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Philippines, 24 Nov 2024 |
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The Big 9 in 2009 By Carlo Pamintuan PhilBoxing.com Sat, 03 Jan 2009   2008 was a great year for Philippine boxing, which was bannered by Manny Pacquiao?s three big wins in three different divisions. Three Filipino world champions also successfully defended their titles and these are Nonito Donaire who defeated Moruti Mthlane to retain his IBF and IBO flyweight titles, Gerry Penalosa who schooled Ratanachai sor Vorapin to defend his WBO bantamweight title, and Donnie Nietes who knocked out his challenger, Eddy Castro, to keep his WBO minimumweight crown. As Filipino boxing fans, we all hope that we will be treated with more great fights in the year 2009 and I have made a list of nine fights involving Filipino fighters that I hope we all get to see this year. The first is the Pacman (48-3-2) taking on Ricky Hatton (45-1-0) for the latter?s IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight titles. This surefire Fight of the Year candidate will surely be a classic battle involving two combatants who will not back down no matter what. These two are at the peak of their game and this event would easily be the best-selling pay-per-view of 2009. The second fight is between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (38-0-0) to determine who should really be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and arguably the best pugilist of this generation. However, this fight is extremely unlikely as it will take a lot of cash and a Pacquiao win over Hatton to get the Pretty Boy to come back. The supposedly already-scheduled match between WBO super flyweight champion Fernando Montiel (38-2-1) and Donaire (20-1-0) is the third fight in this list. This is really the next logical step for Donaire as the other champions at 112 have all passed on the opportunity to unify their belts with him. Montiel, on the other hand, has no one to unify with at the moment as the other title holder at 115, Vic Darchinyan, is already scheduled to take on Jorge Arce. This will be a good fight for arguably the two best fighters in their respective divisions. The next fight on this list is highly dependent on the fight just mentioned above. If Donaire gets past Montiel, it would really be tremendous for boxing if he unifies with the winner of the Darchinyan-Arce fight. It has been a long while since a single fighter held all four titles at his weight class and this will indubitably bring a lot of attention to the lighter weight divisions. A Penalosa (53-6-2) versus Juan Manuel Lopez (24-0-0) match is also on my wish list for 2009. After winning the WBO super bantamweight title, Lopez really has not fought anyone who could challenge him. A fight with Penalosa would test the young champion?s mettle like it was never tested before, and for Penalosa, it is a chance to win another world title in another weight division. Another fight I want to see is a rematch between AJ Banal (17-1-1) and Rafael Concepcion (12-3-1). The highly-regarded Banal was stopped by the gritty Concepcion in their battle for the interim WBA super flyweight title. Concepcion has since lost this title to Arce and, after Banal?s fight this January, I hope he pursues a rematch with Concepcion. This will be a great test for the young Banal and his team to see if he really has what it takes to be a great fighter. Banal had Concepcion in trouble many times in their fight but he faded in the end. This fight would tell us if Banal has worked on his weaknesses. The next fight on this list, I believe, has never been mentioned before. I hope that some of the powers-that-be read this article and try to get this fight made. One fight that I really want to see this year is David Diaz (34-2-1) versus Ranee Ganoy (25-11-2). Diaz is a proven blood and guts warrior as was seen in his fight against Pacquiao. Ganoy, although coming off a loss, is tough as nails and also packs a wicked punch. Diaz said he wants to fight in the Philippines and I think he should be put in the ring with one of the country?s best lightweights. This will surely be an entertaining brawl as long as it lasts. The next fight on my list might not be a popular one for many Filipinos. Even though that may be the case, I still think a fight between Rey Bautista (26-2-0) and Bernabe Concepcion (27-1-1) is extremely interesting. The former is coming of a tough defeat while the latter has just fought the best fight in his young career. This fight is like the Reynante Jamili-Pacquiao fight of 1999. After that fight, Jamili slowly faded while Pacquiao soared to new heights. It has been a very long time since two world-class Filipino fighters fought each other and I think this is the time to do it. The last fight involves another Filipino world champion who still has no fight on this list. In my opinion, Nietes (23-1-0) should try his best to land a fight against Ivan Calderon (32-0-0) of Puerto Rico. Calderon is the most recognized name in the 105-108 pound area and a fight with him would surely bring Nietes the attention that he deserves. It would also make him earn his biggest purse ever because Calderon is known fighter internationally. 2009 promises to be a great year for boxing with many big fights already signed. Juan Manuel Marquez versus Juan Diaz and Antonio Margarito versus Shane Mosley are but two of the big fights already scheduled for the early part of this year. Let?s all hope that all our Filipino fighters have a great year ahead of them. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Carlo Pamintuan.  |
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