Pulling no punches: A blow-by-blow account of boxing in 2009

Twenty-o-nine will best be remembered as a banner year for Philippine boxing with Manny Pacquiao's historic win over a bigger and heavier Miguel Cotto serving as the most significant event in the country's sporting scene.

The country has produced seven world champions, considered the most ever for Filipino boxers with Fil-Am Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton, Nonito Donaire Jr., Brian Viloria, Johnreil Casimero, Rodel Mayol, Donnie Nietes and Marvin Sonsona – before losing his WBO super flyweight crown at the scales – joining Pacquiao as the top fighters in their respective weight divisions. Pacquiao's 12-round technical knockout victory over deposed Puerto Rican welterweight champion Cotto also eased the pain of an entire nation reeling from the tragedy brought by successive typhoons – Ondoy, Pepeng and Santi – that struck Luzon and parts of the Visayas. Pacquiao snatching Cotto’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown earned for him his milestone world title in seven different weight division to enter his name in the record books as one of the greatest boxers ever. Aside from getting Cotto’s 147-lb strap, Pacquiao was awarded the diamond-studded World Boxing Council (WBC) Diamond Belt, an honorary championship given to elite boxers. The General Santos City native Pacquiao – who started fighting as a 106-lb in the strawweight division – also grabbed the International Boxing Organization (IBO) light welterweight crown after a quick second-round triumph over Ricky Hatton last May. He previously ruled the WBC light weight, WBC super featherweight, International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight, WBC flyweight and RING Magazine’s featherweight divisions. Pacquiao also collected numerous accolades from outside the boxing ring that includes being named as the top male athlete of the United States Sports Academy, gracing the cover of TIME Magazine's Asia edition, being adjudged the best fighter in the 2009 ESPY Awards in July and ranking 22nd in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in March. The 31-year-old also landed at 24th in the most influential list of AskMen.com and earned the honors of "sportsman of the year" from the Los Angeles-based Filipino-American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI). Pacquiao was also conferred the "Order of Sikatuna" with the Rank of Datu by President Gloria Arroyo for his achievements. Casimero, Donaire Jr., Julaton, Mayol Nietes, Viloria and Sonsona – although briefly – then joined Pacquiao in the ranks of Filipino boxing champs.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Casimero is the latest boxing champ after the little known prospect from Cebu hacked out a stunning 11th round TKO of Columbian Cesar Canchila to wrest the WBO interim light flyweight title at the Estadio Nacional Dennis Martinez in Managua, Nicaragua on Dec. 19. The 19-year-old Casimero, the reigning WBO Asia Pacific boss, thus hiked his immaculate ring record to 14-0 with eight KOs. Donaire, moving up to super flyweight, defeated an overweight Rafael “El Torito" Concepcion via unanimous decision last August. The 26-year-old San Leandro, California-based fighter won the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim super flyweight crown. Even if Concepcion defeated Donaire he would still not be eligible for the WBA crown after the Panamanian failed to make the 115-lb weight limit. It was Donaire’s third title in his second weight division. He previously held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and IBO flyweight belts but had to forfeit both 112-lb crowns after deciding to jump up the super flyweight class. Julaton became the first female Filipino champion when she upstaged veteran Kelsey “The Road Warrior" Jeffries to wrest the IBA female super bantamweight title. She then added the WBO super-bantamweight title after scoring a 10-round unanimous decision victory over veteran Donna "Nature Girl" Biggers early this month. Largely considered as the "female Manny Pacquiao," the Daly City-based Pinay hiked her win-loss-draw record to 6-1-1 (one knockout) and maintained her position among the Philippines’ world champions. Mayol finally celebrated with a world title when he silenced Mexican Edgar Sosa with a second-round technical knockout win to wrest the WBC light-flyweight belt from the long-time champion last month. Mayol hit paydirt on his fifth attempt at the world title. He previously lost to WBC minimumweight king Eagle Den Junlaphan via decision in 2006 and to IBF light-flyweight holder Ulises Solis via KO in 2007, then settled for a six-round split technical draw with WBO mini-flyweight king Ivan Calderon of Puerto Rico last June and absorbed a seven-round split technical decision from Calderon last September. Nietes, meanwhile, retained his his WBO minimumweight title when he pulled off a split decision triumph over Manuel "Chango" Vargas. Nietes, one of the country’s five current world champions, prevailed on the score cards of two judges, 116-110 and 118-110 to offset the 116-110 score that the third judge credited to the hometown boy Vargas.
