Aces subdue Kings, remain unbeaten

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska Milk nearly lost a 20-point lead on a spirited Ginebra chase in the third quarter but recovered in time to post a 105-96 victory and keep its unbeaten run in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night. Reynel Hugnatan, Willie Miller, LA Tenorio and John Ferriols stepped up for Alaska in the final period and the Aces went on to duplicate their 4-0 start in the same tournament last year. The Kings, playing minus injured star players Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk, suffered their first loss in four outings.

“We got loosey-goosey in the second half and Jong (Uichico) got his team fired up. We kind of falling down but the thing was how we got up. What’s important was how we responded,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

The Aces stayed calm under pressure, quelling the Ginebra uprising and coming through with another emphatic win in the tournament where they’re looking to improve on their second-place finish last year. Ronald Tubid and Jayjay Helterbrand fueled Ginebra’s searing chase that had the Kings coming to within two points twice after trailing by 20 at 40-60. Tubid and Helterbrand had 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the third period where the Kings outscored the Aces, 38-22, to close in at 80-82 going into the final quarter. The Aces, however, hung tough with Hugnatan, Miller, Tenorio and Ferriols taking charge in the final 12 minutes of play. Hugnatan and Miller fired seven points apiece while Tenorio and Ferriols had four each in the payoff period. Sonny Thoss made only six points but pulled down 10 big rebounds and came through with a crucial block on Enrico Villanueva and Alaska parlayed this into a basket to ensure the win at 105-95. Hugnatan topscored for Alaska with 20 points coming off the bench with Tony dela Cruz adding 16, Tenorio 15, Miller 11 and Joe Devance 10.

“Once again our second group played excellent basketball, giving Willie Miller and LA Tenorio the luxury of some rest. Willie and LA were so fresh coming back in the fourth quarter,” said Cone, making special mention of Hugnatan, Ferriols, Larry Fonacier and Jeff Cariaso.

Pacquiao to appear on 'Kimmel' TV show before Cotto bout

Proof that indeed, he already gained international fame, Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao is set to appear on the popular US late night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live" two weeks from now. Pacquiao will be guesting in the program hosted by Kimmel and broadcast over ABC on Nov. 4, marking his first-ever appearance in a major American prime time show.

Pacquiao

His appearance also comes exactly 10 days before his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title fight against Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas, Navada. The world’s top pound-for-pound king is set to leave for the U.S. Saturday night together with trainer Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza to resume the remaining two weeks of his training camp at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles. He spent more than a month getting in shape for his fight with Cotto at the Shape-Up gym in Baguio City. Ever since he stunned Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera with an 11th round technical knockout in 2003, Pacquiao has become one of the biggest names in boxing this decade. His meteoric rise to become the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound, was validated when he beat up the great Oscar De La Hoya in their so-called “Dream Match" last year for eight full rounds and followed it up with a two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton last May. The interview with Pacquiao comes in the heels of a recorded 1.80 million audience that watched the “Jimmy Kimmel Live" episode last September when formerundisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson appeared in the show - GMANews.TV

Klitschko vs. Johnson in Bern

The Vitali Klitschko vs. Kevin Johnson fight will hold at the PostFinance Arena, in Berne, Switzerland on December 12, 2009. This will be the third fight of the year for Klitschko (38-2, 37 KO’s). Vitali will again face a very strong contender. Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KO’s) is undefeated, self-conscious and knows what a great chance this will be for him. Although Johnson is undefeated, he lacks any kind of power to trouble Vitali and this fight will probably end up as one-sided as Klitschko’s recent fight with Arreola.

“I am in an excellent shape and had a perfect preparation and fight in Los Angeles. I can hardly wait to step into the ring again. Kevin Johnson is very dangerous. He already had 23 fights as a pro and is undefeated. He is technically much better than my last opponent Arreola. I know I can’t underestimate Johnson but I have no doubt to keep the WBC belt.” Klitschko said.

Johnson is confident of taking Klitschko’s WBC Heavyweight title

“I’ve been working hard for this chance and I will definitely take it. On December 12th, there will finally be an American heavyweight champion again. I am sorry for ruining Klitschko’s Christmas holidays.” Johnson said.

Ticket sale started last October 24 for the Klitschko vs. Johnson fight at the PostFinance Arena, in Berne, Switzerland.

Lesnar vs. Carwin, on UFC 106

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) meets top challenger Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC). The UFC 106: Lesnar vs. Carwin will takes place at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on November 21, 2009. The main card airs live on pay per view while the under cards will be un-aired. The main event is Brock Lesnar's first title defense after unifying the UFC's heavyweight belts with a UFC 100 win over the-interim champ Frank Mir. Meanwhile, Shane Carwin will seek his 12th-straight win in addition to the UFC's heavyweight title. While both fighters have apparently agreed to the contest, bout agreements have yet to be issued. If the bout is finalized, the match would be Lesnar's first title defense after unifying the UFC's heavyweight title with a UFC 100 win over then-interim champ Frank Mir. The 34-year-old Carwin has registered three-straight impressive wins in the UFC, scoring first-round wins over Gabriel Gonzaga, Neil Wain and Christian Wellisch. Carwin has registered first-round stoppage win in all 11 of his career bouts. Other Main cards fight includes: Tito Ortiz vs. Mark Coleman, Dustin Hazelett vs. Karo Parisyan, and Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Not officially announced) Tickets for UFC 106 are currently on sale to the general public. UFC 106 is scheduled to take place Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas so buy your tickets now. With the official addition to the card, UFC 106: Lesnar vs. Carwin fight now includes:

PRELIMINARY CARD
• Phil Baroni vs. Amir Sadollah
• Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders
• Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt
• Brian Foster vs. Brock Larson*
• Fabricio Camoes vs. Caol Uno*
• Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulos

