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By Eddie G. Alinea Contributor
ONLY eight fighters so far have
won four world boxing championships in four separate weight
categories and Filipino ring hero Manny Pacquiao hopes to join that
elite list when he fights World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight
champion David Diaz on June 28 in Las Vegas.
Not only that, 29-year-old
Pacquiao, reigning WBC super featherweight champ, is seeking to
become the first Filipino to win the 135-pound crown, a feat not
even Hall of Famer Gabriel “Flash” Elorde had attained during
his prime.
The General Santos City-based
Pacquiao vowed to do everything to etch his name in international
boxing history the fastest way he can via an early knockout victory.
“First round pa lang, uupakan
ko na at maganda ito para grabe ang action sa ring [I’ll pummel
him right in the first round so there will be terrific action in the
ring],” Pacquiao told Filipino scribe Hermie Rivera during
Tuesday’s press conference in Los Angeles.
“‘Yan ang gusto natin, todo
buhos. Importante makuha ang belt [That’s what I intend to do. The
important thing is to win the belt].”
“Malaki ito at sisikapin kong
maagaw ang korona ni Diaz. [This is big and I’ll do my best to
bring the crown to our country],” he declared at the well-attended
press briefing held at Bonaventure Hotel in downtown L.A.
To succeed, the Pacman intends to
unleash the lethal combinations that sent home 35 of the 46
opponents who crossed his path since he first entered the square
arena 13 years ago.
Pacquiao knows it won’t be easy
though for he is facing a fighter who also wields his own brand of
power shots in the person of the Chicago-based Mexican-American who
owns a 34-1-1 win-loss-draw record, 17 of them via stoppage.
Diaz, asserting that he is in
shape, vowed not to give Pacquiao breathing room in their 12-round
date set at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel.
“It’s all go,” boasted
Diaz, who is considered an underdog this early.
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