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Source: Abac Cordero, Philippine Star

-- Barely six weeks into training and Freddie Roach believes that Manny Pacquiao is ready to fight.

And ready to knock Joshua Clottey out.

“Manny Pacquiao is in great shape. We boxed 11 rounds yesterday with four different sparring partners. With all four of them, he’s looking really good. He’s got the gameplan in place,” Roach told fighthype.com.

Roach said Pacquiao will spar 12 rounds today (Saturday in Los Angeles) and will start tapering off with two weeks left for the fight at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

For this fight, Roach has reduced the number of sparring rounds from close to 150 as in the previous fights to just a little over a hundred. He said they’re not underestimating Clottey but Pacquiao is just as sharp as when he defeated Miguel Cotto last November.

It took Pacquiao just a couple of weeks of training for Roach to feel that both the power and speed were there. And it was just a matter of days for Pacquiao to work on his timing and his strength and conditioning.

“He did such a good job yesterday I almost wanted to give him a day off. But Manny won’t take a day off. We’ll box 12 rounds on Saturday. That will be our peak day then we’ll start tapering off from that point,” said Roach.

The four-time Trainer of the Year recognizes the ability of Clottey but is getting even more confident that Pacquiao will be the first one to knock out the 33-year-old former champion from Ghana.

“I do believe he will be the first person to stop him (Clottey) before the 12th round,” said Roach.

Pacquiao, who fielded questions Friday during a media conference, will head to Dallas on March 8 after a morning session at the Wild Card Gym.

Yet, Clottey remained unfazed. To him, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be up against the greatest fighter of this era, and he’s not going to waste it.

“I have more confidence this time around because I’m taking this fight like if I win, I have bigger things ahead. I have so much respect for Manny, so that gives me more confidence because I respect the guy,” he said.

“I respect the guy because, if he has the chance, he can stop me. So I respect him because of that, and because of that, I’m more confident,” he said.

Source: AFP

-- Miami's Dwyane Wade missed his fourth straight game with a strained calf and could only watch as Milwaukee handed the Heat yet another defeat Saturday, this one 94-71.

Milwaukee are 3-0 this year against Miami, winning by a total of 50 points. For the first time in seven years Milwaukee will take the season series from the Heat.

"Every time we play them, they pretty much hand it to us," Heat guard Rafer Alston said.

Wade, the All-Star game Most Valuable Player, is still nursing a strained left calf. Without him, Miami scored only 26 points in the second half and received some jeers from disappointed home fans.

"When you are missing your best player and another team is coming at you hard like we were tonight, it can be tough," Bucks center Andrew Bogut said. "They need him back sooner rather than later."

The Heat will try to regroup for Sunday's clash with Southeast Division leaders Orlando. Wade is doubtful for that game.

"It's a huge gap with Dwyane out, but we've still got to go out and play hard," swingman Dorell Wright said. "We didn't play as hard as Milwaukee did."

Recently acquired John Salmons led the Bucks with 18 points. Reserve Jerry Stackhouse added 16 in 25 minutes, including four three-pointers.

"The confidence level is very high, and we're really playing well as a team," Stackhouse said. "Everyone is sharing the ball and getting it done at both ends of the court."

Both teams are battling to stay in the playoff race. Milwaukee is seventh in the Eastern Conference and moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Miami.

"When you're playing the teams that you are directly competing against, tiebreakers come into play," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We now have a tiebreaker over Miami."

Source: ABS-CBN News

-- Filipino boxers Rodel “Batang Mandaue” Mayol and “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona both suffered knockdowns in their respective “Double Assault” fights on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) but they met contrasting fates.

Despite the knockdown, Mayol successfully defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) junior flyweight after his bout against Mexican Omar Nino Romero ended in a technical draw, PhilBoxing.com reported.

Former World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona, on the other hand, failed to win another world title. He was defeated by eventual WBO super bantamweight champion Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. of Puerto Rico.

Mayol, who fought in Guadalajara, Mexico, was hit by his foe “with a series of low blows.”

According to writer Dong Secuya, the referee was going to stop the fight in Round 3 when the Mexican fired a left “that hit squarely at the jaw of the momentarily defenseless Mayol who crashed to the canvas almost unconscious.”

Officials then announced that the title remained with Mayol while the boxer was being prepared to be taken to the hospital.

Mayol currently has a record of 26-4-2 (with 20 KOs) while Romero has a record of 28-3-2 (with 11 KOs).

Meantime, Dr. Ed de la Vega of PhilBoxing.com assured that Mayol is fine. “Although he was hit hard on the jaw, there was no fracture in his jaw and his neck is fine. We are about to get back to our hotel from the hospital,” he noted.


Sonsona, Rubillar fail

The 19-year-old Sonsona, meanwhile, was dealt his first career loss in Bayamon, Puerto Rico by local Vazquez.

Vazquez bagged the vacant WBO junior featherweight belt after scoring a knockout in Round 4 “with a left hook to the liver.”

The son of former world champion Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. remained undefeated at 18-0-1 (with 15 KOs) while Sonsona slumped to 14-1-1 (with 12 KOs).

Another Filipino, meantime, also lost in his attempt to become a world champion.

Veteran Juanito Rubillar failed to bag the (IBO) junior flyweight title in South Africa as he was beaten by local Hekkie Budler by majority decision, Ronnie Nathanielsz of PhilBoxing.com reported.

Nathanielsz noted that the judges scored in favor of the South African, 117-113 and 115-113 while the third judge scored it even, 114-114.

Budler kept his record clean at 14-0 (with 5 KOs) while Rubillar now has a record of 48-14-7 (with 23 KOs).

Source: Nick Giongco, Manila Bulletin

-- Freddie Roach has plenty of respect for Joshua Clottey, specifically his rock-solid chin.

But his admiration stops there since he’s confident that Manny Pacquiao is going to beat him on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

“He’s got a good chin but we’ll make him quit sometime late in the fight,” Roach told the Bulletin last Friday in a long-distance call from Los Angeles where he and Pacquiao have been holed up since the third week of January.

Roach was upbeat during the conversation that he assured everyone that “everything’s going great” as far as the training of Pacquiao is concerned.

“His conditioning is very good and his weight is on check,” said Roach, who was on hand to preside over the Filipino pound-for-pound king’s 11-round sparring session with four different guys at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.

Roach said Pacquiao’s sparring sessions will reach its peak this weekend when he goes 12 rounds and then the workouts would gradually slow down from there.

Rob Peters, the burly security chief of Team Pacquiao who watches the daily workouts, describes the famed puncher as “dynamite.”

“Manny’s just that,” said Peters, whose other job is to make sure only those with official business are allowed inside the gym when Pacquiao is in training.

Team Pacquiao departs for Dallas on March 8.

While Pacquiao continues to make heads turn, Clottey is also doing the same thing over in his training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Still, Roach is of the belief that the African banger is going to taste what a knockout would be like courtesy of Pacquiao.

Source: AP

-- Manny Pacquiao ran roughshod through four different sparring partners earlier this week, and boxing's pound-for-pound king plans to churn through just as many on Saturday.

He's been peppering the speed bag, pounding the heavy bag and doing enough running to make Usain Bolt fall over in a heap. Under the watchful eye of trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao is putting himself in position to knock out Joshua Clottey when they fight March 13 in Dallas.

"Manny is getting better all the time," Roach marveled after a training session Friday at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. "I know Clottey is a big, strong guy. I respect him, he's a great fighter. But Manny I feel is going to overwhelm him with his speed and combinations, and I do believe we will be the first one to stop him in 12 rounds."

If it sounds simple, that's because Pacquiao has little trouble when fights are decided in the ring. Things aren't so easy when the fight is contested with words.

That continues to be the case with Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., after their proposed blockbuster fell through because of drug testing protocol. Mayweather and his relatives have accused Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs, either directly or by innuendo, while the Filipino champion has balked at taking a blood test within 14 days of a fight.

Pacquiao will instead fight Clottey at Cowboys Stadium, while Mayweather is headed for a showdown May 1 against welterweight champion Shane Mosley. Along with the verbal jabs, Pacquiao and Mayweather can also fight over who generates bigger pay-per-view numbers.

"We're not happy with his remarks and Manny really wants to fight him in the future because of the remarks he made," Roach said. "Manny, sometimes when he's shadowboxing, he shows me how Mayweather fights and how he'll take care of the problem, and I've never seen that before.

"He's trying to ruin our reputations and so forth," Roach added, "but we want to fight him and we'll knock him out."






Promoter Bob Arum still believes that Mayweather never wanted to fight Pacquiao, and his strict adherence to blood testing — which is far more extensive than urine analysis required by the Nevada Athletic Commission — was his way of getting out of it.

"We don't have to be geniuses to know what they were trying to do. They were trying to get into Manny's head so he'd be discombobulated," Arum said. "Mayweather against Manny is a no-contest, no contest. Manny would wipe the ring with Floyd Mayweather."

If that's ever to happen, he'll first have to wipe the ring with Clottey.

The fight appears to be a mismatch on paper, especially considering the rugged fighter from Ghana lost to Miguel Cotto — the same guy Pacquiao dominated last fall. But just like fights aren't decided with words, they aren't decided on paper, either.

"Joshua Clottey I know is taller and bigger than me, and you cannot underestimate him," Pacquiao said, "because he's a former world champion also."