60th Fil-Am golf to push through

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The 60th Fil-Am golf invitational championship, the longest running amateur golf tournament in the country, will push through next month despite the devastation wrought by Typhoon Pepeng in the city. “We will have the Fil-Am despite the setbacks that we suffered due to Typhoon Pepeng. Players will still come although they will have to endure a little longer travel time to Baguio,” said Anthony de Leon, general manager of Baguio Country Club. Camp John Hay golf manager Tim Allen also said that final preparations are being done for the event slated Nov. 22-Dec. 6 at the CJH and BCC courses. “The participants would want to help in the rebuilding efforts for Baguio,” said Allen. “Certainly, the Fil-Am is a go. Neither both clubs were affected by the typhoon (Pepeng) and Fil-Am is already an institution.” Organizers are now finalizing the rosters in both the senior and regular competitions as well as the host clubs, which are being spruced up in time for the tournament. “Everything is in place,” said BCC resident manager Shin Paul Chan, who co-chairs the event with Allen. “After four months of preparations, our clubs are ready.” He added that there have been no cancellations either by players or sponsors. The 60th Fil-Am will also be held in commemoration of Baguio City’s centennial celebrations. First played in 1949 between the late Philippine ambassador Rogelio de la Rosa and American dignitaries at the former rest and recreation center, the Fil-Am has grown to become one of the biggest amateur golfing events in the world. Five years ago, the Fil-Am put up the senior division for 55-years-old and above. Since then it became a two-week tournament where more than 1,000 players compete for golf supremacy and fellowship. The seniors division will be held in the first week with the regulars competition capping the event the following week.

Mighty Kings crush Gilas five

The Kings played efficiently against the Nationals even minus injured stars Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk, dominating their duel to stay unbeaten in the all-Filipino tourney in three starts. Ronald Tubid, Jayjay Helterbrand, JC Intal, Enrico Villanueva and Willy Wilson delivered the goods as the Kings notched a third win following earlier victories over the San Miguel Beermen and the Purefoods Giants. The RP developmental team continued to struggle with naturalization prospect CJ Giles not seeing action. SBP executive director Noli Eala said Giles’ status was day-to-day, since he was unable to keep his focus in his game following report that his four-year son in the United States was hospitalized with a rare blood disease. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Fuel PBA on Tour features its second game today, pitting Rain or Shine and Burger King at the Arturo Lugod Gym in Gingoog, Misamis Oriental. “The circumstances didn’t allow us to help the RP team as much as we wanted to,” said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico. “The desire to win gets in the way. We needed the win and we had to do what we can to try to win the game. I’d been in their shoes before, it’s hard to be dominated that way. We wish we could help them in another way,” Uichico added. The Ginebra mentor, however, was convinced Smart Gilas was doing the right thing in its preparation for its stint in the 2011 Fiba Asia championship. But the Kings would remain without Caguioa who would be out for at least four weeks. “It’s not the old knee injury. It’s a new injury on the other part of the knee,” said Uichico. “It’s sad. We thought we have a healthy lineup. Now we have to find ways again to fill void in our roster,” Uichico added. Against the Giles-less Gilas team, the Kings had little difficulty plugging the holes, riding high on the exploits of Tubid, Helterbrand, Intal, Villanueva and Wilson. Kerby Raymundo and James Yap combined for 34 points and 13 rebounds to make up for 13 turnovers as Purefoods overcame Barako Bull’s brave stand and hacked out out a 92-77 win later in the night. Don Allado, Roger Yap, Rico Maierhofer and Paul Artadi also produced key numbers as the Giants pulled through in the rugged and emotional game marked by three technical infractions. The Giants improved their win-loss record to 2-1 while dealing the Energy Boosters their second loss in three outings. “Obviously, Kerby and James are marked men and it’s important for us to get productions from our other players,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio. Alaska Milk continued to sizzle even as Willie Miller cooled down after two hot games, streaking to a third straight win with a 100-79 walloping of Coca-Cola in the nightcap.

Source: PhilStar.com

Pacquiao leaves Baguio amid ‘Ramil’ threat

To make sure that no amount of rain or typhoon wind will hamper his training camp, Manny Pacquiao will leave Baguio City sooner than expected and wrap up his Philippine training in Manila. According to the fighter’s trainer Freddie Roach, Team Pacquiao will leave Monday morning in anticipation of typhoon “Ramil" that is set to affect the country by Wednesday.“We’re leaving ahead of schedule. It’s better to be in Manila before the storm hits us," said Roach. Concerns were raised by fans of Pacquiao after typhoons “Ondoy" and “Pepeng" wrought havoc in Northern Luzon that made Baguio isolated for a few days. Pacquiao has been training in the City of Pines the last four weeks.But despite the bad weather, Roach said it never affected their preparation as only Pacquiao’s morning road work was scuttled for at least two days. In making up for lost time in their morning sprint, Pacquiao ran on a treadmill and even went swimming for 26 minutes in one instance during the storm’s onslaught. “We’re on target and Manny’s peaking on time. We may need to do minor adjustments but the bad weather has never been an issue before," said Roach.Initially, Team Pacquiao was scheduled to leave Baguio and proceed to Manila on Oct. 23 then leave for the United States on the 24th. While in Manila, Pacquiao will train either at the Wild Card Gym in Sucat or the Mandaluyong gym of Gerry Peñalosa, the fighter’s close buddy.Pacquiao will resume his training at Roach’s Wild Card Gym for two weeks before tapering off the week of his upcoming fight in Las Vegas.Pacquiao, 30, is set to square off with defending welterweight champion Cotto in a 12-round title fight for the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) belt. Cotto agreed to stake his 147-lb crown at a catch weight of 145 lbs on November 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Source: gmanews.tv