Sorento to watch Pacquiao in Macau
How lucky can a PBA team get.
KIA Sorento has not won a single championship and already it’s getting a bonus trip to Macau next month.
“The players and the coaching staff are going to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri fight on Nov. 23,” Team Pacquiao’s Joe Ramos said yesterday, confirming reports that have been going around the PBA recently.
Ramos said Pacquiao is sponsoring the fight tickets while Columbia Autocar Corp. will shoulder the airfare and hotel accommodation.
He denied reports circulating in the foreign press that the Pacman owns the KIA ballclub.
The People’s Champ took time out from his training the other day to take a short trip to Hong Kong to invite Filipinos there to watch his fight in nearby Macau. Top Rank’s Bob Arum and trainer/coach Freddie Roach joined Pacquiao in the promo tour.
Two of Pacquiao’s three sparmates, all said to be in the mold of the towering Algieri, have been injured in training. The latest casualty was Ukrainian Viktor Postol, who suffered a broken nose last Saturday but was back in the ring Tuesday.
Roach said Postol is capable of beating Algieri.
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Five-division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. has been practically unheard of since his loss to Jamaican Nicholas Walters via a sixth-round knockout two Sundays ago in Carson, California.
Boxing experts said it was a mismatch, the undefeated Walters, the new undisputed WBA featherweight champion, being bigger, stronger and younger.
Colleagues from Manila, who also happen to be Donaire’s good friends, have tried to call him up to inquire about his health and find out what his plans are. They said the Jamaican had bloodied and battered Donaire’s face.
“The cuts in his eyebrows and eyelids required 10 stitches in each eye. Nonito’s face was still swollen when we left the US, he had to constantly wear sunglasses,” said one scribe.
“Nonito’s next fight is tentatively scheduled in May next year and will be held in Manila.” Presumably, the Filipino Flash will be fighting in his former weight division, where he is most effective.
