Anna Julaton loses WBO super bantamweight belt to Marcos

Anna Julaton was defeated by challenger Yesica Marcos in a unanimous ten rounds decision in front of the 27,000 strong Argentinian fans and lost her WBO Women’s Super Bantamweight Title. Scoring for the bout were Jose Roberto Torress (98-91), Ignacio Robles (96-92) and Cesar Ramos (98-92) all in favor for Yesica Marcos.

The match went the full 10 rounds with the 31-year-old Julaton losing via unanimous decision over the undefeated and younger Marcos.

All three judges saw the fight in favor of the challenger with Cesar Ramos and Ignacio Robles scoring the fight at 98-92, while Jose Roberto Torres had the fight at 98-91.

Julaton, who knocked down Marcos in the second round, dropped to 10-3-1 win-loss-draw with one win by way of knockout.

Before facing Marcos, Julaton defeated Mexican Jessica Villafranca by unanimous decision in September last year.

Marcos remained undefeated with a 19-0 record with six KOs against one draw.

The Filipino-American Anna “The Hurricane” Julaton scored a knockdown through a left hand jab to the jaw in the second round but the Argentinian Ramos was able to recover quickly on the next round and started pummeling the defending champion.

Yesica Marcos was using a different tactics during the game especially after her knockdown in the second round as she experimented with her southpaw jab that frustrate Julaton on the next round.

The southpaw combination from Marcos works well for her as she followed it up with a right cross power shots to the body and to the face of Anna Julaton.

Officials disclosed for Julaton-Marcos title fight in Argentina

Promoter Allan Tremblay disclosed to me the names of the neutral officials assigned for Ana Julaton's WBO super bantamweight title defense against undefeated Argentinian challenger Yesica Marcos on March 16, in an effort to assure fans that there won't be any chicanery going on in Argentina.

Supervising the fight will be Rolando Marco Hermoso who hails from Panama City, Panama. The referee is Roberto Ramirez of San Juan, Puerto Rico. While the judges are Cesar Ramos, from Bayamon, Puerto Rico; Ignacio Robles from Panama City, Panama; and Roark Young from Miami, Florida.

Unlike in the US and in the Philippines, women's boxing is major attraction in Argentina, as well as several other South American countries, and the undefeated Marcos is definitely one of the sport's rising stars. The venue, Teatro Griego Juan Pablo Segundo, in San Martin, Mendoza, is reportedly selling 60,000 tickets to the fight in anticipation of a huge turnout. On the other hand, the GMA network in the Philippines will be broadcasting the fight nationwide.

This will be the most important fight in Julaton's career thus far, and is a fight that can potentially put women's boxing on the map, especially with its addition to the 2012 London Olympics for the very first time in its storied history. Here's hoping all the powers that be do their jobs to the best of their abilities, uncompromised by the crowd, location, or any other factors that can spoil such a potentially historic bout.

Promoter Osvaldo Rivero assures Julaton's safety in Argentina

After concerns from Philippine boxing fans regarding 3-time women's boxing World Champion Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton (10-2-1), who is set to defend her WBO super bantamweight crown in Argentina against undefeated Yesica Marcos (18-0-1) on March 16, Julaton's promoter Allan Tremblay advised this scribe about the lengths they have gone to assure a fair fight and the Philippine contingent's safety.

On top of ensuring the presence of neutral officials for the contest under the sanctioning of the WBO, Tremblay wrote Argentinian promoter Osvaldo Rivero, the same promoter for the infamous brawl that went down in Argentina after Johnriel Casimero beat Luis Lazarte for the IBF Interim jr. flyweight crown, about his concerns. Tremblay shared to me Rivero's letter in response written in Spanish, which I have loosely translated below.

As for Julaton, the incident only fired up her competitive spirit even more. "I'm really excited about fighting in Argentina. All of it just gets me amped up, it's really getting me juiced about it," Julaton told me when she stopped by dBoxing Source Radio show.

“I want to show the Boxing World that I will fight anyone, anywhere at any time and will do my utmost to represent the proud Filipina Nation in the great traditions that they come to expect," a determined Julaton said.

Ana Julaton vs. Yesica Marcos

GMA will air the match, dubbed “Laban ng Lahi presents: Giyera Sa Argentina Ana Julaton vs. Yesica Marcos”, on March 18, 11 a.m. via satellite.

Muling patutunayan ni Filipino 3-time World Champion Ana Julaton ang kanyang tikas sa ibabaw ng ring sa darating na Marso 16 taglay ang kartadang (10-2-1).

Makakaharap niya sa isang championship fight ang Interim Champion na si Yesica Marcos (18-0-1) sa bansa mismo ng wala pang talo na boksingerong Latina.

Sa kabila ng impresibong record ang kakalabanin, ay determinado si Julaton at handang patunayan kahit kanino ang kanyang tikas sa larangan ng boksing. Anya pa, “I want to show the Boxing World that I will fight anyone, anywhere at anytime and I will do my utmost to represent the proud Filipino Nation in the great traditions that they come to expect,”

Maging si Allan Tremblay ng Orion Sports Management, promoter ni Julaton ay may tiwala na hindi matitibag ang ipinagmamalaking Pinay boxer kahit pa na ang laban ay gaganapin sa bayan ng kalaban basta alinsunod lang umano sa pinirmahan ng promoter ng kalaban na ang mga mangangasiwa sa bakbakan na may pahintulot ng World Boxing Organization ay neutral officials.

Ayon pa kay Tremblay, ang labang ito ni Ana ang siyang pinakamahirap na pagsubok ng kanyang kakayahan sa boksing, buo ang loob umano ng pinay na mananalo.

