Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net
What was it like watching Manny Pacquiao battle Ricky Hatton?
I was not in Las Vegas to witness the fight. We watched it via a live feed at the Mag.net Cafe located at the Bonifacio High Street. Thanks to Nike Philippines we saw the bout minus the barrage of advertisements seen on free TV. Watching it via a live feed was like watching it live. Fellow Filipinos cheered with every punch Pacquiao landed on the Briton. As expected, some people booed when Hatton entered the ring. I felt that same tension and anxiety before the fight started.
During the pre-fight, we managed to talk to a British fan. He declared, "If Manny gets close to Hatton, he'll be dead." But as it turned out, the fight was too short. Still, Pacquiao was able to unleash 73 punches (Hatton had 18 landed). As witnessed by millions of viewers worldwide, Hatton got knocked out eventually in the last 10 seconds of the second round.
Later, we saw the British fan whom we talked to earlier. His tone was now different. We approached him again to ask for his reaction. He jokingly declared, "He's the best! Manny for president."
For a few hours leading to the fight, the country was in a standstill. We almost forgot that just a few days ago, we've been hit hard by news of the swine flu, now aptly called A (H1N1).
As we recalled the day that has passed--and the reaction of those who watched the fight via live feed, it was clear that no matter where you are--in Las Vegas or in a roomful of fans watching the fight via satellite or cable--we all reacted the same way when we saw Pacquiao land that strong left hook to the jaw of Hatton. In fact, I almost broke a plate while filming the reaction of the Pacquiao fans at Mag.net cafe.
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Agence France-Presse
SAN ANTONIO--Kobe Bryant scored 23 points as the Los Angeles Lakers clinched a playoff spot with a 102-95 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers also wrapped up the Pacific Division in the final rematch this season of the 2008 Western Conference finals.
Tony Parker and Michael Finley led San Antonio with 25 points apiece.
Drew Gooden made his Spurs debut after being signed a week ago, but played just 3 1/2 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing four rebounds.
Lamar Odom had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles in his return from a one-game suspension for leaving the bench during an altercation in Monday's loss to Portland.
One day after ending Houston's 12-game home winning streak, the Lakers wrapped up their road trip by bringing San Antonio's three-game winning string to an end.
The loss cut San Antonio's lead over the Rockets in the Southwest Division to two games, with the Spurs heading to Houston on Saturday. The Rockets play at Charlotte on Friday.
Tim Duncan had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs.
Trevor Ariza, who joined the Lakers' starting lineup this week, scored 10 points. Derek Fisher also added 10.
By Alex Villafania, Lawrence Casiraya, Erika Tapalla, Janie Octia, Edzelle Pena and Rastle Lozano
A Venue on Makati Avenue became host to amateur mixed martial arts featuring college students in URCC University Challenge III, and INQUIRER.net was there to record the matches.
In the 11th and last match, Ateneo de Manila University’s Mikhail Ignacio was victorious over Paolo Gomez of De La Salle University, giving Ateneo a 3-0 slate over La Salle in the amateur mixed martial arts event. Ignacio won halfway through the first round when the referee stopped the match. It was the shortest fight of the three main bouts with Gomez unable to recover from Ignacio’s strikes and grapples.
In the 10th match, Niko Presbitero of the De La Salle University started the match strong, firing punches at Ryan Marquez of the Ateneo de Manila University in the tenth match of the URCC University Challenge III being held at the A. Venue events hall in Makati City. In Round 2, however, Marquez started to recover, holding onto Presbitero in a reverse chokehold, forcing him to submit and giving Ateneo its second win over La Salle.
In the ninth match, De la Salle University’s Doi Rodriguez tapped out against Ateneo de Manila’s Ronnie Ticao after a series of ground-and-pound attacks by the latter. In both rounds of the fight, Ticao reigned the ring despite Rodriguez’s attempts to turn the tables against him.
In the eighth match, PMI College’s Jay Co Telan threw wicked roundhouse kicks against opponent Jeff Dogma of Perpetual. During the second round, Telan delivered strikes to the head and stomach of Dogma and almost caught him with an arm bar but ran out of time. Telan finished the eighth match of the evening with ground-and-pound techniques on Dogma, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
In the seventh match, Perpetual’s Giovanni Valenciano dominated University of the East's Raymond Carlos, delivering several knee-strikes. The fight had to be paused several times when the fighters grappled toward the ropes.
In the sixth match, it was a close battle between fighters Alvin Ramirez of AMA and Kalayaan College’s Carlo Juarez. Both fighters traded good blows but in the end the judges decided Ramirez was the better warrior.
In the fifth match, Miguel Gerard Alo of the University of the Philippines Diliman won against AMA’s JR Amores in the second round. Alo dominated the match against Amores with several body slams. He was able to hold on against a ground-and-pound attack by Amores in the last few seconds of Round 1 but by Round 2, Alo completely dominated the game with a flurry of strikes that became the highlight of the fight.
In the fourth match, San Beda Alabang’s Mike Dula was victorious when the referee stopped his fight against Val Castelano of the De La Salle University early in the third round. Castelano was being pummeled the entire second round and early in the third round, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
In the third match, Lawrence Chan of Emilio Aguinaldo College won via submission at the expense of TESDA’s Robin Pajantoy in the first round via an arm bar. The fight was momentarily stopped when Chan's headgear was loosened. Chan was losing the match but was able to reverse Pajantoy's hold in the last few seconds of Round 1.
In the second match, UP Diliman’s Gilbert Ombao was on top of AMA College’s Angelo Christi all throughout the fight, leading the judges to call it in favor of Ombao after the second round.
In the first match, Franz Altarejos of the Entrepreneurs’ School of Asia won via submission using a choke hold against Jonathan Lacson of the University of the Philippines. Altarejos dispatched of Lacson in 43 seconds of the first round, quickly wrapping up the first match.
Visit our URCC University Challenge III Special Site at www.inquirer.net/specialreports/urcc
