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Philippines, 06 May 2025 |
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An Few Moments With The 'New Pacquiao Cutman' By Jhay Oh Otamias PhilBoxing.com Sun, 08 Jul 2018  Many has been written about people that surrounds Senator Manny Pacquiao those that fall loosely under the umbrella of ?Team Pacquiao?. Some of what was written was great stuff, others do not even rate a mention anywhere. But then again, most of the unsavory stuff about these people was due to their own making. The word ?professionalism? is close to impossible to apply to them. There is a lot more about the group but that is not for me to say. A few of the issues can be traced to Pacquiao himself but that is only because Pacquiao is a great forgiving guy that people tend to abuse his kindness. The lastest addition to Team Pacquiao is Los Angeles dentist, Dr. Ed de la Vega. If you know this guy as well as we do, you know he does not fit at all with the typical people in Team Pacquiao. The guy is a straight shooter and exceedingly honest. He is also very generous. But be that as it may, we know he will be a great addition to the corner of Senator Pacquiao during the fight. De la Vega does a lot of Sports Dentistry thus he is well versed with sports injuries and how to minimize them and manage them if they occur. He was recently picked by Pacquiao to be his cutman for the fight against Lucas Matthysee of Argentina. De la Vega for many years provided Pacquiao with world-class custom mouthguards. He also provides them to any Filipino boxer that walks in his office at Canoga Park, California for free! We caught up with de la Vega one hot and humid Los Angeles afternoon and here is what came off our ambush interview: Although the interview was done in Tagalog, we translated it for the benefit of our non-Filipino readers. JhayO: Good afternoon Doc Ed. First of all congratulations on the news that Manny Pacquaio picked you to be his cutman for his fight against Lucas Matthysee. Dr Ed: Thank you Jhay. This is a great opportunity given to me. I am ready to do my job and hopefully, I can live up to the expectations of the Senator. I know the Senator trust and support me 100 percent. I expect the same unconditional support from the team to be successful. Without that, it may be a little bit more challenging. But regardless, because the Senator personally picked me, he can be assured that I will do everything to help him attain his goals. JhayO: How and when did you find out about the news that the Senator picked you. Dr. Ed: Honestly, it came as a huge surprise to me. I read about it on an article by Joaquin Henson on PhilStar. He verified it to me at Fresno where I met him during the Ancajas-Sultan fifght. JhayO: What do you think is the reason Senator Pacquiao picked you? Dr Ed: I hope he picked me because of my training and my capabilities to do the job. I heard he was looking a Filipino to complete his ?All-Filipino? Team except Justin Fortune of Australia. Apparently he heard about my work with Team ALA particularly my 8 years as the cutman for Donnie Nietes and the other Pinoy boxers that came to fight in the US like Aston Palicte and Romero Duno. When I visited GenSan two weeks ago, his chief trainer, Buboy Fernandez indicated that upon his recommendations, the Senator picked me over all the others recommended by various members of his Team. Knowing the mentality of some people in the Team, I am not sure that is good or bad. JhayO: What do you perceive as your role as a cutman? Dr.Ed: I only have one major responsibility? that is to keep the Senator in a position to continue fighting round after round until the end, injuries due to cuts, hematomas and abrasions not-with-standing. In case of injuries, it is my responsibility to manage those so as not to give the ring doctor or the referee an opportunity to stop the fight on account of them. I must make the ring doctor a non-factor during the fight. JhayO: What is the secret of successful cutmen? Dr.Ed: There are no tried and true secrets but, it is important that a bond between the cutman and the fighter exists so as to develop trust between each other. A successful cutman should be able to calm down his fighter as well as the trainers for that matter, during the heat of battle. This entails calmly managing all injuries of the fighter in the less than 60 seconds afforded to him with proper technique and use of legal medications as well as with soothing comforting words of wisdom. When that is done the fighter starts to calm down himself. With that he can focus on the fight and be more receptive to instructions coming from the trainer instead of worrying about his injuries. JhayO: The fight is in abut a week. When are you leaving for Malaysia. Dr.Ed: Hopefully, anytime soon. I don?t have my tickets yet but I heard the Team is frantically working to secure them for me. They are so busy and preoccupied with a lot of issues so perhaps my needs are simply put on the back burner. Well at least for now. I expect to get my tickets no later than July 12, Los Angeles time. Anything past that would make my trip problematical and may certainly jeopardize the fight for the good Senator. JhayO: Thank you and good luck on the fight. Have a safe and fun trip. I wish I can go with you. Dr.Ed: Thank you, Jhay. Photo: Manny Pacquiao poses with his Kuala Lumpur cutman Dr Ed de la Vega who also manufactures his mouthguards. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jhay Oh Otamias.  |
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