Last night, the House of Representatives undertook the most important act of the 15th Congress so far: impeaching Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez for betrayal of public trust. However, the most popular member of the legislature was absent from the proceedings.

Continue reading "As a boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao is great; as a congressman, not so much"

Golden Boy Promotions today announced that it had signed Filipino bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire to its fold. The Filipino-American boxer had climbed up the pound-for-pound rankings with very impressive victories over Wladimir Sidorenko and Fernando Montiel, and his star has never been brighter.

But the move does not figure to go smoothly for Donaire. Bob Arum, head of Top Rank Promotions that previously handled the fighter’s career, claims that Donaire still has a live contract with the company, and will be filing a suit against Golden Boy.

Continue reading "Nonito Donaire signs with Golden Boy; Top Rank Promotions to sue over contract"

Fire Quinito rounds up all the must-read links about Nonito Donaire’s sensational win over Fernando Montiel, so you can have more time to marvel at Maria Aragon’s angelic voice.



Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports: “One long-time occupant of the top spot in boxing’s mythical pound-for-pound list said he believes a pair of Filipinos should sit atop the current rankings. But former champion Roy Jones Jr. said he’s not sure if it’s Manny Pacquiao or his countryman, Nonito Donaire Jr., who should be ranked first now. ‘I saw this kid on TV a couple of years ago and I picked him out then,’ said Jones, the long-time pound-for-pound who served as a color analyst for HBO on Saturday. ‘To be honest with you, there’s an argument whether he’s No. 1 or No. 2. I see (Donaire) doing things I don’t see many fighters do. He uses his feet first and his hands second.’”

Continue reading "Boxing mop-up: Nonito Donaire is the new crown prince of the cruelest sport"

‘The Filipino Flash’ Nonito Donaire scored a spectacular knockout over fellow top 10 pound-for-pound fighter Fernando Montiel this morning, cementing his spot as one of the very best fighters in the world. It was Donaire’s 25th straight victory and his 10th knockout in his last 12 fights. The left hook which sent the Mexican champion reeling on the canvas was reminiscent of Donaire’s star-making stoppage of Vic Darchinyan in 2007.

Continue reading "Nonito Donaire knocks the fuck out of bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel"

Mr. Pacquiao goes to Washington

By now, you’ve probably heard news of boxing’s pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao’s courtesy call with United States President Barack Obama. According to reports, the two men discussed boxing and basketball during the meeting, which the Filipino fighter described as an “unforgettable moment” in his life. For souvenirs, Pacquiao came away with 3 bags of light blue M&M’s and a watch, all of which are adorned with the presidential seal.

Continue reading "Manny Pacquiao meets Barack Obama"

There’s a war raging on televised boxing in the United States, and just as it happened a few years ago in the Philippines, it involves Manny Pacquiao. Over the weekend, various sources reported that the pound-for-pound champion’s May 7 fight against Shane Mosley will be carried by Showtime. It’s a major coup for the premium TV network in its battle with rival HBO, which has dominated the American televised boxing landscape for decades.

Continue reading "Manny Pacquiao's Showtime deal may change landscape of American boxing on TV"

This hasn’t gotten much play in local media yet, but a very curious item involving Nonito Donaire caught my eye last week. BoxingScene.com reports allegations made by his wife Rachel that Manny Pacquiao’s management team does not want Donaire to appear in cards featuring the pound-for-pound king. Rachel says Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz had called Top Rank, which promotes both fighters, to make sure that Donaire did not appear in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Margarito fight last November.

“I know for a fact that the November fight, Koncz called in and asked them to take him off the card,” Rachel said. “From what I heard it's Michael Koncz doing all the dealings because Nonito is not with MP Promotions and he doesn't want him on the cards.”

My curiosity was piqued because just recently, I was speaking to a boxing insider who was telling me that he felt that Manny Pacquiao did not exactly like Nonito Donaire. He pointed out as proof the fact that Pacquiao never invites Donaire to his birthday party, which has counted among guests foreign boxers such as David Diaz and Juan Manuel Lopez.

Continue reading "Do boxing champions Nonito Donaire and Manny Pacquiao have secret beef?"

It was Rafe Bartholomew who emailed me this morning about this story by Filipino-American boxing writer (and friend of the blog) Dennis ‘D Source’ Guillermo on some beef between Freddie Roach and everyone’s favorite sports writer, Quinito Henson. In his December 20 article in the Philippine Star, Henson quotes Roach directly as saying that if the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley pushes through, the Filipino champion’s camp would push for drug testing, citing previous allegations against Mosley on steroid use:

“It won’t be an easy fight for Manny,” said Roach who arrived here to celebrate Pacquiao’s 32nd birthday and was scheduled to leave Manila for Los Angeles last night. “I think he’s a tougher opponent than (Andre) Berto or (Juan Manuel) Marquez. He can punch with either hand. But if the fight pushes through, I’ll insist on a drug test. He’s been known to take steroids and it shows in his body.”

Roach, however, denies ever saying those words. In an interview with Lem Satterfield of Boxing Scene, he goes ahead and basically calls Henson a liar:

“That's a lie. I never said that. We turned that [drug testing] down once ourselves, so I would have to be a hypocrite to have said that,” said Roach. “So some Filipino writer has written that I had said that, but that’s not true. So I never said that. The thing is that I think that we’re taking the fight that would bring the most money to the table, and that's what the deciding factor will be.”

Continue reading "Freddie Roach calls bullshit on Quinito Henson over Mosley drug testing report"

Recah Trinidad opens his column today by saying that the reason there was no live broadcast of boxer Drian Francisco’s sensational knockout victory over Duangpetch Kokietgym in Thailand was because there were no broadcasters nationalistic enough to bother with it – as was the case for the recently-concluded Guangzhou Asian Games, which wasn’t broadcast in the country either.

(Really? We’re going to do this again?)

Continue reading "Filipino nationalism and the sweet science: A tale of two Inquirer columns"