Isports ATBP.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. turned from a Manny Pacquiao critic to an advisor, offering encouraging words to the fallen eight-division world champion after suffering a stunning sixth-round knockout loss to Mexican dynamo Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday. Pacquiao dropped to the canvas face-first after receiving Marquez’s brutal right in the two-minute and 59-second mark of the sixth round, to finally conquer his chief rival. Pacquiao’s crushing defeat could further delay a potential 2013 meeting with Mayweather after the latter’s manager, Leonard Ellerbe, announced that his ward will fight twice next year. Mayweather, however, is not at all concerned about the mega-fight and instead feels sorry for Pacquiao in his fourth encounter with Marquez. "I feel bad for him [Pacquiao], honestly…There’s a difference in how you get knocked out,” said Mayweather at FightyHype.com. “Things happen. You live and you learn. The only thing he (Pacquiao) can do is rejuvenate himself and boun...

Tatay was speechless as he watched Manny Pacquiao fall face-first after receiving a crushing right from Juan Manuel Marquez. He ran out of words on how to describe Pacman's defeat. My father, who played three sports while studying at Araullo Lyceum in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, is no boxing analyst or expert but a mere sports fan. He watched and enjoyed classic fights of George Foreman, the former Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), Leon Sphinx, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., to name a few. Tatay, like most Filipinos, was hoping for a Pacquiao knockout win so the People's Champ could finally silence his critics that he is slipping and his career is going south. He was expecting a knockout win, but not by Marquez and not the ending that happened in one of boxing's epic rivalries. Tatay said Marquez came out more prepared, as he didn't want to frustrate his throngs of Mexican fans. He had been training for more than 4 months, determined ...

Freddie Roach said that he wanted Manny Pacquiao to remain busy inside the ring once the Fighting Congressman from Sarangani province faces Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time on December 8 (Sunday in Manila) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 52-year-old Roach, in an interview by Los Angeles Times writer Lance Pugmire, has added welterweight prospect Frankie Gomez as the eight-time world division's newest sparring partner for his training camp at the Wild Card Gym. Gomez,  who will fight on the undercard of the Amir Khan-Carlos Molina main event on December 15 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, i s also being trained by Roach and is undefeated after 13 fights, with 10 of his wins coming by knockout. "I use Frankie for activity. I want Manny to fight full three-minute rounds against Marquez, and Frankie gets in there and forces Manny to do that," said Roach. "Manny and Frankie are both very competitive in there, and Frankie has proven to be...

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. is hoping they can accomplish all their planned programs after the group of the former Tarlac first district representative contested positions in Friday’s elections at the Alabang Country Club in Muntinlupa City . Cojuangco, who got 32 votes to earn a fresh four-year term,  said they will quickly buckle down to work to prepare the country’s athletes for several international competitions next year, including the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar . “Any group that is working together can give you good results. I hope we can still be together for the expectation of the Filipino people,” said Cojuangco, who again appointed Steve Hontiveros as secretary-general. But he said the POC’s top priority would be establishing a training center focused on sports science. This program would help athletes in the national training pool and national teams, as well as coaches, in their preparation for interna...