Clottey has been training in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the first seven-figure payday of his career. It would go a long way toward helping his family back home in the dusty city of Accra, where Clottey acknowledges that poverty is a way of life.

"I'm coming to do my best," he said by phone earlier this week. "He is a good fighter. He is the best now. This is the test and I am going for the WBO title. I'm going all out. I have my game plan and I always come to fight."

It's a difficult fight to market because it's not the fight demanded by the public, but that doesn't mean there isn't significant interest. Pacquiao is making an encore appearance on Jimmy Kimmel next week and will soon have a profile in Time Magazine, while Clottey was the subject of a lengthy expose in ESPN The Magazine.

And of course, Pacquiao is running for Congress in the Philippines.

More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the fight, and Arum expects the $1.2 billion football stadium just outside Dallas to be filled with about 45,000 fans on March 13.

It may not be Mayweather, but it's something to tide fans over.

"People were looking forward to a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, that's clear. But Manny has a huge, huge fan base," Arum said. "Every sports fan knows Manny Pacquiao. Our job is to present Joshua Clottey as he is, a bigger guy, a stronger guy probably, a guy who has never been off his feet — a real test for MannyPacquiao. That's what will sell this fight.

"I think the public gets it, and I think the pay-per-view is going to do extremely well."

Source: ABS-CBN News

-- Purefoods Tender Juicy crawled back from 14 points down in the last 5:29 to stun Alaska, 86-85, in Game 2 of the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup finals and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 championship series Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

James Yap and Kerby Raymundo spearheaded the Giants’ uprising in the final 5 and 1/2 minutes to complete their miraculous win and move to two wins of claiming their 5th All-Filipino crown.

Yap had a season-high 32 points, 12 came in the fourth, while Raymundo had 6 of the team’s last 8 points in the last 1:21 including the game-winning free throw.

“We really fought hard to come back. We did not give up. We just kept on playing and got the chance to win in the end,” said Purefoods head coach Ryan Gregorio.

“We were so determined to win this game. We did not give up until the final buzzer,” he added.

With LA Tenorio and Brandon Cablay connecting their treys, Alaska zoomed to a 78-64 spread before the Giants staged the rally behind their two superstars.

Purefoods unloaded a 19-6 run capped by Raymundo’s two free throws on the final foul of Sonny Thoss to push the Giants within one, 83-84, 51.5 seconds left in the game.

Reynel Hugnatan turned the ball over in the next Aces possession and Yap gave Purefoods the lead with two free throws on Joe Devance’s foul, 85-84, 14.3 ticks remaining.

Devance knotted the score at 85-all on his split free throws, 5.6 seconds in the game clock before Raymundo was fouled by Devance in the next play, 1.7 seconds left.

Raymundo made the first and intentionally missed the second to deny Alaska a clear look for a last-second heave.

Aces head coach Tim Cone vehemently protested on the last call by referee Maui Maurillo on Devance and confronted the game officials after the final buzzer.

“Purefoods is sad tonight because they don’t want to win that way,” said Aces team manager Joaqui Trillo. “I think they don’t like that victory because it was given to them on a silver platter,” he added.
But for Gregorio, the referees were just consistent in the game.

“There was a contact and if you are batting for consistency, there should be a call because they’ve been calling that since the first quarter,” said Gregorio.

Rafi Reavis added 17 points and 7 rebounds for Purefoods in 41 minutes of action.

Tenorio led the Aces with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Devance and Willie Miller each had 12 for the Uytengsu franchis, which will try to avoid a 0-3 hole with a win on Sunday.

No team in the PBA history has able to erase that deficit and win the best-of-7 series.

“Definitely we are happy but there’s no reason to be satisfied,” said Gregorio.

Source: AFP

-- The United States, lacking its Europe-based best, rallied to beat El Salvador 2-1 in a friendly soccer match with goals from Brian Ching and Sacha Kljestan.

Ching scored with a diving header in the 74th minute and Kljestan put away the go-ahead goal in 90th-minute injury time to lift the World Cup-bound Americans to the victory over El Salvador on Wednesday.

Ching, a second half substitute, scored the equalizer from 7 yards out after a cross from Heath Pearce that Salvadoran goalkeeper Miguel Montes misplayed.

Rudy Corrales' 59th-minute strike had put El Salvador ahead, after a scoreless first half in chilly, rainy conditions at Raymond James stadium.

Ching, Kljestan and Pearce were among just a handful of players in the US squad who appear to have a real chance of being selected for the US squad for the World Cup finals in South Africa in June.

Ching was in the 2006 World Cup squad, but didn't get into a match.

All but one of the Americans on the pitch Wednesday plays in Major League Soccer, with the European-based starters absent as they were for a 3-1 loss to Honduras on January 23.

For next Wednesday's friendly the Netherlands in Amsterdam, the US team should more closely resemble the team that helped the United States book their place in a sixth straight World Cup.

That will be the last match before coach Bob Bradley names his 23-man squad for South Africa.

The players are to gather in mid-May and have friendlies against the Czech Republic (May 25) and Turkey (May 29 at Philadelphia) before departing for South Africa.

The Americans, who were ousted in the first round of the 2006 World Cup, launch their campaign June 12 against England. Six days later they play Slovenia, they close the first round against Algeria.

Source: ABS-CBN News

-- Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Joshua Clottey of Ghana will have to change his strategy if he wants to beat pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on March 13, a boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) trainer said.

“He will have to open up his offensive game if he plans on beating a guy like Pacquiao and I just don't know if he has that in him at this late stage of his career,” Ron Frazier told Percy Crawford of FightHype.com.

Frazier is a trainer at Xtreme Couture, which is owned by former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, Randy Couture.

The trainer holds private lessons and boxing lessons (beginner, intermediate and advanced sparring). He is also the head coach of Xtreme Couture’s professional and amateur MMA teams.

Frazier said the Ghanian will find it difficult to upend Pacquiao given the Filipino’s immense speed and power.

“Clottey is just not busy enough. He's a tough guy, a big guy and very durable and he's a tough task for anybody, but just because he doesn't open up offensively, it's very difficult for him to outpoint a guy like Manny Pacquiao, a guy that has perpetual motion and constantly changing angles,” he noted.

The 7-division world champion Pacquiao (50-3-2, with 38 knockouts) will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt against Clottey (35-3, with 20 KOs) at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Source: Manila Bulletin

-- Joshua Clottey is going to fight Manny Pacquiao on March 13 as though a cab would be waiting outside Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

Speaking from his training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Thursday, Clottey said he will wage a war right away in the hope of catching the Filipino boxing icon flat-footed.

“I plan to go right at him. There’s no way he’s chasing me around,” said Clottey, the heavy underdog going into the 12-round World Boxing Organization welterweight title fight.

Guided by New York-based Puerto Rican Lenny De Jesus, who served as Pacquiao’s cutman from 2003 until 2005, the Ghanaian slugger bragged that he has the Filipino all figured out.

“I already know what he’s all about. He’s a great champion. This is a difficult fight. But I am going for the win right away as soon as the bell rings,” added Clottey.

According to Lee Samuels, the award-winning publicist for Top Rank, Clottey is breaking camp in Florida and returning to New York early next week in time for an open media workout at Kingsway Gym on March 4.

“After a couple of days, Team Clottey will depart for Dallas on March 7,” said Samuels.

Clottey has entered the fourth week of training in Florida and is said to be in tremendous shape.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao went 10 rounds during Tuesday’s sparring session at the Wild Card in Hollywood, shrugging off earlier complains of pain in his leg.

Pacquiao will wind up his preparation at the Wild Card on March 8, the day he and his team travel to Dallas on a private plane that Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum will send to Los Angeles to pick up the pound-for-pound king.

Before leaving for Texas, Pacquiao will once again appear on the popular late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 3.

Source: Joaquin Henson, Philippine Star

-- Rudy Hatfield will end almost a three-year leave from the PBA and resume playing for Barangay Ginebra in the coming Fiesta Conference starting March 21.

After losing to Alaska in a 4-0 series sweep in the recent Philippine Cup semifinals, the Kings could use a fiery rebounder like Hatfield to get back in title contention. He will be a vital piece in the puzzle that coach Joseph Uichico is consolidating for the future.

Hatfield’s agent Bill Rosmarino confirmed yesterday that the H-Bomb from the University of Michigan at Dearborn has signed a one-year contract with Ginebra and will arrive from the US late March.

“Rudy is already preparing his body for battle,” said Rosmarino. “I’m just so excited. This has been nearly three years of waiting. It will be so nice to watch, as a Hatfield fan, the new improved 110 percent version. With his new mindset, rest and heart, you can only imagine what Rudy will do on the court for Ginebra.”

Hatfield, 32, took a leave of absence from Ginebra in 2007 for personal reasons. The 6-6 power forward, whose mother is Filipina, has played six years in the PBA, averaging 13.4 points and 10.8 rebounds.

In an exclusive STAR interview, Hatfield vowed to return with a bang.

“Don’t think for one second I’m gonna walk on the floor and let anyone walk all over me,” he said. “I’m comin’ to play. I’m comin’ to wrestle. And I’m comin’ to win. There’s nothing new to expect. I don’t have any new moves. I haven’t been given some miraculous pill that has me flying out of the gym and I won’t suddenly become a pure shooter. What you will see is me diving on the floor again, running up and down like a caged animal that has just been let loose and 110 percent of tenacious intensity.””

