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Manny Pacquiao hurdled his first fight this year after being re-elected as the Representative of Sarangani province's lone legislative district. Pacquiao was unopposedly garnering a total of 135,670 votes of the Sarangani's 296,499 registered voters. His next big fight will be against 27-year-old Brandon Rios on November 23 at the Venetian Arena's Cotai Arena in Macau, China. Boxing promoter Aljo Jaro, who manages Filipino light flyweight contender Denver "The Excitement" Cuello, along with Filipino-American Boxing Writers Association of America member Ryan Songalia and veteran fight analyst Atty. Ed Tolentino believes Rios is a good pick by Top Rank Big Boss Bob Arum to be Pacquiao's next opponent. "November is a good month to fight for Pacquiao so he can train and properly prepare for his fight against Rios," said Jaro. "He should not underestimate Rios, aside from being younger he is hungry and motivated to win. Manny should train d

May 5 was not the usual Sunday for me for I have to attend a 7 a.m. press conference some 30 or so kilometers away from my bed. It was an unusual press conference since most event organizers hold it either at 9 a.m. (the earliest) to 7 p.m. Waking up early was worth it, since S unday's presser was intended for a big, rather huge sports celebrity: China's Gentle Giant Yao Ming. Holding the presser/event/breakfast with the former NBA Star at Solaire Resort was the right decision since Yao's 7-foot-6 frame can move freely in the spacious  Grand Ballroom. Yao, a former member of China's dreaded Walking Great Wall (along with fellow ex-NBA cagers Mengke Bateer and Wang Zhizhi), is in Manila as part of the Philippines-China Basketball Friendship Games. The former Houston Rocket, arguably China's biggest (no pun intended) sports import, brought with him the Shanghai Sharks — the 2001-2002 Chinese Basketball Association champion and perennial title contender in

Deposed champion Nonito Donaire Jr. wants a rematch against Guillermo  Rigondeaux and has called out the Cuban World Boxing Association and  World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight titlist to fight at 126  pounds or even at a catch weight that both sides agree on. Donaire (31-2 with 20 knockouts) suffered a unanimous decision loss  against Rigondeaux (12-0 with eight knockouts) two weeks ago costing  the Filipino Flash his WBO and The Ring title belts. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Donaire's promoter, however, is also  thinking of pitting the 30-year-old Talibon, Bohol-born fighter  against World Boxing Council titleholder Victor Terrazas (37-2-1 with  21 knockouts) of Mexico. Donaire no longer wants to continue fighting at 122 lbs. after encountering weight problems before his 12-round unification bout against Rigondeaux  and now wants to  climb up to the featherweight (126 lbs.) division. "Going down to 122 would be a disadvantage for me so I'll wait for

The Wushu Federation of the Philippines (WFP) will be sending four members of its developmental pool to the 2nd Sportaccord Combat Games in St. Petersburg, Russia as it will concentrate its resources to form its best team for the 12th World Wushu Championships and the 27th Myanmar Southeast Asian Games later this year. WFP secretary general Julian Camacho said they don’t want to risk sending their top players to Russia since the Combat Games will end two days before the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Combat Games is set from October 18 to 26 while the World Championships will be held from October 28 to November 6. Four slots, one in taolu and three in sanda, were given by the National Wushu Federation of Russia in the weeklong games, which will showcase the non-Olympic martial arts and combat sports of aikido, ju-jitsu, karate, kendo, kickboxing, Muaythai, sambo, savate, sumo and wushu aside from the Olympic sports of boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo and

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Chinese celebrated atop the podium after the mixed team relay event but it was the five para-triathletes that were given much attention at the end of the 20th Asian Triathlon Confederation (ASTC) K-Swiss Asian Triathlon Championships. China, with Japanese men's and women's elite champions Yuichi Hosoda and Mariko Adachi skipping the final event, topped the Mixed Team relay Monday held at Dungaree beach. The Chinese actually fielded three teams in the mixed relay with the other squad finishing third behind runners-up Japan. But organizers ruled out that one team per country will win in the race giving the bronze medal to Hong Kong, which placed fourth. China's mixed relay team composed of Dan Fan, Bai Faquan, Huang Yuting and Duan Zhengyu registered a combined time of one hour, 31 minutes and 22 seconds. Japan – behind the combined exploits of Sumire Ohara, Fumika Matsumoto, Shirubu Taniguchi and Jumpei Furuya – led from the start but wilted under pr