MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo conferred Friday on boxing legend Manny Pacquiao a top national medal, the Order of Sikatuna, usually reserved for foreign diplomats and heads of state.

The pound-for-pound king will carry the rank of Datu.

Pacquiao has won seven world titles in seven weight divisions, the latest of which is his 12th round TKO win over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last November 14 (November 15 in the Philippines) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The crowd chanted “Manny! Manny!” when the President finally presented the plaque to the “Pambansang Kamao (National Fist)” during the “Parangal kay Manny sa Luneta” program held at the Quirino Grandstand on Friday.

“The reason why we are here in Luneta is so that many Filipinos can come and celebrate your victory with you,” said Arroyo in Filipino.

Pacquiao thanked the President for the award and all the Filipinos who came to witness the ceremony.

Carrying the two belts he won in his recent bout, Pacquiao said: “Hindi ko po belt ito. Belt po nating lahat na mga Pilipino. Para po ito sa karangalan nating lahat (This is not my belt. This is for all of you and for the pride of Filipinos).”

Under Executive Order (EO) 236 or the Honors Code of the Philippines, the Order of Sikatuna is an “Order of diplomatic merit conferred upon individuals who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the Republic of the Philippines, upon diplomats, officials and nationals of foreign states who have rendered conspicuous services in fostering, developing and strengthening relations between their country and the Philippines, or upon personnel of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), both in the Home Office and in the Foreign Service.”

Among the notable recipients of the Sikatuna award were the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, former United States President Dwight Eisenhower, and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In 2006, Arroyo bestowed on Pacquiao the Order of Lakandula with the rank of “Champion for Life” after his 12-round conquest of Mexican Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Also present in Friday’s ceremony were his wife Jinkee, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, and Deputy National Security Adviser Luis Chavit Singson.

The “Parangal kay Manny sa Luneta” program kicked off with a replay of his fight with Cotto courtesy of Solar Entertainment, while the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) also conducted its “Common Tao Day” where it provided free medical, dental and eye check-up.

Before the hero’s welcome in Luneta, Pacquiao had a motorcade and a mini-concert from GMA-7 television network.

Hero’s parade

During Pacquiao’s motorcade Friday, Manila’s notorious traffic came to a halt and thousands lined streets and bridges to cheer Pacquiao, who returned home pondering his next moves — facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and seeking a congressional seat.

At 5:30 a.m. Friday, Pacquiao stepped from the plane still nursing an injured right ear and said he saw no problem facing Mayweather in the next megafight.

“I am willing to fight Mayweather as long as there’s an agreement,” the 30-year-old said. “But we don’t want to force him to fight me. He should be the one to challenge me because it was clear I had more pay-per-view than him.”

Mayweather is coming off a victory over Juan Manuel Marquez that sold more than 1 million pay-per-views, and Pacquiao’s stoppage of welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on Sunday is expected to surpass 1.2 million.

Megafight

In Las Vegas, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is ready to begin negotiations for a megafight between the two pound-for-pound kings.

Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, said on Thursday that his Filipino star was willing to fight at 147 pounds (67 kilograms).

Arum was waiting to hear from Golden Boy Promotions chief Richard Schaefer, who was acting as an intermediary between Top Rank and Mayweather Promotions, two companies with an acrimonious relationship. Schaefer has assisted Mayweather’s team on his most recent fights.

“I have to have discussions with our side, and when the time is right, I will be talking to Bob,” Schaefer told The Associated Press. “That will probably take place face to face, and I intend that to happen very shortly.”

Mayweather’s adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, left no doubt that Mayweather was ready to get in the ring with the man who many believe replaced him atop the best pound-for-pound list.

“Floyd has made it perfectly clear to Team Mayweather and the rest of the world that he wants to give the fans what they want, and that’s Mayweather versus Pacquiao,” Ellerbe said.

The notion that so many venues are vying for a fight that has yet to be made demonstrates how much attention the sport is receiving.

