Philippine Sports News and Updates

MANILA – Seven-division boxing champ Manny Pacquiao has agreed to fight former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. on March 13 next year.

"Abangan nila yung fight namin ni Mayweather. May kaunting inaayos na lang at sa tingin ko maganda ito," said the reigning pound-for-pound king. Earlier reports said Pacquiao could earn as much as $30 million in the mega-fight.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum met with Pacquiao on Friday regarding the possible match with Mayweather, who reportedly acceded to terms for a welterweight title fight with the Filipino superstar at 147 lbs.

“You see a smile on my face so I'm not disappointed [with the Pacquiao meeting],” Arum said during the announcement of a tie up between Top Rank and ABS-CBN Broadcasting network Friday afternoon.

He added: "Now my job is to go back to the United States, sit with Richard Schaefer (CEO of Golden Boy Promotions) and the Mayweather people…“My goal is that we can make a preliminary announcement sometime next week,” said Arum.

MANILA, Philippines – Can we someday see the Philippines’ tri-colors speeding off in the Tour de France or Giro d’Italia? That is if the plan to send Filipino riders in a training camp in Italy pushes through.

According to Liquigaz president Arnel Ty, he is studying the idea of sending at least three local riders in Italy in order to open up the opportunity for Filipino cyclists to join the Liquigaz team in next year’s Tour de France.

Ty added that Filipino cyclists Jeffrey Monton, Jackie Lloyd Berjame, Nico Barreto and Michael Ochoa will undergo a series of test races until December to determine if they have the skills to race in Europe.

The Liquigaz president added that Filipino cyclists will also have to learn to speak Italian before sending them to the Liquigas training camp in January.

“This is our chance to see a Filipino cyclist in the Tour de France. I hope one of these riders could make history by qualifying in the Liquigaz team," said Ty.

BAGUIO, Philippines – Smart Buddy’s Joel Calderon teamed up with his fellow Nueva Ecijano riders to easily defend his hold of the “MVP” yellow jersey and complete a stirring triumph in the final stage of the 2009 Padyak Pinoy Tour of Champions yesterday.

What was expected to be a climactic finish turned out to be a virtual victory ride for Calderon with provincemates Eric Feliciano, Oscar Rindole and Bernard Luzon, safely towing him to the finish.

Baler Ravina, a Pangasinense, was able to launch an attack only in the last 15 kilometers, ruling the punishing Baguio-to-Baguio run for the second time in a month. Ravina, winner of the same stage in the recently held Liquigaz Tour of Luzon, copped the King of the Mountain honors to go with his fifth-place finish in the overall individual championship.

Except for Irish Valenzuela, no other title contenders dared to challenge Calderon. “I didn’t put up a fight. It would just be a waste of time with the Nueva Ecijanos riding as one to protect Joel,” said Lucien Lloyd Reynante, finishing runner-up to Calderon.