Hatfield said he is well informed about developments in the PBA and can’t wait to play for the Kings.

“What an awesome time playing for Ginebra is going to be,” he continued. “I’ve been following the PBA since I left and I definitely know what’s going on. I remember telling Eric (Menk) about J. C. (Intal) while he was at Ateneo and saying, ‘Look at the hops on this guy.’ It looks as if he’s become more than just a leaper.”

Hatfield said he has kept in shape playing in leagues but admitted he’s not in PBA condition at the moment.

“I plan on being ready,” he went on. “The good thing is I still weigh the same as when I left so I won’t have to worry about getting rid of extra weight. You know, if anything, I’ll be in shape. Maybe not as good right away but I’ll surely be able to get up and down the floor.”

Since leaving the country, Hatfield said he has found new meaning in his life with wife Bethany and their two children Bella, 5, and Lylah, 1, embracing the Christian faith.

For about 10 days last November, Hatfield quietly came to town for missionary work with the Northridge Church of Plymouth, Michigan. He visited schools, staged puppet shows for kids, conducted basketball clinics and delivered personal testimonials. Two highlights of Hatfield’s brief visit were explaining to kids a fun way to remember the 10 commandments and providing disaster relief for typhoon Ondoy victims.

“After about a year of researching, speaking with God, receiving so many signs and just putting myself out there to believe, I was finally saved,” he said. “My old life was put to death and I was reborn. I now truly believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior, that if we believe in His death for our sins, His resurrection as ourselves being resurrected into a new life and that He is the way, truth and the life. By all means, I still sin, I still make mistakes and I have a long, painful journey to go before I’m made into the perfect image of Jesus. But at least I know I can repent and be forgiven and I focus everyday on getting closer to God.”

Hatfield said his wife and daughters will make periodic visits to Manila while he’s playing in the PBA.

“It will be a great opportunity for my daughters to see a different culture especially for Lylah (who is part Filipino),” he said. “I want my kids to see where their father spent the majority of his growing years.”

As for how long he plans to play, Hatfield said it’s up to the Lord.

“Right now, the thought is to play until God tells me it’s time to move on,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how long it will be. But what I do know is for the last three years, I’ve been trying to find a purpose for my life, wondering what God made me for. For about three years, I tried to fool myself that I wasn’t made for basketball. I do know now that God gave me a gift and maybe I’m not the most talented basketball player but he gave me something that gets the job done.”

Source: AP

-- While most of the focus in recent days was on the newest members of the team, it was two of the longest-tenured Dallas Mavericks who carried them in the clutch against the defending champs.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points, Jason Terry added 30 and the short-handed Mavericks won their fifth straight game, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 101-96 on Wednesday night.

The Mavericks acquired Caron Butler, who did not play because of a negative reaction he had to medication, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson in a seven-player deal with Washington on Feb. 13.

Los Angeles star Kobe Bryant praised the trade during the All-Star break, saying it made the Mavericks a legitimate threat in the Western Conference. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said before Wednesday's game that the new-look Dallas squad would be better defensively.

Down the stretch, however, the Mavs relied on Nowitzki and Terry, who scored 22 of Dallas' final 23 points.

"This is our type of ballgame," said Terry, who along with Erick Dampier joined the Mavericks in 2004 and trails only Nowitzki in service time with the team. "Any time in the fourth quarter and the game is close, it's going to be up to myself, (Jason Kidd) or Dirk to get the win. I think we welcome that challenge and we don't need to change it right now."

Bryant scored 20 points and moved into 13th place on the career scoring list. Bryant, who passed Reggie Miller, has 25,298 points.

After hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left to beat Memphis on Tuesday night, Bryant missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it with 25 seconds left.

"We play this team extremely well," Bryant said. "We wanted to come in here and put a stop to them."

Bryant returned against the Grizzlies after missing the last five games with a left ankle injury. He shot 9 of 23 and missed four of six attempts in the fourth quarter.

"I thought he got other guys involved," Jackson said. "He was probably a little fatigued and tried to help the other guys get going."

Lamar Odom led Los Angeles with 21 points, Ron Artest had 13 and Derek Fisher finished with 12.

Kidd had 14 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds for the Mavericks, who improved to 5-1 since the trade with the Wizards. Haywood chipped in 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

Neither team led by more than nine in a game went back-and-forth throughout. There were 24 lead changes and eight ties.

Dallas and Los Angeles split the four-game season series. The Lakers won the previous two meetings, including a 100-95 victory on Jan. 13 in which Bryant played, but was hobbled for most of the game.

"This was a big win," Nowitzki said. "They had everybody (healthy) this time. They really embarrassed us that one time out there and then stole one here. It was big for us to tie it up at 2-2."

Terry hit a 3-pointer that made it 90-84. After Bryant scored to make it 90-86, Nowitzki answered with a 17-footer that stretched the lead back to six with 3:18 remaining.

Haywood hit a free throw, the only point over the final 10:46 not scored by Nowitzki and Terry, to make it 93-86. Nowitzki stripped the ball from Andrew Bynum, starting a fast break that ended with Terry's layup and pushed Dallas' lead to 95-86 with 2:20 left.

Los Angeles went on a 8-2 run to trim its deficit to three. Odom hit a 3-pointer and Bryant drove for a layup to make it 97-94 with 57.9 seconds left.

Shawn Marion missed a short jumper, setting up the Lakers for what appeared to be another late comeback after they rallied to beat Memphis one night earlier.

Bryant's 25-footer went long, and Terry and Nowitzki combined to make four free throws to seal the victory.

"We've been playing pretty good defense with the new guys," Kidd said. "This was another example where our shots weren't going down, but we relied on our defense and got some stops. Then we made some big shots down the stretch."

This was the teams' first matchup since the Mavericks made the trade with the Wizards.

The Mavericks were without one of those acquisitions when the team announced just before the tip that Butler wasn't going to play.

Stevenson started in Butler's place and guarded Bryant for most of the first quarter. Bryant struggled early, missing his first five shots.

Bryant had a couple of baskets to cap a 10-0 run late in the second quarter. He hit an off-balance 13-footer, his first points of the game, and followed with another basket to give the Lakers a 48-39 lead with 2:58 left in the first half.

Dallas closed with a 10-2 surge before halftime. Terry, who had 18 points in the first half, hit three free throws, to bring the Mavericks within 50-49.

The Mavericks grabbed the lead by scoring the first six points of the third quarter.

Kidd closed the quarter with a 29-footer from beyond the arc just before the buzzer sounded, putting Dallas up 74-72.

Source: GMA News

-- Purefoods’ shock troopers delivered when needed most, carrying the Giants past the Alaska Aces, 81-77, to take the opener of their KFC-PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven Finals on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was Purefoods' fourth straight win dating back from its semifinals series against the San Miguel Beermen. Alaska was coming off a week-long break after a 4-0 sweep of Barangay Ginebra in their own semis contest.

Rafi Reavies and KG Canaleta scored the Giants last seven points while Mark Pingris had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds in Purefoods’ Game 1 win that was tightly-fought all the way to the final seconds.

With a 1-0 lead, Purefoods hopes to make it two-in-a-row when Game 2 is played Friday also at the Big Dome.

Reavies finished with only six points, but scored all of them in the stretch run, including back-to-back baskets that kept the Giants afloat, 78-74.

He then blocked Willie Miller’s shot at the other end, before scoring on a follow up off a Roger Yap miss as Purefoods stretched the lead to six with 35 seconds left.

Alaska threatened for the last time at 80-77 on a pressure-packed three-pointer by Miller on top of the key in the final 11 seconds, but Canaleta sealed the win with a split from the foul line.

James Yap paced Purefoods with 24 points while Kerby Raymundo added 15, although both have to sit out considerable minutes in the third period due to foul trouble.

The Aces got 23 points from Miller, but the two-time most valuable player struggled from the field on a 9-of-23 shooting.

Joe DeVance was the only other Alaska player to hit double figures with 10.

Alaska trailed by seven early in the final quarter, only to bounce back and tied the game on a by Reynel Hugnatan, 72-all, midway in the final quarter.

The opening half was a tightly-fought one as Alaska and Purefoods battled to a 36-all tie after two quarters, with Miller showing the way for the Aces with 11 points, and James Yap for the Giants with 12.

After 12 minutes of play, the Aces held a 19-14 edge and could have led even more had Tony dela Cruz’s follow up basket not came a second short after the first quarter buzzer sounded.

Source:

-- Mixed martial artist Frank Mir expressed regret over the comments he made in a radio interview about reigning UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

“I would like to apologize to Brock Lesnar, his family, the UFC and the UFC fans for my stupid remarks,” said the former UFC heavyweight champion in a UFC statement.

“I respect Brock, all the other fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts. I’m sorry that I stepped out of line."

UFC.com reported that Mir said over WXDX-FM that he wanted Lesnar “to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries.”

UFC President Dana White also reacted to Mir’s comments.

“I was disappointed by Frank Mir’s comments,” he stated, noting that Mir has been with the UFC for a long time. The two-time heavyweight champion is even a commentator for the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC).

“I think his emotions are running high right now. He has a big fight coming up next month and he’s still upset about his loss to Lesnar,” he continued.

