By ALEX P. VIDAL
Manny Pacquiao may rewrite boxing history when he tries to record what the immortal Gabriel "Flash" Elorde failed to achieve in 1964 and 1966: pole vault from super-featherweight (130 pounds) to fight and win the world lightweight (135 pounds) crown.
Elorde, a Hall of Famer and the greatest Filipino prizefighter, failed twice in as many ambitions to crush Puerto Rico’s Carlos Ortiz in two bloody world lightweight championship encounters.
Elorde, who reigned as world junior lightweight champion (superfeatherweight) for seven years, was southpaw like Pacquiao but had no match to the orthodox and New York-based Puerto Rican.
Elorde (88-27, 33 KO) lost both fights on brutal technical knockouts (TKO) in the 14th frame—first on February 15, 1964 in Manila and second on November 28, 1966 in New York.
On June 28 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada southpaw Pacquiao, 29, (46-3, 35 KO) will duke it out with fellow southpaw World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz (34-1, 17 KO) for 12 rounds.
In terms of durability and winning streak percentage, experts have compared the indestructible Ortiz to Diaz, a member of the 1996 US Olympic team and many-time Golden Gloves champion.
Diaz, 31, however, pales in comparison to Ortiz (61-7, 30 KO) when it comes to activity and longest number of winning avalanche. In 1955, for instance, the year Ortiz turned professional, he scored 12 straight wins, eight of them by knockouts.
When Ortiz first tore Elorde to shreds, he incurred four losses but was never stopped.
Diaz will trade mitts with Pacquiao in a fight dubbed "Lethal Combination" carrying a stigma of a savaged 8th round TKO lost to Kendall Holt on February 4, 2005.
Having tasted the dust like Pacquiao (who was himself flattened twice—first by Rustico Torrecampo and second by Medgoen 3-K Battery), Diaz may not be as lethal as Ortiz who demolished Elorde.
AFC Challenge Cup
"We can beat Tajikistan"
Optimism is different from reality. Philippine Football Federation (PFF) technical director Juan Cutillas emphasized. He admitted the host country’s chances against Tajikistan, defending champion in the Asian Football Challenge (AFC) Cup 2008 Group B qualifying competition set in Iloilo City on May 13-18 are "0-60."
But Cutillas, 67, cited two facts that could tilt the odds in favor of the Philippines:1.Ground conditions in Iloilo are not really good; and 2. The weather condition is not favorable to the visitors.
He said the Tajikistans are used to playing in winter.
‘CeIf we can beat Takijistan it will be our big achievement considering that they are ahead of Vietnam and Thailand in the current standing," stressed Cutillas, who first became coach of RP Team in 1969.
In terms of tactical mastery, the Filipinos have a big chance of beating Tajikistan, explained Cutillas, a Spanish national who migrated to Australia.
He also warned that "Bhutan and Brunei should not be taken lightly. "Cutillas described Brunei booters as "skillful" while Bhutan players, he said, run a lot "and they can run for 24 hours."
He predicted difficult games against Bhutan and Brunei
RP XI will debut versus Brunei on May 13 at 3:30 pm at the Iloilo Sports Complex and will tangle versus Tajikistan in the same venue on May 15.
The nationals will wrap up the four-nation, six-day hostilities on May 17 at the Barotac Nuevo Football Plaza in Barotac Nuevo, some 40 kilometers away from Iloilo City.
Topnotcher will advance to the ACC finals set in Hyderabad, India on July 30-August 10, 2008. /MP
Elorde, a Hall of Famer and the greatest Filipino prizefighter, failed twice in as many ambitions to crush Puerto Rico’s Carlos Ortiz in two bloody world lightweight championship encounters.
Elorde, who reigned as world junior lightweight champion (superfeatherweight) for seven years, was southpaw like Pacquiao but had no match to the orthodox and New York-based Puerto Rican.
Elorde (88-27, 33 KO) lost both fights on brutal technical knockouts (TKO) in the 14th frame—first on February 15, 1964 in Manila and second on November 28, 1966 in New York.
On June 28 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada southpaw Pacquiao, 29, (46-3, 35 KO) will duke it out with fellow southpaw World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz (34-1, 17 KO) for 12 rounds.
In terms of durability and winning streak percentage, experts have compared the indestructible Ortiz to Diaz, a member of the 1996 US Olympic team and many-time Golden Gloves champion.
Diaz, 31, however, pales in comparison to Ortiz (61-7, 30 KO) when it comes to activity and longest number of winning avalanche. In 1955, for instance, the year Ortiz turned professional, he scored 12 straight wins, eight of them by knockouts.
When Ortiz first tore Elorde to shreds, he incurred four losses but was never stopped.
Diaz will trade mitts with Pacquiao in a fight dubbed "Lethal Combination" carrying a stigma of a savaged 8th round TKO lost to Kendall Holt on February 4, 2005.
Having tasted the dust like Pacquiao (who was himself flattened twice—first by Rustico Torrecampo and second by Medgoen 3-K Battery), Diaz may not be as lethal as Ortiz who demolished Elorde.
AFC Challenge Cup
"We can beat Tajikistan"
Optimism is different from reality. Philippine Football Federation (PFF) technical director Juan Cutillas emphasized. He admitted the host country’s chances against Tajikistan, defending champion in the Asian Football Challenge (AFC) Cup 2008 Group B qualifying competition set in Iloilo City on May 13-18 are "0-60."
But Cutillas, 67, cited two facts that could tilt the odds in favor of the Philippines:1.Ground conditions in Iloilo are not really good; and 2. The weather condition is not favorable to the visitors.
He said the Tajikistans are used to playing in winter.
‘CeIf we can beat Takijistan it will be our big achievement considering that they are ahead of Vietnam and Thailand in the current standing," stressed Cutillas, who first became coach of RP Team in 1969.
In terms of tactical mastery, the Filipinos have a big chance of beating Tajikistan, explained Cutillas, a Spanish national who migrated to Australia.
He also warned that "Bhutan and Brunei should not be taken lightly. "Cutillas described Brunei booters as "skillful" while Bhutan players, he said, run a lot "and they can run for 24 hours."
He predicted difficult games against Bhutan and Brunei
RP XI will debut versus Brunei on May 13 at 3:30 pm at the Iloilo Sports Complex and will tangle versus Tajikistan in the same venue on May 15.
The nationals will wrap up the four-nation, six-day hostilities on May 17 at the Barotac Nuevo Football Plaza in Barotac Nuevo, some 40 kilometers away from Iloilo City.
Topnotcher will advance to the ACC finals set in Hyderabad, India on July 30-August 10, 2008. /MP
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