“It’s not so much that I give a damn whether this fight happens – I don’t – and for me it’s not the greatest experience doing a promotion with Floyd Mayweather,” Arum said. “But not to do this fight would slow down the momentum of boxing.”

Mainstream sponsors like Pepsi and Subway have shown interest in Pacquiao-Mayweather, one more sign the sport is returning to the popularity level in the United States that it enjoyed in the early 1980s.

“It has to happen. The stars are aligned and both fighters want it,” said HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. “If it doesn’t, it would be devastating to the sport.”

Mayweather issued a statement on Monday in which he said, “If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight me, all he has to do is step up to the plate and say it himself.”

“The world is much more intrigued by the thought of someone fighting me who can beat me,” Mayweather added. “Manny Pacquiao’s people have done a good job of creating an image of him to be this unbelievable fighter and now the so-called guy to beat me.”

Arum promised that “my guy will make (Mayweather) fight, and once he fights, my guy will knock him out,” while Ellerbe made it perfectly clear how he sees the fight shaking out.

“At the end of the day, we already know that Floyd is the best fighter in all of boxing, and if we’re able to make a deal, he’ll just be proving it to the world,” Ellerbe said. “Nothing has changed. Pacquiao will be no different.”

Vacation

For the time being, Pacquiao said he just wants a vacation with his family. “I want to relax and my ear injury to heal,” he told reporters, saying he will soon fly to his southern home province.

From there, he said he would file his nomination for a congressional seat in next year’s elections. It will be Pacquiao’s second jab at politics after his 2007 campaign fell short.

His popularity has become overwhelming. He recently made the cover of Time magazine in Asia and is by far the most recognized person in the Philippines.

A former baker and construction worker born to a poor family, Pacquiao became an embodiment of a rags-to-riches story in the country where one-third of the 90 million people live on less than $1 a day.

Standing in a flattop truck and surrounded by his wife and the country’s environment secretary, his longtime supporter, Pacquiao waved to the crowds and threw them T-shirts emblazoned with a fist shaped in letters “MP” and draped in colors of the Philippine flag.

SOURCE: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/network/pacquiao-conferred-order-sikatuna-0

The father/manager of former IBO light welterweight champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, Ray Hatton, has praised pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for “a cracking fight” in which he stopped WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in 55 seconds of the final round at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Saturday.

In an overseas telephone conversation with BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Hatton said Pacquiao put on “a tremendous performance and he (Pacquiao) looked so big on the scales, even bigger than Cotto.”

Hatton said he felt that Cotto “took more than what he needed to about eight rounds onwards” even as he commended Pacquiao who, he observed, “at times took his foot off the pedal (eased off) which was good job he did.”

At the same time Hatton said Cotto was “very, very brave and took punches with about three rounds left that I thought he didn’t have to although he didn’t want to quit.” He said such decisions “could be punishing a little bit later and could be the difference between how long his career lasts.”

Pacquiao administered a brutal second round knockout on Hatton when they clashed at the MGM Grand last May 6.

Hatton disclosed that following that crushing defeat his son Ricky would make a decision on whether to return to the ring sometime in January after an extended holiday and that should he return the opponent may well be Juan Manuel Marquez, the reigning WBA/WBO lightweight champion who dropped a lopsided points decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr last October.

Hatton said “that’s the fight they want him to have and I know for a fact that if Ricky comes back you have to come up against an opponent who is in the top three or four in the pound-for-pound list. I wouldn’t think he’ll come back to just fight and knock somebody out.” He said Ricky Hatton “is just like Manny (Pacquiao) who wouldn’t do that either. If he (Ricky) does fight again it will be a really credible opponent.” Hatton Promotions chief executive Gareth Williams had earlier told Gavin Glicksman of The Sun that “if Ricky does carry on it would be an ideal fight for him to take on Marquez. He is an elite fighter, just like Ricky, who will want to challenge the best.”