The 30-year-old Mir lost to the UFC heavyweight champ via technical knockout at 1:48 of Round 2 in UFC 100 last July 11.

“He’s been talked to, he regrets what he said, and he won’t be saying anything like that again,” assured White.

Mir is slated to fight Shane Carwin in UFC 111: St-Pierre vs Hardy on March 27 in Newark, New Jersey. His most recent result is a victory over Cheick Kongo by submission (choke) in UFC: 107 Penn vs Sanchez last December 12.

Source: ABS_CBN News

-- “Sugar” Shane Mosley of the United States said he is ready to take on 7-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, unlike his May 1 opponent, American Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

In an interview with Anthony “Duljoman” Andales of PhilBoxing.com, Mosley reacted to speculations that the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout was cancelled because the American was afraid to suffer his first loss at the hands of the pound-for-pound king.

“I don’t know if he’s a coward or not but what I know for this fight? He was forced to fight me. Aside from Manny, this is the only big money for him out there. If he’s afraid to fight Manny I’m not,” he said.

Mosley went on to say that he is aiming to defeat Mayweather so he could challenge the Filipino boxing sensation.

“Beating him [Mayweather] will put me to where I wanna be placed in my career. That’s why, I’ll beat Floyd, then hopefully Manny will fight me.”

The Americans will slug it out on May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the venue of the botched Pacquiao-Mayweather bout.

Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey on his supposed fight date with Mayweather, March 13. The clash will take place at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Pacquiao-Mayweather negotiations crumbled when the fighters’ camps disagreed on the blood testing procedure.

Focused on fight

Mosley, the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight super champion, added that he thinks Mayweather is fighting him for the money alone.

“Mayweather needs money that’s why he’s forced to fight me. He needs money that’s why he puts a rematch clause on this one.” He stressed that he does not need a rematch clause.

The undefeated American, who is also called “Money,” said the same thing about Mosley.

“I just think that Shane Mosley, he’s desperate, so he has no choice but to fight me. His career’s coming to an end and, before he goes, he wants that last big payday,” he told David Mayo of The Grand Rapids Press.

Meanwhile, Mosley also commented that he does not care if Mayweather talks about his personal matters.

“He can say anything about my divorce, he can think all day about my divorce. I’m cool with that. He can focus about my divorce… When I have an upcoming fight, I’m only thinking about that fight. I don’t care about my opponent's mouth. I’ll deal with them inside the ring. So I don’t care at all.”

“I don’t care about him and I don’t care about his personality. This is business for me, nothing personal. My mind is focused to beat him and fight him again because we have a rematch clause for this one,” he added.

Mosley was earlier chosen by Pacquiao to win over Mayweather. He was one of Team Pacquiao’s choices to be the Filipino’s next opponent after his 2nd round knockout victory over Ricky Hatton last May 2. Pacquiao chose to challenge then WBO welterweight champion, Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

Source: GMA News

-- Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao underwent the required pre-fight physical examinations over the weekend and was declared fit to duke it out with Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Texas.

Pacquiao trooped to the San Pedro Medical Center in San Pedro, California to have his reflexes and vital signs checked and according to sportscaster Chino Trinidad, easily passed the battery of tests that included a check on his blood pressure, eye-hand coordination and balance, as well as an eye exam.

The 31-year-old pride of the Philippines also went through blood tests over two weeks before his WBO welterweight title defense against the tough Clottey.

Pacquiao, according to Trinidad, was visibly shaken having his blood taken for tests against performance-enhancing substances.

“Mahirap kapag ikaw ay kinunan ng dugo, lalo na sa aming mga atleta. Ang kailangan namin ay lakas so pag kinunan ng dugo, manghihina ka. Makaka-recover ka lang mga three or four days pa (after)," the Pacman told Trinidad in his TV interview.

The blood testing issue was interestingly the main reason for the fallout of negotiations for his botched megafight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Pacquiao had frowned upon Mayweather’s demands for random blood testing and instead pitched a procedure no more than 24 days before fight night.

For the Clottey fight, Pacquiao believed he has more than enough time to “recover" his strength.

“OK naman yan (blood tests) 24 days before the fight. Makaka-recover pa tayo," he said.

Pacquiao and his team are extremely confident against Clottey, whom trainer Freddie Roach said will fall for the first time in his career.

“Well, the more I watch Clottey, the more mistakes I find in him and I’m very confident Manny is going to knock him out and be the first person to knock him out," Roach said in an interview with the show “On the Ropes" posted on The Mushroom Magazine.

"I know he (Clottey) has a good chin. He’s a tough guy and he’s a nice guy, but just studying the tapes of him, he won’t last 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao in my opinion," he added.

Pacquiao, whom Roach said is doing great in training, will continue to hold camp at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles until March 8, the day they head to Dallas for fight week.

The Pacman, according to Fight News, is scheduled to hold an open workout on March 10 at the basement of the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine, Texas and join Clottey for a press conference at the Dallas Stadium on the same day.

Source: ABS-CBN News

-- The Philippine Patriots asserted basketball supremacy in the Southeast Asian region after bagging the 1st ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) championship with a 3-0 sweep on Sunday.

The Patriots ended the best-of-five finals series against Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma, 75-67, at The BritAma Arena in Jakarta.

According to the ABL website, Jason Dixon led the Patriots with 28 points and 12 rebounds while Gabe Freeman made 17 points and 19 rebounds.

Patriots coach Louie Alas said it was defense that was crucial to his team’s triumph.

“The whole season we really emphasized on defense, especially this series,” he said in an article on The Philippine Star.

The Patriots kicked off the finals on February 12 by taking Game 1, 78-68, at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

They followed it up with another win, 72-53, at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan City on February 17.

The ABL, meanwhile, is looking forward to its 2nd season after staging a successful inaugural season.

“We ‘re looking at adding more teams to the league and we are working closely with the South East Asian Basketball Association [in] making this league stronger in its second season that will start in October this year,” ABL CEO Kuhan Foo said.

The ABL was televised live across Southeast Asia and was streamed live online in North Asia, Europe and the United States.

Source: Joaquin Henson, Philippine Star

-- No opponent has been named but interim WBA superflyweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. yesterday said his manager Cameron Dunkin confirmed his next fight will be on May 8 in Mexico or Las Vegas in the 118-pound bantamweight division.

“I’ll be ready for whomever Cameron and Top Rank put in front of me,” said Donaire who arrived in Manila last Friday with wife Rachel and father-in-law Gerry Marcial from San Francisco. “I’m hoping it’ll be a title fight. For what title, I still don’t know. But it probably won’t be against (WBO bantamweight champion) Fernando Montiel who’s committed to fight mandatory challenger Eric Morel next.”

Donaire, 27, said he’s moving up to bantamweight unless there’s an opportunity to face either WBO superflyweight titlist Jorge Arce of Mexico or unified WBA and WBC 115-pound champion Vic Darchinyan of Australia. He admitted scaling five to six pounds over the limit the day before the weigh-in for his superflyweight title defense against Mexico’s Manuel (Chango) Vargas in Las Vegas last Feb. 13.

“It was tough going down to 115,” said Donaire. “But a fighter has to do what he has to do. I made it on my first try at the weigh-in. I hardly ate for two days. I’ll stay a superflyweight only if I fight Arce or Darchinyan.”

Donaire said his “wish” order of battle for the year lists Darchinyan, Arce and Montiel.

“My first target is Darchinyan who holds two titles then Arce to unify the WBA, WBC and WBO superflyweight championships and finally, Montiel for the bantamweight belt before the year ends,” said Donaire. “If that happens, I’ll be a three-division world champion this year.”

Donaire said there’s also the possibility of challenging WBC superbantamweight champion Israel Vazquez who’s due to defend his crown against Rafael Marquez in their fourth grudge match in Los Angeles on May 22.

“Vazquez has been calling me out,” said Donaire. “I’ll move up to superbantamweight if we can make it happen. Going up to 122 pounds is no problem. I could fight the winner of his bout against Marquez at the end of this year or early next year.”

Darchinyan, 34, is set to defend his twin crowns against Mexico’s Rodrigo Guerrero in Rancho Mirage, California, on March 6. Arce, 30, won the vacant WBO title on a seventh round technical decision over Indonesia’s Angky Angkota in Mexico City last Jan. 30. Montiel, 30, retained his WBO diadem on a first round knockout over Filipino Ciso Morales in the Donaire-Vargas undercard. Vazquez, 32, ended a 19-month layoff to halt Angel Priolo in Los Angeles last October and has beaten Marquez in two of three meetings so far.

Donaire disclosed that Vargas suffered a dislocated jaw in the second round and proved to be a tough customer. Vargas was pulled in three days before the fight as a late replacement for Gerson Guerrero who was scratched after doctors confirmed a detached retina in the right eye.

“He was tougher than I thought,” said Donaire. “Vargas was in shape because he was scheduled to fight in Mexico that night. I remember Raul Martinez went down when I hit him with a right but I did the same to Vargas and he took it standing up. I finally got him with a left uppercut. It took me two rounds to figure him out. I trained hard for the fight. In the gym, I built up my speed with plyometrics. I worked on my legs. I was confident of winning and confidence is the key to victory.”

Donaire said his cornermen Robert Garcia and Jonathan Peñalosa set him on track for the knockout over Vargas.

