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Philippines, 27 Nov 2024 |
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SENATOR PACQUIAO BECOMING A WORLD SPORTS AMBASSADOR By Maloney L. Samaco PhilBoxing.com Wed, 11 Jan 2017  He became the first fighting congressman to win a world championship. And now the first active senator-boxer of the planet to wear a world title belt. Senator Manny Pacquiao at present is fast becoming a world sports ambassador. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum tweeted: ?Offers are coming in from all over the world to host Manny Pacquiao fights. Australia, Russia, UK and US. What a way to go out." In the works is the proposed encounter with undefeated contender Jeff Horn in his hometown in Brisbane, Australia in the 52,000-seat Suncorp Stadium. Arum and the Aussie co-promoters are planning to air it on premium cable instead of pay-per-view. In Russia, the hometown hero is Ruslan Provodnikov. But he has lost five times already to John Molina, Jr., Lucas Matthysse, Chris Algieri, Timothy Bradley, Jr., and Mauricio Herrera. But the name of WBO junior lightweight champ Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine has been floated many times as a potential PacMan foe. In the United States, waiting to be tapped is another Arum protege, the world's No. 5 pound-for-pound fighter and WBC/WBO/Ring light welterweight king Terence Crawford probably in the last part of the year. Gennady G. Golovkin fought Kell Brook at the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), Greenwich, London, United Kingdom for the WBC/IBF/IBO world middleweight titles. The fight drew an average of 843,000 viewers on free TV on HBO with a peak of 907,000, according to ESPN. The GGG-Brook match showed that the British market is an ideal place for professional boxing and one good opponent is WBA light welterweight champion Ricky Burns of Scotland. Arum wants Pacquiao to do a Muhammad Ali who became a global ambassador for sports and on the promotion of world peace and unity. Ali fought on all continents except Australia, which will be the venue of the match with Horn if finalized. The fighting senator lately has been invited to Japan, Korea and Cayman Islands to grace boxing related activities. He was recently designated as the Philippine tourism ambassador because of his international stature. Pacquiao became the first Filipino Olympic non-participant to be Team Philippines' flag-bearer during the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in China because of his worldwide prominence. Ali lit the Olympic urn during the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in Georgia, U.S.A. It happened 36 years after he won a boxing gold medal in Rome in 1960. Pacquiao became the first reigning boxing champion to be invited to the White House when he visited President Barack Obama in 2011. When Ali enjoyed the same privilege, he was no longer a champion. Pacquiao is the only Filipino sportsman to grace the cover of Time Magazine in 2009. Others on the cover of the prestigious magazine are former Philippine Presidents and actress and environmentalist Chin Chin Gutierrez. He was also on the cover of the Readers' Digest in 2008. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.  |
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