PACQUIAO’S FUTURE IN 135-LB’
BY ALEX VIDAL
BY ALEX VIDAL
If he knew that Manny Pacquiao will be harmed and destroyed in the lightweight division, Freddie Roach will never gamble the future of the Filipino ring heartthrob by allowing him to fight World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz on June 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This is the opinion given by lawyer and boxing analyst Manuel Justiniani, 65, who predicted that “Manny Pacquiao will, in fact, dominate the lightweight division for a long time.”
“Pacquiao’s natural force is in lightweight division, not in the superfeatherweight,” averred Justiniani, a former legal adviser of Iloilo Governor Niel D. Tupas. “I see him dominating the lightweight division and nobody can beat him there.”
He considers Roach, a Hall of Famer, as a “brilliant handler of world champions” who will never allow his wards to be waylaid by superior fighters.
“Fred Roach knows that he will be discredited if Pacquiao will lose. He will be the first man to discourage Pacquiao from scaling the lightweight division if he knew that Pacquiao has no chance (of beating Diaz),” added Justiniani.
The veteran lawyer predicts that the 29-year-old Pacquiao (46-3, 35 KO) will demolish the 31-year-old Diaz (34-1, 17 KO) in the later rounds—between seven to 11 rounds.
He said “Pacquiao is very dangerous in these rounds unless he can connect a KO punch in the early rounds.”
Pacman’s edge over his foes is his style in the ring, explained the lawyer. “Pacquiao is different because when he attacks, he waves his head and he can’t be hit. Even Marco Antonio Barrera was surprised that he could not hit Pacquiao.”
Justiniani said when Pacquiao throws his punch in the left, he moves in the right side and he throws heavy punches that could finish of even the best fighters in his division. Pacquiao, he said, fights until the last round “and his force is still there.”
“In fact, he is a lot better than (Floyd) Mayweather,” Justiniani said. “No Filipino boxer can match Pacquiao’s ferocity and talent; not even (International Boxing Federation flyweight champion (Nonito) Donaire and Manny’s brother Bobby Pacquiao. Pacquiao is better than (World Boxing Organization bantamweight king) Gerry Peñalosa and other Filipino world champions in the past.”
“Every time Pacquiao fights, I stop doing what I am doing. That’s how I admire him,” he concluded. “He is the greatest Filipino world champion.”
This is the opinion given by lawyer and boxing analyst Manuel Justiniani, 65, who predicted that “Manny Pacquiao will, in fact, dominate the lightweight division for a long time.”
“Pacquiao’s natural force is in lightweight division, not in the superfeatherweight,” averred Justiniani, a former legal adviser of Iloilo Governor Niel D. Tupas. “I see him dominating the lightweight division and nobody can beat him there.”
He considers Roach, a Hall of Famer, as a “brilliant handler of world champions” who will never allow his wards to be waylaid by superior fighters.
“Fred Roach knows that he will be discredited if Pacquiao will lose. He will be the first man to discourage Pacquiao from scaling the lightweight division if he knew that Pacquiao has no chance (of beating Diaz),” added Justiniani.
The veteran lawyer predicts that the 29-year-old Pacquiao (46-3, 35 KO) will demolish the 31-year-old Diaz (34-1, 17 KO) in the later rounds—between seven to 11 rounds.
He said “Pacquiao is very dangerous in these rounds unless he can connect a KO punch in the early rounds.”
Pacman’s edge over his foes is his style in the ring, explained the lawyer. “Pacquiao is different because when he attacks, he waves his head and he can’t be hit. Even Marco Antonio Barrera was surprised that he could not hit Pacquiao.”
Justiniani said when Pacquiao throws his punch in the left, he moves in the right side and he throws heavy punches that could finish of even the best fighters in his division. Pacquiao, he said, fights until the last round “and his force is still there.”
“In fact, he is a lot better than (Floyd) Mayweather,” Justiniani said. “No Filipino boxer can match Pacquiao’s ferocity and talent; not even (International Boxing Federation flyweight champion (Nonito) Donaire and Manny’s brother Bobby Pacquiao. Pacquiao is better than (World Boxing Organization bantamweight king) Gerry Peñalosa and other Filipino world champions in the past.”
“Every time Pacquiao fights, I stop doing what I am doing. That’s how I admire him,” he concluded. “He is the greatest Filipino world champion.”