“Robert and Jonathan worked well together,” he said. “During the fight, Robert told me to go side-to-side, to let loose and relax. Jonathan told me to keep pumping my jab and take advantage of my length. I was too stiff in the first two rounds trying to go for a one-punch knockout. In the third, I went side-to-side and it opened up angles for my shots. I felt really strong using my speed and power.”

Donaire said the win over Vargas showed the wide range in his arsenal.

“I’ve got a lot of weapons now,” he said. “I stopped Darchinyan with a left hook. I got Martinez with a right. I finished off Vargas with a left uppercut. Both my hands are weapons. I can attack with an overhand right and a right straight, too. I can switch to southpaw if it’s necessary. I’m sticking with Robert, Jonathan and my conditioning coach Mike Bazzel in my corner.”

Donaire cited Garcia’s contributions. Garcia, who trains fighters at the converted firehouse La Colonia Gym in Oxnard, near Los Angeles, was once an IBF superfeatherweight champion.

“Robert is a great strategist,” said Donaire. “He came in last January to visit my camp at Undisputed in San Carlos. We worked on a gameplan with Jonathan. He gave me solid advice. Two weeks before the fight, we hooked up. His two world champions Brian Viloria and Steven Luevano had just lost so he was feeling down. He’s a super nice guy and he’s really close to his fighters like they’re brothers. He was very happy after I knocked out Vargas and gave me a big hug in the ring.”

Donaire said he will stay in Manila until March 2.

“I’ll attend the PSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Awards Night on March 1 for sure,” he said. “It’s an honor to join the country’s best athletes in an event organized by the PSA. But before that, I plan to visit Z Gorres in Cebu.”

Donaire provided Gorres, recovering from brain surgery, and his wife Datches ringside tickets to witness the “Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3” sequel in Las Vegas and promised to give a share of his purse. Donaire will fly to Cebu to personally hand out the share to Gorres. He didn’t reveal how much is his contribution but said it comes straight from the heart. The amount is rumored to be in six figures.

Source: Nelson Beltran, Philippine Star

-- Purefoods is back in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup finals, ranged against a team – Alaska Milk – it has an old score to settle with.

The Giants arranged a third all-Filipino final showdown with the Aces as they completed an upset of the powerhouse San Miguel squad in their semifinal series with a stirring 87-78 win at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

For the third straight game, the Giants humbled the Beermen with a gutsy stand to win their best-of-seven series at 4-2.

Purefoods, thus, made the all-Filipino finals for the second time in three years and for the 12th time in franchise history, getting a crack at a fifth crown versus Alaska.

“It’s so nice to be back in the finals after a three-year dry spell. It’s like a rain after a long, long summer,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

The top-seeded Alaska team and No. 3 Purefoods start their best-of-seven titular series with Game One Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Giants are out to sustain their searing playoff run, looking to avenge losses to the Aces in their two previous all-Filipino confrontations.

“This is really answered prayers. We were witnesses to a great miracle in this series. We all know how strong that team is and how good a coach they have,” said Gregorio of their conquest of the second-seeded San Miguel side.

“At the start of the playoffs, I told myself I would be happy reaching the semis. But my players wanted more. And we knew all along that it doesn’t take the best players to win, it’s the players who give their best and that’s what we have in this team,” Gregorio added.

“Beating San Miguel is like winning a championship. But that is not enough. We’ve got past the second-seeded team and we’re looking forward to also make it past the top seed. We hope we still have the legs to prevail,” Gregorio also said.

So impressive were the Giants in the last three games, they led the Beermen from start to finish in each of those contests.

And like in Games Four and Five, starters James Yap, Roger Yap, Marc Pingris, Rafi Reavis and Kerby Raymundo gave Purefoods a tremendous lift in dishing out splendid jobs.

Roger Yap and Pingris both churned out double-double numbers while James Yap, Reavis and Raymundo contributed double-digit outputs.

Roger Yap had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Pingris 15 points and 13 rebounds, James Yap 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, Reavis 12 points and eight rebounds, and Raymundo 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

The Purefoods starters badly outscored their SMB counterparts, 76-39.

The Giants erected a 20-point spread late in the first half and showed tremendous staying power, repelling repeated comeback attempts by the Beermen.

San Miguel failed to shake off Purefoods, unable to get a shot at back-to-back championships after its triumphant finish in the 2008-09 Fiesta Conference.

More efficient on both ends, the Giants raced to a 20-point lead at 48-28 before settling for a 48-32 spread at halftime.

Purefoods established control early while hitting at a 48.6-percent clip, 12 percent better than San Miguel’s shooting in the first 24 minutes of play.

The Giants also dominated the boards, 25-18, on tremendous hustles.

Arwind Santos sank two free throws and converted an undergoal stab to narrow their deficit to 16 at the half.

The Giants were holding a slim 26-23 lead when they launched a searing attack to pull away at 48-28.

Source: Oliver Suarez, Fight Hype

-- The Philippines always had a fondness for boxing, the reason that it has always been a hotbed for talented young boxers. The emergence of Manny Pacquiao as a major star in boxing has only added more talent to its boxing stable by influencing many of the country’s younger generation to participate in the sport.

It can be argued that Philippines is as great a boxing nation as Mexico and Puerto Rico. Mexico and Puerto Rico are only more recognized because before Pacquiao, Filipinos were not given the same opportunities to display their skills at the world stage.

But now the country is slowly gaining respect as more opportunities become available to Filipino boxers because of Pacquiao’s popularity and the magnitude of the Filipino market.

The Philippines now currently has four major title holders with Filipino descent: Nonito Donaire, Donnie Nietes, Manny Pacquiao, and Rodel Mayol.

Still, it’s still questionable if the success of Philippine boxing can be sustained after Pacquiao. Would promoters and others continue to invest on Filipino boxers after Pacquiao?

It depends if the most influential figures in Philippine boxing has already set a stable foundation to ensure its continued success after the current pound for pound king retires. Did they properly take advantage of all the opportunities provided by Pacquiao’s success?

They certainly had enough time to develop a stable foundation since Pacquiao has been a star of the sport for quite sometime

The truth is they have not because their priorities may not have been in the right place and thus affected the potential success of many Filipino fighters.

The problem is most of the Filipino boxers are not being provided the best chance to win. Success is great but it can lead to greed and questionable decision making.

Ciso Morales is a great example of a fighter of this questionable decision making. Now some are questioning his heart and courage because of his devastating loss to Montiel. But the question that should be put out is if he was given the best chance to win. Morales is a young kid who has not fought any notable opponent, yet was pitted against a world class fighter in Fernando Montiel. Not only that, he had to go down in weight to face him.

If they are not given the best chance to win, then they are destined to only attain mediocre type of success. Those who are responsible for these boxers’ careers must evaluate their priorities. Do they care more about immediate success and make money in the short term or do they care about the long term success of their boxers?

A great example of how to properly prepare a fighter is Andre Ward. For the longest time, his handlers and he were criticized for not facing elite fighters or fighting for a title. It was because his handlers wanted him to be both physically and mentally prepared before he stepped up in competition. Now, he just beat a world class opponent in Kessler and is now considered one of the best young fighters in the game.

Developing young fighters who can contend is a major factor in ensuring the success of Philippine boxing. This doesn’t only include that they are physically and mentally ready, but ensuring that they are provided the right strategies for their fights and choosing the right opponents that can help them prepare for future fights against elite opponents. Constantly pitting them against journeyman fighters to hype up their record only does more harm than good in the long term.

Filipinos are just like any other sports fans, they want winners and if they are constantly provided mediocre products then sooner or later they will stop supporting it.

If that happens, then Philippine boxing might again be on the outside looking in after Pacquiao. Filipino fighters once again will find it difficult to get those opportunities to fight for world titles against notable opponents.

Another factor that must be answered is if many of the Filipino fans who support Pacquiao are truly boxing fans or just fans of the Filipino icon.

It is a question that is still need to be answered. How many Filipinos who are ‘supposedly’ boxing fans know about other boxers such as Eden Sonsona, Marvin Sonsona, Aj Banal etc? The fact is a great number of Filipinos I’ve come across with are not familiar with any of the names mentioned above and only know Pacquiao.

Will they continue to support and have the same passion for the sport even after Pacquiao in order to entice promoters to keep investing on Filipino fighters?

Nonito Donaire Jr. is a great champion who just keeps on winning and it’s a wonder why he has not gotten the support of more Filipino fans. People are quick to judge him for failing to fight notable opponents. Some of that may be due to some fighters’ hesitancy to fight a fighter of Donaire’s caliber, but it’s also because the financial incentives might not be enough for them to face ‘The Filipino Flash.’

Filipinos need to support Donaire to convince promoters that the Filipino market in boxing is not dependent on Pacquiao. In fact, it might be necessary and not an option because if other Filipino fighters are only achieving mediocre success, then the responsibility of keeping the fire burning for Philippine boxing will all fall on Donaire’s shoulders.

So will Philippine boxing continue its current success after Pacquiao retires? Only time will tell.

What do you think?

Part 1



Part 2



Other

Source: ABS-CBN News

-- Boxing coach Freddie Roach said that if Floyd Mayweather Jr. keeps on playing “hard to get,” the former pound-for-pound king might actually miss the chance to fight 7-division world champ Manny Pacquiao.