SOURCE: http://www.boxingscene.com/index.php?m=show&id=23562

The 145-pound weight limit doesn’t seem to have affected either Miguel Cotto or Manny Pacquiao for tomorrow night’s mega fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Cotto came in at 145 on the nose, and Pacquiao weighed in one pound under the limit at 144. It’s interesting from one angle, which is that Manny Pacquiao came in at 142 when he fought Oscar de la Hoya at a full welterweight limit last December. So this is the heaviest Manny has ever been on the scales.

We’ll have more tonight and tomorrow, before we go live at 9pm ET on Saturday night for live coverage, scoring and analysis of the entire HBO PPV card.

The atmosphere for the weigh-in was incredible on the webcast, and every boxing writer that is there live in Vegas said the same, whether on Twitter or whatever. The crowd tomorrow is going to be totally mad.

Jesus Soto Karass came in at 148 pounds initially, then stripped down and weighed in at 147.5 for his welterweight undercard bout with Alfonso Gomez. JSK has to lose a half-pound, which shouldn’t be any major issue. Gomez came in at 145 1/2.

Daniel Santos and Yuri Foreman both weighed in at 154 pounds for their WBA junior middleweight title fight, and Troy Rowland and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. are fighting at middleweight. Rowland weighed 159, Chavez 160. Hat tip to Ramon Aranda of 411mania.com for the weights on the Chavez-Rowland fight, as ESPN cut their webcast just before those two hit the scales.

SOURCE: http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/11/13/1156385/weights-in-miguel-cotto-at-145

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Manny Pacquiao, the biggest drawcard in contemporary boxing, will face the toughest challenge of his career when he takes on holder Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight title on Saturday.

Although Filipino Pacquiao is widely viewed as the favourite in his bid to win a seventh world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class, the scheduled 12-round bout has whet the appetite of fans and boxing insiders alike.

Renowned trainer Angelo Dundee predicts “a great, great fight” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena while former heavyweight champion George Foreman has backed the bigger and more powerful Puerto Rican to win on a split decision.

“You have a perfect blending of style in this fight,” Dundee told reporters in the build-up to Saturday’s clash. “If I ever had a fighter fighting Pacquiao, I would implement the things that Cotto brings to the table.

“Cotto is a pressure fighter and he’s going to be on Pacquiao from the get-go. He’s got a great left hook and he’s a good body puncher.

“I see a very tough distance fight, and there is going to be blood,” added Dundee, who has trained Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Foreman.

“Pacquiao takes it to you all the time but in this fight he is going to have to back up. He’s smart, slick, and has great hand speed, but Cotto counters those things.”

Pacquiao, regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, has a glittering record of 49-3-2 with 37 knockouts but Foreman believes he could fall victim to complacency.

RIDING HIGH

“Pacquiao has been riding high and has beaten some of the best in the world,” Foreman said. “And it leaves you kind of complacent when you’re winning.

“Even if you don’t want it to, sometimes you can’t get up for a big fight — and that’s a plus for Cotto. I think Cotto wins in a 12-round decision.”

Cotto, who has won a world title every year since 2004, has an enviable career record of 34-1 featuring 27 knockouts.

Although Pacquiao holds a significant speed advantage over the Puerto Rican, he has great respect for Cotto’s punching power, strength and intelligence.

“This will be my toughest test as a professional boxer,” the 30-year-old southpaw said. “I know he is an excellent, smart fighter and a great world champion.

“We also know he is good in body punching so I have to counter that. I am prepared for anything Miguel Cotto has to offer. I feel like I know him like I know myself.”

While Pacquiao and Cotto have consistently expressed mutual respect for one another in the build-up to the fight, the Filipino’s trainer Freddie Roach has been typically outspoken.

“We are in great shape and I have never seen my fighter looking better,” Roach said. “Pacquiao’s a much better defensive fighter than he’s ever been.

“I respect Miguel, but he’ll get knocked out in this one. I just think Miguel Cotto’s defence isn’t good enough. He’s hittable and people that Manny can hit he knocks out.”

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/11/12/sports/sports-uk-boxing-pacquiao-preview.html?_r=1