Two future Hall of Famers in light-heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins and WBC interim welter king Sugar Shane Mosley yesterday voiced out their support for the Filipino fighters seeing action in the ‘Moment of Truth’ card on February 24 at the Cebu City Sports Complex.
Hopkins, a business partner of the Golden Boy Promotions, said Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista is the future world champion in an interview with ABS-CBN.
“You can do it, Boom-Boom. You’re my man. Show them what you’ve got,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins had come up close and personal with Bautista on December 2 last year when the latter saw action in a card in Tampa, Florida where Hopkins graced the event with Oscar De la Hoya and Sugar Shane Mosley as co-promoters.
Mosley, meanwhile, exhorted everyone to go out and support the Filipino fighters in the ‘Moment of Truth’ card.
Mosley is coming off a brilliant 12-round unanimous decision win over Luis Collazo for the interim WBC welterweight crown last Sunday.
Mosley had also met Bautista at the Tampa, Florida card last year, and was impressed with the talent of the hard-punching Bautista.
Meanwhile, both WBO superfly king Fernando Montiel and Colombian Feider Viloria will hold public workouts at the Fight Club in Banilad Trade Center on Tuesday, February 20, starting at 5PM.
Promoter Sammy ‘Don King’ Gello-ani will also introduce the two fighters in a press conference at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel on Sunday.
TFC TO AIR ‘MOMENT OF TRUTH’ CARD
ABS-CBN’s global partner, The Filipino Channel (TFC), will air the February 24 ‘Moment of Truth’ card featuring the WBO superflyweight championship and two other international bouts plus some of the undercards.
The TFC channel covers North America, Europe, Middle East, as well as Australia and the Asia Pacific.
Cebuano boxing star Z ‘The Dream’ Gorres will challenge Mexican WBO 115-lb champion Fernando Montiel in the 12-round main event.
Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista will also take on Colombian Feider Viloria for the vacant WBO Intercontinental and Youth superbantam titles, while Jimrex Jaca challenges Indonesia’s Simson Butar-Butar in the third 12-round tiff for the WBO Asia-Pacific super-featherweight title.
The card also boasts of a solid undercard featuring the undefeated Alex John Banal, Bert Batawang and Milan Milendo.
The grandson of Flash Elorde, Juan Martin Elorde, will also be fighting in his professional debut on the card.
Meanwhile, the Cebu City Marriott Hotel will be host to the February 18 press conference where WBO champion Montiel and Viloria will be formally introduced to the media at a noontime press conference organized by SGG Sports Promotions. The two fighters are slated to arrive on Saturday, February 17, and will take part in the press conference the day after.
In the afternoon, Indonesian Simson Butar-Butar is set to plane in from Jakarta with his manager and trainer.
The Marriott Hotel will also be the official residence for both Z Gorres and Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista on the days leading to the fight.
BWAA PICKS PACMAN, ROACH AS YEAR’S BEST
Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach have been chosen by the prestigious Boxing Writers’ Association of America (BWAA) as its Fighter and Trainer of the Year, respectively.
Pacquiao will receive the Edward J. Neil Trophy for going 3-0 in 2006, and stopping legendary Mexican Erik Morales twice along the way.
Roach, who guided Pacquiao in those three victories, will receive the Futch-Condon award as Trainer of the Year, his second after winning it in 2003.
Pacquiao and Roach will be honored at the 82nd annual BWAA Annual Awards Dinner on June 8 in New York.
Earlier, Pacquiao had also been chosen by the Ring Magazine and other major publications as Fighter of the Year.
In winning the BWAA award, Pacquiao edged out pound-for-pound rival Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe and Israel Vazquez who were also nominated.
Roach, meanwhile, took the title over such other big-name tacticians as Emmanuel Steward, Enzo Calzaghe, Naazim Richardson and Victor Valle Jr.
The BWAA also chose the Somsak Sithchachawal-Mahyar Monshipour rumble in France as Fight of the Year, while HBO analyst Larry Merchant will get the James J. Walker award for long and meritorious service.
Top Rank public relations tandem Lee Samuels and Ricardo Jimenez will share the Marvin Kohn Good Guy Award. Samuels and Jimenez, according to the BWAA, combine to form one of the most efficient and multi-faceted publicity departments in boxing.
Steve Albert, with 20 years of experience calling fights with Showtime, will get the Sam Taub Award for excellence in broadcast journalism. He previously worked for ESPN and SportsChannel and has handled NBA play-by-play for over two decades.
Muhammad Ali will be honored with the Pat Putnam Award for Perseverance, although the BWAA refused to give an award for the Manager of the Year title.
