LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—Boxing scribe Nick Giongco, who has covered all of Manny Pacquiao’s world title fights, from his very first US bout against South African Lehlo Ledwaba to his most recent versus Shane Mosley, eagerly looks forward to his next coverage—the end of the Trilogy—in Las Vegas this November.
Nick, like most of us, wants some sort of closure to the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez saga. Their first two fights had been very close, one ending in a split decision, the other in a draw.
And although Pacquiao has been declared the winner in the second fight, JuanMa believes he won that one and openly tells everybody about it, including Manny Pacquiao.
The Mexican boxer feels he has been cheated and practically pleaded for a rematch. At first Manny would not agree to a third fight, but in the end he gave in and said yes.
“If there are questions in people’s minds, more importantly in the fighters themselves, this third encounter should settle the issue once and for all. I think all the questions and doubts will be erased after the [last bout of the] Trilogy,” said Nick, who sat next to me on the flight to Cebu Saturday morning that included a group of mediamen from Manila who covered the Marvin Sonsona-Carlos Jacobo fight last night.
“I think, this time, one of them will win convincingly. Manny and JuanMa are not the same boxers they were when they fought in Las Vegas in March, 2008,” Nick said. “Besides, they are now fighting in a different weight division.”
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From what I heard, JuanMa is training exceptionally hard in Mexico for his third fight with the world’s pound-for-pound king.
“Have you heard about the Nevado de Teluca?’ Nick asked.“It’s a volcano where the ancient Aztecs of Mexico draw their supernatural powers, according to legend. JuanMa believes in this legend, that’s why he regularly runs and works out around the mouth of this volcano to imbibe the energy it spews.”
Nick said Juan Manuel Marquez holds on to certain myths and practices, like drinking one’s urine.
“He believes it will make him strong,” said Nick.
I told him I have also read about that practice which, some natural healers claim, has no basis.
“Whether he draws supernatural powers or not from the mouth of the volcano, at least he will benefit from the high-altitude training. The mouth of the volcano is about 12 to 13,000 feet above sea level,” Nick said.
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Sonsona, a young boxer from the South, had the talent and characteristics to be another Filipino boxing icon.
He has been described “as a daredevil, very explosive, very aggressive and a very exciting fighter.”
But it was downhill all the way when Marvin lost his world title. For some reason, he became idle for 20 months. If he wins against Jacobo (fight was going on as this went to print), there’s still a chance he might turn out to be what experts had predicted him to be.