Roach, who is currently training Pacquiao for his fight on March 13, said the Filipino boxer’s match with Ghana’s Joshua Clottey could be his last.

“If Mayweather doesn't come around after the fight and he doesn't sign to fight us, then this (Clottey fight) could be our last one,” the American trainer told EastSideBoxing’s On the Ropes.

Before signing up to fight Clottey, Pacquiao’s camp had negotiations with the Mayweather camp for a super fight. However, talks collapsed when the former pound-for-pound king demanded an Olympic style drug testing.

Pacquiao ended up setting a fight with Clottey to defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title, while Mayweather opted to fight “Sugar” Shane Mosley.

Before the power-punching Pinoy faced Miguel Cotto in November last year, Roach said he’d be happy to see Pacquiao retire while still on top of his game.

“If negotiations with Mayweather fail and Manny wins against Cotto, he’ll be having seven world titles. Nobody has done that before, so there’s nothing else to prove,” the trainer told sports analyst Dennis Principe.

Pacquiao will also be very busy after the Clottey fight as he will be pursuing his political career. He is running for congressman in Sarangani province in the May 10 polls. The campaign for local posts starts on March 26.

It is widely believed that Mayweather came out of retirement to fight Pacquiao for what many has said would be the richest boxing match in history.

Source: Philippine Star

-- The Philippine Patriots go for a sweep of the first-ever championship of the ASEAN Basketball League today against Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma here.

The opportunity to win the honor as the first champion team of the league looks big and enticing, after they took Game 1 (78-68) and Game 2 (72-53), but coach Louie Alas is not taking the mission easily.

Knowing the perils of playing before a hostile crowd, Alas is expecting nothing but a battle royale.

“It could be a bruising game,” said Alas.

No matter what the Indonesian club would do on the court, the Patriots, according to Alas, are all fired up for their 5 p.m. encounter.

“The hostile crowd is already a given factor,” said Alas. “Another thing is officiating. But if you think about it, nothing will happen to us here. Right now, we have a clear mindset. We have to focus on our game plan. If we allow ourselves to be distracted by those factors, then we have to stay here for few more days.”

Game 4 is scheduled on Wednesday also at the BritAma gym, and if necessary, Game 5 will be held on Sunday in Manila.

But don’t tell that to former PBA Best Import winner Gabe Freeman.

The 6-foot-5 Freeman, who sizzled for a tournament-high 39 points in Game 1, does not like the idea of staying here for three more days, saying: “I have to meet somebody in Manila, we have an important matter to discuss, so let’s go on and play hard on Sunday.”

If they can close the series today, it will give co-team owner Mikee Romero his eight straight championships, counting his record seven title run in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL)

“Winning the first championship is always sweet, so I hope we could bring home the crown,” Romero, who was expected to arrive here Saturday along with team manager Erick Arejola.

Business tycoon Tonyboy Cojuangco, Romero’s co-team owner, also challenged the Patriots to wage a war as if there’s no tomorrow since the country’s lofty status in the region is at stake in the series.

Just like Romero and Cojuangco, everybody in the team wants a piece of history.

“I decided to play for the Patriots because I want them to win the first championship of the league. If possible, I want to win it on Sunday,” said Freeman.

Again, Alas said defense holds the key to their success. Alas also expects that Indonesia’s import Alex Hartman and Nakiea Miller will attack the hoop at every opportunity in the hope of getting a foul from either Freeman or Jason Dixon.

Source: AP

-- Tracy McGrady's dazzling Knicks debut couldn't stop the surging Oklahoma City Thunder, who got 36 points from Kevin Durant to beat New York 121-118 in overtime Saturday for their eighth straight victory.

Durant made the go-ahead jumper with 16 seconds left in his 27th consecutive game with at least 25 points, the longest streak since Allen Iverson also did it in 27 in a row from Jan. 12-March 9, 2001. The last longer streak was by Michael Jordan in 40 straight in the 1986-87 season.

McGrady scored 26 points in his first game since the Knicks acquired him Thursday at the trade deadline. But he was on the bench for almost all of overtime, perhaps exhausted after playing 32 minutes in his first action since December.

Russell Westbrook finished with 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the longest winning streak for the Thunder franchise since a nine-game run early in the 2004-05 season. Jeff Green had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

David Lee had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks. Eddie House, also acquired at the trade deadline, scored a season-high 24 points.

Source: AP

-- Unbeaten Texan Cain Velasquez knocked out veteran Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira of Brazil at 2:20 of the first round Sunday to claim the featured heavyweight bout at the MMA's UFC 110.

The 27-year-old Velasquez unleashed a flurry of punches at Nogueira to knock the Brazilian down, then began another set of combinations to his head before the referee stopped the fight.

Velasquez improved to 8-0 in the UFC and has beaten all but one of his opponents inside the distance. Former UFC heavyweight champion Nogueira dropped to 32-6-1.

"The plan was push the pace whenever we could, and then when the takedown was there, take it," Velasquez said. "I tried to stay focused, and when I got in a good position, I beat him to the punch."

Nogueira said he was disappointed with himself, but was outclassed.

"He had the fast hands tonight," he said. "He's a very good up-and-coming guy, one of the best fighters in the heavyweight division."

Earlier, veteran Brazilian Wanderlei Silva knocked down England's Michael Bisping in the final 10 seconds and went on to claim a unanimous decision.

Before a crowd of nearly 20,000 at Acer Arena in UFC's first foray into Australia, Silva, nicknamed "The Axe Murderer," staged a late flurry to claim the fight.

Silva, with a record of 33-10-1, won the PRIDE world championship in Japan for five years in a row. Bisping, of England, 19-3, was the UFC's winner in its third season.

Silva recently had nose surgery which enables him to breathe better.

"Everybody has bad moments, but if you work hard the good moments will come," Silva said.

Bisping apologized to his fans for the late lapse.

"I grew up in the sport watching him fight," Bisping said of Silva. "I have a lot of respect for the guy. I think the reason he got the decision was the knockdown at the end. Sorry England. Sorry Australia."

Earlier, Australian George Sotiropoulos thrilled the crowd when he beat Joe "Daddy" Stevenson in a unanimous decision. Ryan "Darth" Bader won his fourth consecutive fight, beating light heavyweight Keith Jardine by knockout at 2:10 of the third round.

It was the fifth loss in his last seven MMA fights for Jardine, from Butte, Montana.

Bader, from Reno, Nev., finished Jardine off with a flying knee and big left hook.

"I tried to stick to my game plan, stand up and let him do his stuff," Bader said. "I've been working on my boxing, and it paid off."

In other bouts, Mirko Cro Cop won by technical knockout over Anthony Perosh, a stoppage due to a cut at 5 minutes of the first round of the heavyweight fight. Krzysztof Soszynski beat Stephan Bonnar, also by technical knockout due to a cut at 1:04 of the third round.

Chris Lytle beat Brian Foster by submission (leg lock) at 1:41 in the first round by kneebar and C.B. Dollaway beat Goran Reljic by unanimous decision.

The Sydney show sold out within four hours in December, despite the card not having been announced. UFC president Dana White told local media last week that Australia could become an annual stop on the UFC tour.

The only venue to sell out faster, according to the UFC, was UFC 83 in Montreal in April 2008, when 21,390 attended the Bell Centre.

Source: Marlon Bernardino, ABS-CBN News

-- After competing in the Aeroflot Open 2010 in Moscow, Russia, Filipino Grandmasters (GMs) Wesley So and Darwin Laylo headed straight to the World Blitz Championship-Preliminaries.

So, who defended his junior title in Aeroflot, finished 62nd in the World Blitz prelims after scoring 9.5 points.

Laylo, on the other hand, finished 114th in the 156-player field by scoring 7.5 points.

French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave topped the event with 13.5 points, and qualified for the World Blitz Championship to be held in Moscow in November 2010.

Source: GMA News

-- Purefoods goes for the kill Sunday night when it seeks a finals berth in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the expense of a San Miguel team that have their backs on the ball at the Astrodome in Pasay City.

The Giants finally grabbed the lead in the best-of-seven series, 3-2, following a 94-82 rout of the Beermen in Friday’s Game 5.

And another win in the 6 p.m. encounter would have coach Ryan Gregorio and James Yap & Co. advancing to their first Finals stint in two years opposite the Alaska Aces.

Knowing how potent the Beermen are, Gregorio is treating the game with a lot of urgency.

"We know that San Miguel, with its roster power, could very well come back," he said. "That is why we are treating Game 6 as a do or die. SMB is such a strong team. You can’t blink, you have to be vigilant."

The Game 5 win by the Giants marked only the first time a team won back-to-back contest in the series, a breakthrough that had Gregorio grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Definitely we like where we are at this point. But there’s no point in celebrating until we win the next game," said Gregorio. "And we don’t want to give them any chance. Much as we lead the series 3-2, we’re still the underdogs trying to gate-crash the Finals."

Paced by Kerby Raymundo and Roger Yap’s 18 points, five players scored in double figures for the Giants the last time. James Yap, although struggling (5-of-17) from the field, still wound up with 17 points, while Nino Canaleta came off the bench to contribute 13 and Rafi Reavies had 10.

In the event the series comes to an end Sunday, Purefoods will have two days to prepare for the best-of-seven title series against Alaska on Wednesday.