MANO DE PIEDRA VS PACMAN
Pacquiao would have rewritten history vs lightweight terror Roberto Duran
Flash Gallego’s duel versus then World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Duran (106-16, 70 KO) in Panama City on July 6, 1974 was non-title, but he was regarded as the toughest Filipino lightweight warrior in that era despite his mediocre record.
Gallego (16-18, 7 KO) never won a regional or national crown in his carrer but when he fought Duran, his record was a dismal 13 wins against 14 losses while Duran had 42 wins with one defeat.
Gallego, who retired after absorbing a brutal knockout loss to Noel Mathews in Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea on October 25, 1975, held the disctinction as the first and only Filipino opponent of the four-division world champion from Guarare, Panama who became the first man to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard.
The saga of Filipino boxers gunning for fistic glory in the lightweight division will be renewed on June 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada when World Boxing Council (WBC) superfeatherweight champion Manny Pacquiao attempts to grab the WBC lightweight jewels worn by Mexican-Amercian David Diaz (34-1, 17 KO) dubbed “Lethal Combination.”
Unlike Gallego who was certainly a patsy, however, Pacquiao (46-3, 35 KO) is no pushover. In fact, oddsmakers have installed the 29-year-old southpaw from Gen. Santos City a solid pick to pocket Diaz’s title.
Also, experts have predicted that the Diaz-Pacquiao duel will be among the bloodiest championship fights in the division, comparable to the explosive Esteban de Jesus-Robert Duran tussle; the weird Jose Luis Ramirez-Hector Camacho matchup; the deadly Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini-Duk Koo Kim (the Korean lapsed into coma after the fight and died in the hospital); and the lackluster Orzu-bek Nazarov-Dindo Canoy tango.
And, unlike Gallego who was obviously fed to the lions, Pacquiao is already a universal superstar in fight business and has already collected three world titles in different weight categories – flyweight, superbantamweight, and superfeatherweight.
If it was Pacquiao who was on the shoes of Gallego, the Philippines wouldn’t be humiliated in Panama City. It would be Mano de Piedra versus The Destroyer. Pacman would have swallowed whole the man who would terrorize the welterweight and middleweight divisions alongside Leonard, Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, Wilfredo Benitez, Pipino Cueva and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
The bible of boxing would have printed the name of Manny Pacquiao, not Roberto Duran, among the galaxy of stars in the lightweight division. But they never met. /MP
Flash Gallego’s duel versus then World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Duran (106-16, 70 KO) in Panama City on July 6, 1974 was non-title, but he was regarded as the toughest Filipino lightweight warrior in that era despite his mediocre record.
Gallego (16-18, 7 KO) never won a regional or national crown in his carrer but when he fought Duran, his record was a dismal 13 wins against 14 losses while Duran had 42 wins with one defeat.
Gallego, who retired after absorbing a brutal knockout loss to Noel Mathews in Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea on October 25, 1975, held the disctinction as the first and only Filipino opponent of the four-division world champion from Guarare, Panama who became the first man to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard.
The saga of Filipino boxers gunning for fistic glory in the lightweight division will be renewed on June 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada when World Boxing Council (WBC) superfeatherweight champion Manny Pacquiao attempts to grab the WBC lightweight jewels worn by Mexican-Amercian David Diaz (34-1, 17 KO) dubbed “Lethal Combination.”
Unlike Gallego who was certainly a patsy, however, Pacquiao (46-3, 35 KO) is no pushover. In fact, oddsmakers have installed the 29-year-old southpaw from Gen. Santos City a solid pick to pocket Diaz’s title.
Also, experts have predicted that the Diaz-Pacquiao duel will be among the bloodiest championship fights in the division, comparable to the explosive Esteban de Jesus-Robert Duran tussle; the weird Jose Luis Ramirez-Hector Camacho matchup; the deadly Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini-Duk Koo Kim (the Korean lapsed into coma after the fight and died in the hospital); and the lackluster Orzu-bek Nazarov-Dindo Canoy tango.
And, unlike Gallego who was obviously fed to the lions, Pacquiao is already a universal superstar in fight business and has already collected three world titles in different weight categories – flyweight, superbantamweight, and superfeatherweight.
If it was Pacquiao who was on the shoes of Gallego, the Philippines wouldn’t be humiliated in Panama City. It would be Mano de Piedra versus The Destroyer. Pacman would have swallowed whole the man who would terrorize the welterweight and middleweight divisions alongside Leonard, Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, Wilfredo Benitez, Pipino Cueva and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
The bible of boxing would have printed the name of Manny Pacquiao, not Roberto Duran, among the galaxy of stars in the lightweight division. But they never met. /MP
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