Maerina in Seoul, 1988 and Benjamin Tolentino Jr. in Sydney, 2000.
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Nievarez is the eighth Filipino athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games, joining weightlifter and 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo, and boxers Eumir Marcial, Irish Magno, Carlo Paalam, and Nesthy Petecio.
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Maurizio Stecca of Italy won the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic gold medal in the bantamweight class. He became professional world champion winning the WBO featherweight title (1989-1989, 1991-1992).
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Frank Tate of USA won the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic gold medal in the light middleweight class. He became professional world champion winning the IBF middleweight title (1987-1988).
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Oscar Robertson’s NBA record of 181 triple-doubles existed since 1974 and was considered unbreakable until Russell Westbrook surpassed it on Monday night, not surprisingly since he is averaging a triple-double this season and this was his 36th, including seven in his last eight games.
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Westbrook, now in his 13th season in the NBA and his first with the Washington Wizards, accomplished his 182nd triple-double when he grabbed his 10th rebound with 8:29 remaining in the game against the Atlanta Hawks. He finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 21 assists but the Wizards lost 125-124.
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NBA injuries occur every year and they are considered part of the risks of the game, but the frequency was higher this season. Some NBA team officials say it's because of the compressed 2020-21 schedule, as the league approved a whole 72-game schedule even if the season has not started until the end of December.
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Several games have been missed by star players, due to injuries and the protocols mandated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The players selected as 2021 All-Stars have missed 15 percent of games this season, a number that is on its way to become the second-highest ever, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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