The Aces cornered the first Finals berth after sweeping the Ginebra Kings on Feb. 17.

The Beermen have nothing to blame but themselves for Friday night’s loss.

They allowed Purefoods to shoot 46.6 percent from the field (34-of-73) and clearly was caught napping at times on missed attempts by the Giants, who got away with 18 second-chance points.

The Beermen likewise struggled offensively, making just 42 of their 70 shots (40 percent) from the floor.

Source: Joaquin Henson, Philippine Star

-- Newly designated national basketball team manager Frankie Lim said yesterday while he’s not guaranteeing a gold medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games this November, the Smart-Gilas squad will definitely compete as a strong contender for the championship with coach Rajko Toroman.

“We’ve got a good chance to win the gold with Rajko’s leadership, two more local players and a naturalized big man,” said Lim, a former national cager himself. “We showed our potential in the recent Dubai Invitationals where we finished third, playing against teams with five imports. If only Jamal Sampson played, we should’ve made it to the finals.”

Since taking on the job two weeks ago, Lim said he has watched the team carefully at practice.

“The guys are working hard,” he said. “They look good. I’m very happy to be part of the national team once again, this time in an executive role. The team has my full support. In any way I can help the team, I will. Basketball is our premier sport and it’s our long-awaited dream to win the Asian championship. We don’t have the luxury of time because as we know, naturalization takes a long process. But by next month, we hope we’ve found the right guy and we can begin the naturalization process.”

Toroman left for the US last Monday to scout for a naturalization candidate. He will check out at least six players in the NBA D-League and a camp in Utah before flying back here on Monday. Lim contacted agents to line up the candidates in an earlier trip.

“We’re looking for a big guy, someone who can grab rebounds and give us an intimidating presence on defense,” said Lim. “We want a guy who won’t get pushed around by a 7-foot, 300-pounder, someone whom we can go to for inside points. I’m sure we can find the right guy. Our previous candidates C. J. Giles and Sampson were good players but not the right fit. We want good players and good persons.”

Lim brought in 6-10 Darian Townes of Arkansas and 6-10 Jameel Watkins of Georgetown for Toroman to try out here before he left for the US. He mentioned that 6-10 Jared Homan of Iowa State, now playing for Maroussi in the Greek league, is another candidate.

“We’re not making any abrupt decisions,” said Lim. “Rajko looked at Townes who’s good but may not be good enough. We flew in Jameel from China where he’s playing. Jameel played in the PBA before with Shell and San Miguel. We also wanted to fly in Homan but he’s still tied up in Greece.”

The two local additions to the team are sharpshooter Chris Lutz of Marshall University and, if the PBA will allow, Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty.

“The desire to recruit Kelly remains,” said Lim. “Hopefully, the PBA and Sta. Lucia will agree to lend him to the national team. At the moment, we haven’t made a formal request for Kelly. If we get a good big man, Lutz and Kelly, I think we’ll have a solid eight to nine-man rotation.”

Lim said the team recently cut Ryan Buenafe.

“Rabeh (Al-Hussaini) underwent surgery a few days ago to remove bone spurs in his foot so he’ll be out six to eight weeks and Rey Guevara is still recovering but everyone else is fine,” said Lim. “Chris Tiu, Japeth Aguilar, Jayvee Casio, R. J. Jazul, Mark Barroca, Jason Ballesteros, Marcio Lassiter, Greg Slaughter, Mac Baracael, Dylan Ababou, J. R. Cawaling and Aldrech Ramos are practicing. Rajko expressed an interest in Paul Lee and Junmar Fajardo but I’m not sure if their agents are willing to let them go.”

Lim said the team is looking forward to play at the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Doha on May 7-15, the Jones Cup in Taipei in July and the Asian Games in November. In between tournaments, Smart-Gilas will play exhibition games in Australia, Las Vegas, Canada and Serbia.

“We’re scheduling foreign trips for experience,” said Lim. “The exposure is necessary to bring our players to the next level. We can’t survive and get better playing only local teams. One of Rajko’s secrets of his success in Iran is getting the national team to play against some of the best players in the world. We will do the same. I’ve sat down with Rajko and told him I’m here to help because his success is the success of our country.”

Source: ABS-CBN News

-- Seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao knows that for as long as he keeps on winning, he will remain the target of very strong contenders.

Pacquiao said that this is the reason why he trains tirelessly each time he is scheduled to fight.

“Iyong mga lumalaban sa akin, nag-eensayo nang mabuti kasi gusto nila talunin ako... kaya kailangan practice talaga,” said the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champ.

The Filipino boxing icon is preparing against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey for their March 13 bout at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

In his latest sparring session, Pacquiao faced American Mike Dallas and Ghanaian Abdullai Amidu for 4 rounds each.

Dallas and Amidu admitted the Filipino champ is quite tough to handle.

“He's got the power, the speed… He never gets tired,” said Amidu.

After the sparring, Pacquiao hit the mitts with his coach Freddie Roach.

To the delight of the crowd who visited the Wild Card Gym that day, the Filipino champ displayed mastery of the boxing combinations, the lateral movements, and even the follow up punches they have chosen to beat Clottey.

Even after the session ended, Pacquiao asked for more rounds.

Next week, he will have former Oscar de la Hoya opponent Steve Forbes as his training partner.

It was in the Forbes-De la Hoya fight in 2008 when Roach discovered the possibility that Pacquiao could beat the boxing great.

Although Forbes lost by a unanimous decision to the taller De la Hoya, he was able to connect well-time punches despite the Mexican-American’s longer reach.

Source: Nelson Beltran, Philippine Star

-- Alaska Milk is back in the all-Filipino finals.

The Aces cut loose from a tight game in the homestretch and completed a masterful sweep of the Barangay Ginebra Kings in their KFC PBA Philippine best-of-seven semifinal showdown with a 102-95 win last night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Pointguard LA Tenorio presided over the Aces’ mighty finish that carried them to an eighth all-Filipino finale and 24th overall with a crack at a 13th championship.

“Wow! Who would have thought we could do this. To be here beating Ginebra four in a row is an incredible feat,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone of their sweet sweep.

“I don’t know where we came from. The guys lifted our game to a whole new level. From the beginning in Game One, the guys were fresh, hungry and sharp. And they didn’t lose anything along the way. It’s kind of unusual,” Cone also said.

“Ginebra played well tonight. They had the game they wanted to play. But we still had a better night,” Cone added.

Tenorio produced 20 points and 10 assists, Reynel Hugnatan put in 18 points and 10 rebounds and big men Sonny Thoss and Joe De Vance combined for 29 points and 12 rebounds as Alaska kept its mastery of Ginebra, essaying only the fourth 4-0 playoff sweep in league history.

So impressive were the Aces in the series they walloped the Kings by an average margin of 13.25 points.

“We just had a real unusual series. Just anybody I picked from the bench played very well,” said Cone.

The Kings engaged the Aces in a battle in Game Four but ran out of gas, slowing it down at the finish.

After the Kings tied for the last time at 85-all, Tenorio banged away a trey to spark a decisive eight-to-nothing run, getting the Aces ahead to stay.

Purefoods rebounded from a humbling defeat, whipping San Miguel Beer, 97-84, and forcing a 2-2 deadlock in the other semfinal game.

James Yap and Kerby Raymundo, the team’s main men, shared the load with their teammates, resulting in a better team performance and the crucial win watched by a crowd of over 12,000.

Roger Yap went a rebound shy of a triple-double effort with Marc Pingris and Rafi Reavis having their own double-double job as they gave the Giants a tremendous lift in springing back from a 76-88 loss in Game Three.

Yap produced 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, Pingris submitted 15 points and 11 rebounds while Reavis tallied 14 rebounds and 12 points in the game marred by the ouster of a San Miguel support staff on a technical infraction.

“I think this is the first time we hit the 20s in assist department. I told James and Kerby they have to share the ball. We have to get the other players involved on offense. Good thing they bought the idea,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

“We’re not able to play our game. We allowed them to shoot 48 percent from the field and we’re also down in assists. Basically, that’s the story,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

Imposing their game, the Giants led by as many as 21 points right in the first period before slowing down in the next two quarters then getting back into the groove in the final canto.

“It was a game of adjustments. They threw good defensive efforts but we had some antidotes and good thing they worked,” said Gregorio.

“We want to stay alive and we want to stay competing. When we regained control in the fourth, I practically begged (my players) ‘please don’t let them make a run again,’” Gregorio added.

The Beermen, behind Jonas Villanueva, Jay Washington and Arwind Santos, waged a searing rally in the final half, reducing a 22-point gap, 20-42, to three, 71-74, early in the fourth quarter.

The Giants, however, showed great composure, regaining control at 90-74, on a decisive roll led by Pingris and Roger Yap.

“It’s down to a best of three, and honestly I feel we have a legitimate crack with the way we’ve been playing and with the way we’ve been concentrating in trying to stop the team,” said Gregorio.

“But we need to give my players who play extensive minutes some rest again. At this point, it’s better to spend time in video room and talk about things that should be done. It’s unnecessary to practice on the court,” Gregorio added.

The Giants came out revitalized, sprinting to a 21-point spread at 29-8.

They then had several 22-point leads before settling for a 53-44 cushion at halftime.

San Miguel made it a more manageable deficit as Danny Ildefonso, Denok Miranda and Washington closed out the second period with five straight charities.

