Philippine Asian News Today Vol 18 No 18 | Page 20

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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 16 - 30, 2016

COMMENTARIES/ SPORTS

Pacquiao vs. Vargas is a
Tale of Two Trainers

Sports talk
By Julian Fortaleza
On November 5th Jessie
Vargas will take to the ring
against his toughest test
to date, ring legend Manny
Pacquiao. Going in to his
most recent bout, Vargas
had changed his trainer to
former Cruiserweight and
Heavyweight boxer Dewey
Cooper.
Vargas has now had 6
trainers during his 8-year
career, with big names being
involved in his camp, only to
be removed before Vargas’
next match.
Vargas’
most
recent
former trainer was 4-division
champion
and
former
Pacquiao opponent, Erik “El
Terrible” Morales. The VargasMorales team however only
lasted 1 fight, where Vargas
nearly knocked out Bradley
as the seconds ticked by in
the last round.
The final result was a
unanimous decision in favor
of Bradley but referee error

ending the fight before Vargas
could conclude his assault

that was training Vargas was
former pound-4-pound #1,

the ring from Vargas will be
one of the most successful

left him bitterly disappointed.
After this bout Vargas’ current
trainer,
Dewey
Cooper
replaced Morales.
Before Morales came into
the picture, the boxing great

Roy Jones Jr. Vargas replaced
Jones with Morales deep in to
his training camp for Bradley,
and Jones was only hired a
year before t he change.
On the opposite side of

duos in boxing history. Freddie
Roach and Manny Pacquiao
have now been trainer and
pupil for over 15 years now.
The fight that introduced
Pacquiao and Roach to the

mainstream against Lehlo
Ledwaba took place in 2001
and the pair has taken boxing
fans on a crazy ride ever since.
From the wars with Mexican
legends Barrera, Morales,
and Marquez to dominating
bigger men at welterweight
and junior middleweight,
Pacquiao and Roach long
ago reached the point where
they had nothing left to prove
to the boxing world, but they
continue on as Pacquiao is
reaching the final stages of
his career.
Roach
has
claimed
multiple times that he would
be “the first to tell Manny to
hang ‘em up” but the day has
not yet arrived.
The stage for the big fight
on November 5th has been
set at the Thomas and Mack
center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For one pair, it could be the
last time they step in the ring
together, for the other a victory
could mean super-stardom.

Ramirez wins 2nd gold medal for Philippines in ABG
Former judoka Annie
Ramirez gave the Philippines
its second gold medal after
dominating the women’s 55kg division in the jiu-jitsu
event on Monday night at the
5th Asian Beach Games (ABG)
in Danang City, Vietnam.
Ramirez defeated Thai
Siramol Deepudsa in the
final to duplicate her feat in
the 2014 edition in Phuket,
Thailand where she won the
gold in the -60kg division.
On her way to the
final, Ramirez beat Angelina
Filippova of Turkmenistan in
the quarterfinal and Lea Farhat

of Libya in the semifinals.
Ramirez won two golds in
the 2nd Jiu-Jitsu Regional
Championships South East
& East Asia held in Hanoi,
Vietnam last June. She was
named Most Valuable Player
twice while playing for the
University of Santo Tomas
judo team in the UAAP.
“Overwhelming passion
and love for country, I
witnessed for myself how
Annie and the rest of team
who competed yesterday and
days before that prepared
and were dead set to make it
happen. Without even saying,

you can tell with her demeanor
and overall energy that Annie
was out to duplicate her
achievement in Phuket,” said
Philippine
delegation Chef
de Mission Karen TanchancoCaballero in an interview on
Tuesday morning.
“I can only try to
reciprocate the passion and
hunger of our athletes to
bring honor to our country
in this competition. Truly
enriching and humbling. I feel
so honored to be of service
to these fine, grounded and
determined national athletes
and officials,” added the

official, who is also president
of the Philippine Amateur
Sepak TakrawAssociation.
The jiu-jitsu team has
contributed five medals,
including Margarita Ochoa’s
gold in the women’s -45kg
division, to the Philippine
campaign in the tournament
organized by the Olympic
Council of Asia. Bronze
winners were Gian Taylor
Dee (silver, men’s -62kg),
Jenina Kaila Napolis (bronze,
women’s -55kg) and Apryl
Jessica Eppinger (bronze,
women’s -62kg).
The
other
bronze

Frayna sets eyes on 2018 big tourney
Woman
Grandmaster
(WGM) Janelle Mae Frayna,
20, returned to her hometown
Legazpi City on Sunday
where she was given a hero’s
welcome.
Frayna
became
the
country’s first WGM after
her winning run during the
42nd World Chess Olympiad
in Baku, Azerbaijan on
September 11.
“I’m so grateful to Mayor
Noel Rosal for helping me
out all throughout since
mychildhood days and to
date, in this mental and
scientific sport. I would like
also to express my profound
gratitude to my mother for

her untiring support,” Frayna
said.
“To my coach thank you
for believing in me because
without you I will not be a
grandmaster,” she added,
pertaining to her mentor
Jayson Gonzales.
Frayna recalled her many
difficulties before achieving
the WGM title. She said that
for so many times, she and
her mother were just riding
non-aircon
buses
from
Legazpi to Manila, and sleep
at the bus terminal whenever
she competes in the city.
“Since 2010, I’m taking
Saint Jude bus from Bicol to
Manila along with my mother

and stay for a night at the bus
terminal and went to a fast
food restaurant to freshen
up before heading to the site
where the competition is set
to be done,” she said.
She urged her fellow
chess players to pursue their
passion and to stand up
despite failures.
“Don’t lose hope continue
pursuing your passion and
training. Do not let your
setback ruin your hope,”
Janelle said.
Gonzales
told
The
Manila Times that Frayna’s
determination and passion
for her sport is exceptional.
“At first I rejected her

because she is a woman
considering that all chess
competitors were males. But
I changed my mind when I
noticed that she possessed an
exceptional determination and
passion for chess and willing
to be trained unlike others. At
age 14, she was reading three
substantial compact books
even at young age. Now, we
are preparing her for world
champion competition in
2018 aschallenger.”
But before the 2018 world
meet, Gonzales said that
Frayna would first compete
in Europe next year. ( R. B.
Barcia, MT)

WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM

medalists were Lloyd Dennis
Catipon
(men’s
-73kg),
Helen Dawa (women’s -52kg)
and Jenielou Mosquesda
(women’s -57kg) in Kurash;
Philip Delarmino (men’s
bantamweight
51-54kg),
Jonathan Polosan (men’s light
welterweight 60-63.5kg) and
Jay Harold Gregorio (men’s
middleweight 71-75kg) in
Muay; and the women’s trio
of Josefina Maat, Gelyn Evora
and Deseree Autor in sepak
takraw.(PNA/MT)