Sonsona’s short-lived reign as the WBO junior welterweight king began when he defeated Jose Lopez of Puerto Rico. It was also Sonsona’s 14th professional fight and first in the international stage. His past 13 fights were held in various provinces and cities in the Philippines. But he lost that title to the scales in his first title defense, coming in 2.6 lbs over the 115-lb limit, against Mexican challenger Alejandro Hernandez who tipped exactly 115 lbs. As a result, the WBO forced 19-year-old fighter from General Santos City to vacate the title. Viloria did not disappoint his hometown fans beating Mexican challenger Jesus Iribe by unanimous decision to retain his IBF light flyweight title. His fight against Iribe was almost the same when he challenged Ulises Solis early this year where he scored an 11th round KO win to seize the IBF light flyweight crown. Though failing to floor Iribe, Viloria chalked up enough points to complete the win against his tough Mexican foe. The fight went into scorecards with all three judges siding with Viloria: 118-110, 117-112 and 117-11. Special mention should also be given to Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista (interim WBC International featherweight champion), Jundy "Pretty Boy" Maraon (WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight king), Edrin "The Sting" Dapudong (WBO Oriental junior flyweight supremo), Drian Francisco (WBA International superflyweight boss) and Juanito Rubillar (WBC Continental Americas light flyweight holder). In the amateur front, it was the ladies who shone brightest. The Philippine women’s boxing team scooped up three gold medals in the recently concluded Laos SEA Games with Annie Albania winning her second gold medal in an international competition this year. Albania, the Vietnam Asian Indoor Games champion, joined Josie Gabuco and Alice Kate Aparri on top of the medal podium when they defeated their SEA Games rivals. But boxing is not all rosy as three Filipino fighters – led by Z Gorres – suffered the “Friday the 13th" curse, while Pacquiao’s alleged off-camera romance with sexy actress Krista Ranillo and accusations of steroids use also making headlines. Gorres, who saw action in the Top Rank-promoted boxing card at the House of Blues inside the Mandalay Bay on Nov. 13 (a Friday), fell into coma after undergoing surgery to relieve the swelling on his brain in the aftermath of his 10-round decision over Luis Melendez. Gorres won the fight, 98-90, 98-90 and 97-91. He sent Melendes reeling to the canvass in the third round, but was knocked down himself with a big left by the Colombian in the final round before eventually surviving the onslaught. The 27-year-old Gorres from the Cebu-based ALA Boxing Stable was rushed to the University Medical Center here after collapsing in the ring following the fight with the 29-year-old southpaw from Colombia.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV The Filipino boxer was taken out of the ring on a stretcher. He suffered subdural hematoma and had to be operated immediately by Dr. Micheal Seiff. He's made significant recovery since bid his promising boxing career adieu. Federico Catubay and Mark Melligen suffered consecutive setbacks against their separate Mexican foes in the Gorres-Melendez undercard bouts. Catubay lost by unanimous decision to Alberto Rosas while Melligen dropped a 10-round split decision over Michel Rosales. The alleged Manny-Krista affair greeted Pacquiao’s when he made his triumphant return after beating Cotto. But the issue slowly died down after both camps denied the off-screen romance with Pacquiao’s wife, Jinkee, standing by his man. Pacquiao’s impending legal battle with the Mayweathers – Floyd Jr. and Sr. – is the current buzz. The issue started when the elder Mayweather accused Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs, which he denied, in his accent in weight. This will be closely monitored by all fight fans in 2010 as both camps try to save the planned March 13 Pacman-Junior mega-fight. – Jonathan V. Perez, GMANews.TV