Source: AP

-- LeBron James has a new All-Star sidekick.

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Antawn Jamison from Washington on Wednesday night, the forward they hope will fit in between James and Shaquille O'Neal on a championship front line.

Jamison was the centerpiece of a three-team deal that also sent Drew Gooden to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Washington received Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a 2010 first-round draft pick and the rights to Emir Preldzic, who was selected in the second round of last year's draft from Cleveland.

The Wizards also received forward Al Thornton from Los Angeles.

Cleveland gets guard Sebastian Telfair from the Clippers.

"Antawn is a great pro. We are very excited to have an experienced all-star player of Antawn's caliber and character join us," Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said in a statement announcing the trade. "He has the ability to add a special, unique dimension to our team with a strong inside presence and the ability to stretch teams defensively, while impacting the entire court."

The Cavaliers had long coveted an athletic power forward who could play on the perimeter after they were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in last year's Eastern Conference finals.

They had reportedly been involved in trade talks with Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire, but instead ended up with another former All-Star.

Jamison, who had been with the Wizards since 2004, is averaging 20.5 points this season. He was not in uniform for Washington's game with Minnesota on Wednesday.

"Antawn Jamison has been the embodiment of leadership on and off the court for this franchise for five-and-a-half seasons and we thank him for all he has done for the Wizards and the city of Washington," Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said. "Unfortunately, our on-court results have not met our expectations and we felt it was necessary to make changes to improve our future and our financial flexibility. This trade accomplished both of those objectives."

Jamison left the arena shortly before the game. As he entered his car, he said to reporters: "Not now."

He did have a message for Wizards fans: "You know I love them more than they love me."

Jamison should immediately step in at power forward for Cleveland and supply James with another legitimate scoring option as the Cavaliers' seek their first championship. Jamison is still owed $28 million over the next two seasons.

Cleveland (43-11) has the best record in the NBA and can set a new franchise mark by winning its 14th straight game Thursday night against Denver. Still, the Cavaliers couldn't pass on the opportunity to add a proven veteran like Jamison, who can stretch opposing defenses with his perimeter shooting and open up the lane for James and O'Neal.

Ilgauskas, who is 34, has played his entire 12-year NBA career with the Cavaliers. He was supplanted as the starting center by O'Neal this season. He's averaging 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds this season. His career averages are 13.9 points and 7.7 rebounds.

"Z has been a cornerstone part of this franchise and his jersey will hang in the rafters here some day, not only because of his play, but because of the tremendous person he is and what he has meant to the franchise and the community," Ferry said. "He has represented the Cavaliers, Cleveland and the NBA at a consistently high level for many years. We wish Z and his family the best."

James can become a free agent this summer, leaving this as Cleveland's final shot at a championship before he decides to stay or go. The Cavaliers also had the league's best record last season, when they failed to reach the NBA finals.

Maybe Jamison can help them take that next step.

He was extremely popular not only with fans in Washington, but also with his teammates and the late owner Abe Pollin. After Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely early last month, Jamison was the one who was chosen to speak to the crowd before the Jan. 8 game. He apologized for a skit that pantomimed shooting guns, calling it: "very embarrassing."

Now Jamison is gone and Wizards coach Flip Saunders lauded him.

"He's one of the most professional guys I've ever been around," Saunders said.

The Wizards acquired Gooden on Saturday in a multiplayer trade that sent Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Dallas Mavericks.

Gooden was reportedly seeking a buyout. Unlike his three former Mavericks teammates, he did not practice with the Wizards on Tuesday, but was at shootaround Wednesday morning. He was listed as inactive.

"Basically, we started looking at opportunities to clear cap space for this summer and in the meantime acquire assets that we also liked," Clippers general manager Mike Dunleavy said. "In the last two days, we were able to do that. And it gives us the flexibility to pretty much go in a lot of different directions."

Jamison was an All-Star in 2005 and 2008, and averaged 20.5 points in 41 games. He missed the first nine games of this season with a sprained right shoulder.

The 33-year-old played his first five seasons with Golden State and after playing the 2003-04 season with Dallas, was traded to Washington. Jamison has a career average of 19.9 points.

The 6-foot-7 Thornton has averaged 13.7 in his three-year career with the Clippers.

Telfair, who's 24, will be playing for his fourth team. The former first-round pick has averaged 7.9 points in his career.

Source: GMA News

-- The Alaska Aces are back in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

The Aces limited Barangay Ginebra to just two points in a crucial four minute span on their way to pulling off a 102-95 win Wednesday to earn a return trip to the championship round of the All-Filipino conference.

LA Tenorio paced Alaska with 20 points and led a key scoring run that saw the Aces rattling off eight unanswered points in the homestretch of Game 4 at the Araneta Coliseum.

That scoring binge readily took the fight out of the embattled Kings as they got swept by the Aces in their best-of-seven semifinals series, 4-0.

Alaska, the second seeded team at the end of the eliminations, now await for their best-of-seven Finals opponent after Purefoods leveled their own semifinals duel with San Miguel at 2-2.

"I really don’t know what’s happening, but they (Aces) are really playing spectacular basketball," said Tim Cone in giving the ultimate praise for his squad.

The Aces are on their 24th finals appearance and are in a good position of winning the title that slipped out of their grip last year when it bungled a 2-0 lead in the finals to yield the series to Talk ‘N Text in seven games.

The Aces’ 4-0 win is also just the fourth time in league history that a team completed a sweep of a best-of-seven series.

Tenorio also had 10 assists, while Reynel Hugnatan had another solid performance with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Kings gave the Aces some anxious moments until the final six minute mark when Billy Mamaril’s jumper just inside the foul line tied the game for the last time at 85-85.

Then coming off a time out, Tenorio hit a three-pointer, and after a Ginebra turn over, the wily 5-foot-10 guard initiated a fastbreak play which Joe Devance finished with a three-point play, putting the Aces in command, 91-85.

Hugnatan stretched the lead to eight with an inside stab, before Enrico Villanueva broke the Kings’ silence to make it 93-87.

But Tenorio scored three straight from the foul line, allowing the Aces to pull away for good, 96-87, with three minutes left.

"They came into the series looking tired," said Cone of the Kings, who went the full five games against the Tropang Texters in the quarterfinals after being down 0-2 in the best-of-five duel.

"In contrast, we’re coming off a rest so we just bring it on to the entire series."

JayJay Helterbrand finished with 20 points while Ronald Tubid and Villanueva tallied 15 each for the Kings, who once again missed the services of the injured Eric Menk.

Source: ABS-CBN News

-- Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson said they are up for the challenge on Sunday in Sydney, Australia when they take on their opponents in UFC 110: Nogueira vs Silva.

Jardine, 34, will face the undefeated 26-year-old Ryan “Darth” Bader of the United States while Stevenson, 27, will take on 32-year-old George Sotiropoulos of Australia.

Bader (11-0) said he will definitely step up in his clash against his fellow American.

“This is my first genuine challenge at the top level and I’m in against a top-tier guy. This is a welcome move for me and I feel I’m ready for this next step,” he told UFC.com.

“Jardine’s been in the Octagon with guys like ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Forrest Griffin and Wanderlei Silva. He’s a good guy to face. This will show me just where I’m at in my career.”

Jardine (14-7-1), meantime, thinks that his match-up against Bader is a “good fight” for him.

“Bader’s a great up-and-coming fighter with impressive wrestling and some very heavy punches. I think he’s going to make a fight of it and that can only mean excitement for the fans,” stated the mixed martial artist fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“The Dean of Mean” lost his 2 previous fights to Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson. Silva knocked him out in Round 1 of their UFC 102: Couture vs Nogueira bout last August while Jackson won via unanimous decision in their UFC 96: Jackson vs Jardine clash last March.

His last victory was a split decision triumph over Filipino-American Brandon Vera in UFC 89: Bisping vs Leben in October 2008.

Bader, meanwhile, won over Eric Schafer in UFC 104: Machida vs Shogun by unanimous decision (UD) last October. He also scored a UD win over Carmelo Marrero in UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Kampmann last April.

Difficult match

Australian Sotiropoulos, meantime, will have the home court advantage as UFC 110 will take place at the Acer Arena in Sydney.

“He’s very difficult for me,” American Stevenson (36-10) said of his Australian foe.

“He’s very dangerous on the ground, so I’ve got to take him very serious, and he’s got the reach on the feet and has been focusing on his standup.”

Sotiropoulos (11-2) also pointed out the strengths of his UFC 110 opponent.

“Joe Stevenson is a well rounded and durable fighter, with strengths in wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” he noted. Both Sotiropoulos and Stevenson are coming off back-to-back wins in 2009.

The Australian won by submission (arm lock) over Jason Dent in UFC 106: Ortiz vs Griffin 2 last November and George Roop in UFC 101: Declaration in August.

Stevenson prevailed in his UFC 104: Machida vs Shogun bout against Spencer Fisher by submission (other) last October. He also clinched a UD victory over Nate Diaz in The Ultimate Fighter: Team US vs Team UK Finale last June.

The American, however, lost to Diego Sanchez by UD in UFC 95: Sanchez vs Stevenson.

UFC 110 is headlined by Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. Its co-feature pits British superstar Michael “The Count” Bisping against Wanderlei “the Axe Murderer” Silva.