In a virtual rout, reigning Ring Magazine featherweight king Manny Pacquiao has been hailed by the Games and Amusements Board as the country’s 2004 Boxer of the Year following his successful campaign for the year 2004.
GAB Boxing Division chief Emmanuel “Noli” Flores, in an interview with this writer, informed that Pacquiao won hands down, thus clinching his third GAB Award.
Newly-installed GAB chairman Eric Buhain, together with Commissioners Angel Bautista and Alex Paglumutan, is expected to award Pacquiao with the official citation probably soon after the Filipino ring icon comes back from his scheduled March 19 dream showdown with Mexican legend Erik Morales.
GOV. PI?OL’S ADVICE Meanwhile, North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Pi?ol, one of the country’s biggest boxing personalities, has hailed the planned Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales bout, saying it makes more financial sense for the Filipino ring hero to go straight to a fight with Morales rather than the hard-to-get Juan Manuel Marquez.
Pi?ol, the chief backer of WBC no. 7 flyweight Diosdado Gabi, also stressed that style-wise, Pacquiao has a big advantage over Morales, who may also have suffered some wear-and-tear in his famous trilogy with Marco Antonio Barrera not to mention other classic encounters he had with British loud-mouth Prince Naseem Hamed and Junior Jones.
The well-meaning Pi?ol, who promoted Pacquiao’s bout against Thai Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym in late-2002, also added that it’s about time that Pacquiao should “free himself from the shackles of Murad Muhammad,” pointing out that Filipino champ’s marquee value is now enough to propel himself into self-promotion status. “Look at Oscar De la Hoya, look at Bernard Hopkins. Pacquiao should do the same,” Pi?ol sagely explained.
