Tag: Manny Pacquiao

Pacquiao still in top form at 40: Bacolod mayor

BACOLOD CITY — Mayor Evelio Leonardia, flag-bearer of Team Pacquiao, said Filipino boxing icon, Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, is still at his peak at 40 years old.

The chief executive here, who waved the Philippine flag inside the ring before the bout in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, said Pacquiao, in defending his World Boxing Association welterweight title against American Adrien Broner, showed the same form he had at the prime of his boxing career.

“Life begins at 40. This is what Senator Pacquiao has just proven in Las Vegas. He did not only beat Broner, but he also beat Father Time,” he said in a statement on Sunday.


Some 5,000 residents of Bacolod City watching the free live broadcast of the Pacquiao-Broner fight at the Bacolod Arts, Youth and Sports Center celebrate after Senator Manny Pacquiao defended his World Boxing Association welterweight title against American Adrien Broner on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019.
Photo courtesy of Bacolod City PIO

Leonardia added that it was “amazing to watch a 40-year-old boxer still with so much speed and power.”

“While other boxers see their careers decline upon reaching the 30s, Manny is even still peaking,” he further said.

Leonardia, who first carried Pacquiao’s belt in 2005, and who has been carrying the Philippine flag inside the ring since 2006, said that after the only eight-division world boxing champion’s latest triumph, “the Manny Pacquiao mystique goes on.”

“And it looks like it will still be a long, long time that he’ll rule the fascination and adoration of the Filipinos,” he added.

The mayor said Pacquiao, an adopted son of Bacolod City, once again brought all the Filipinos together as one to cheer the flag and the Philippines.

Here in Bacolod, about 20,000 people flocked to the eight free live viewing venues set up by the city government, including the Bacolod Arts, Youth and Sports Center where 5,000 people gathered.

Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. also lauded Pacquiao’s win against Broner.

“Our boxing hero’s latest triumph will certainly inspire many young athletes who dream big,” the governor said in a statement.

He added that Pacquiao “again showed the world that with long years of championship experience and hard work, one would be able to overcome any challenge in the ring.” (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1059510

Bacolod mayor, ex-PNP chief to carry flag, belt in Pacquiao fight

BACOLOD CITY — For the nth time, Mayor Evelio Leonardia will carry the Philippine flag during Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao’s fight.

This time, in the Filipino boxing icon’s defense of his World Boxing Association (WBA) World welterweight title against American Adrien Broner at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 19.

“I started with (carrying) the belt way back in 2005. Since I joined him, I missed only two fights,” Leonardia told reporters here on Tuesday, January 8.


Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia (left) with Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao at the Le Meridien Sentral Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in July last year. Leonardia is holding the flag he carried during Pacquiao’s fight against Argentine Lucas Matthysse at the Axiata Arena.
Contributed Photo

The first was during Pacquiao’s fight against Jorge Solis in San Antonio, Texas on April 14, 2007, which then coincided with the election campaign, he said.

In July 2017, Leonardia failed to join Pacquao in his fight against Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia due to visa problem. Pacquiao lost to Horn.

Leonardia has been carrying the Philippine flag during Pacquiao’s fights since 2006.

The mayor, who last carried the flag during Pacquiao’s successful match against Argentine Lucas Matthysse in Kuala Lumpur in July 2018, said he received a letter from the senator asking him anew to join the Team Pacquiao as flag bearer.

Pacquiao’s letter dated Dec. 11, 2018 read: “Once again, may I invite you to come into the ring with me, together with a few trusted friends, to carry the Philippine flag before the fight begins.”

“As in my many previous fights, your presence in the ring will be a great morale support for me, particularly as this promises to be an exciting fight, knowing that Broner is a four-division title holder,” the fighter from General Santos City added.

Pacquiao also said in the letter that his inspiration to do his best comes when he can feel the support of his fellow Filipinos, and family and friends rooting for him in the crowd.

The senator included the mayor’s wife Elsa and daughter Kara in the invitation, but Leonardia said he is traveling from Bacolod alone this time.

Leonardia also said Pacquiao informed him that former Philippine National Police chief Ronald de la Rosa will carry the senator’s belt during his fight against Broner.

“I told Bato (De la Rosa) already during the two times he was here in Bacolod and he seems excited about it,” Leonardia said.

Pacquiao, 40, the only eight-division world boxing champion, is returning to the United States for the first time in two years to defend his WBA welterweight title against the 29-year-old Broner, a former four-division titleholder. (PNA)

Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1058398