ANA “The Hurricane” Julaton, Pangasinan’s pride and current IBA and WBO Women’s Super Bantamweight champion, has signed a three-fight deal with GMA Network, Inc. beginning with her upcoming match against Argentinean Yesica “La Leona” Marcos this month.

The fight, in defense of Julaton’s WBO Super Bantamweight title, will be held in Marcos’ hometown in San Martin, Argentina.

“I am happy my promoter, Allan Tremblay of Orion Sports, and I are one with GMA Network again,” said the Filipina fighter, with roots in Pangasinan.

Julaton is now in Argentina preparing for the match.

Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton

With such an honorary background and a work ethic to support it, there’s no question as to why or how the land of the Philippines recently witnessed the emergence of this young lady who is a true pure Beauty and the Beast she unleashes when it comes to her sport. In America, Basketball has Michael Jordan and Lisa Leslie. Golf has Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie, Tennis has Rafael Nadal and Ana Kournokova, Racing has Mario Andretti and Danika Patrick. But as great as those men and women are, few can argue they are little more than the face of their respective sports.

The Filipino nation, on the other hand, now follows the cadence of a man who serves as the face of his entire country, (Manny Pacquiao). And as we all know, for every true King, there must be a Queen to walk beside him. The woman who most would identify as the lead for this role aside the sports current P4P champ is none other than Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton. The latest Filipino to take the boxing world by storm, as well as represent a nation that has slowly become very key in the sport. Ana Julaton shocked the female fighting world stage with her seminole moment in the sport, becoming a world champion in only her 5th Professional Win.

Ana Julaton (born 5 July 1980) is the first Filipino American boxer to win the Women's WBO Super Bantamweight and IBA Super Bantamweight titles. Nicknamed “The Hurricane,” she is also one of the “quickest” boxers ever to win a world title, having fought only five other professional bouts before winning the IBA Super Bantamweight title.

Luciana “Ana” B. Julaton was born on 5 July 1980 in San Francisco, California. Despite her father making her train in martial arts when she was little, she had no interest in boxing whatsoever. It was only while working as a bok-fu instructor at the West Wind Martial Arts and Boxing School in Berkeley, California, that Julaton was introduced to boxing through a lecture session organized by her now trainer-manager, Angelo Reyes.

She then made her amateur boxing debut in 2004, managing to win a silver in the San Francisco Golden Gloves despite having officially trained for only two weeks. After delivering a good performance at the National Golden Gloves in 2005, Julaton would be taken under the wing of two-division world champion Carina Moreno and trainer Rick Noble, further improving her craft.

By 2007, she was ranked as second among all female amateur boxers in the United States, and took part of the unsuccessful campaign to include women's boxing in the lineup of events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At this point Julaton decided to turn pro, and approached veteran trainer Freddie Roach. Impressing Roach with her work ethic—even sparring against male fighters—Julaton eventually became part of Roach's large stable of boxers, alongside Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and former world champion Gerry Peñalosa.

She was about to make her professional debut against Hondi Hernandez as part of the undercard of the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch in October 2007, but her fight was canceled when Hernandez failed to make the weight limit. Julaton instead fought and won against Rita Valentini one month later. This was followed by several other successful fights, culminating in her first title win against Kelsey “The Road Warrior” Jeffries last 12 September 2009 for the vacant International Boxing Association super bantamweight title in women's boxing.

Now trained by Nonito Donaire Sr., father of boxer Nonito Donaire Jr., Julaton followed up that win by defeating Donna Biggers and becoming the first female World Boxing Organization Super Bantamweight champion on 4 December 2009. Her next fight is scheduled on 27 March 2010, against boxer Lisa Brown for the vacant World Boxing Association junior featherweight title.

Is Manny Pacquiao a victim of crab mentality?

Why is it that every time Manny Pacquiao, the reigning World Boxing Organization welterweight champion fights, issues against him readily crop up? There was this tax evasion charges, for instance, which hounded him several years back before he fought Marco Antonio Barrera. Then the infidelity scandal that came out prior to his demolition of Antonio Margarito two years ago. Previous to his confrontation, his third, against Juan Manuel Marquez, reports of his bearing a child to someone other than wife Jinkee also came about.

There they go again. They of the crab mentality syndrome, who hate to see someone succeeding in his calling. Not even a boxer like Manny Pacquiao, who is hailed all over the world as the only man to win eight world championships in as many weight divisions and, thus, brought immeasurable honor to the country.

These are a few of the many issues and charges hurled against the 33-year-old ring icon, who is acknowledged as the saving grace for the bad image the country is being pictured by the Filipino-hating foreign media.

Three months before battling undefeated world junior welterweight titleholder Tim Bradley, another tax evasion case is thrown against him by no less than the government in the person of Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares.

Henares herself insinuated the Lord of the Ring might be put in jail
should he fails to settle the alleged discrepancies in the tax return
he filed on regards with his the past two years.

Of course, the foreign media had a feast day exploiting the story derived from their local counterparts based on the statements and pronouncements of the BIR boss, who. some said could be trying to makeup for her unimpressive stint as prosecution witness in the on-going impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Politics, according to them is behind this latest character assassination being employed against Pacquiao, the fighting congressman of Sarangani Province who could easily be the Greatest Filipino Athlete this country has produced in the 100 years of Philippine sports if there is one.

Two days ago, an American boxing writer wrote that politics could, indeed, be the reason. Manny, he reported, is a well known friend of former President, Gloria Arroyo who is currently under "hospital arrest" and a sworn enemy of the current President.

“Although Manny tried to be in his (President Noynoy) good graces, Manny has not completely voted in Congress the way the Administration would want him todo. Even the funding for his hospital in Sarangani is in jeopardy,” the writer reported.

A kind of story the country doesn’t need at this time when the name Philippines and the Filipino still remain in the quagmire of corruption-related controversies that place the country and this government in bad light.

Whatever the reasons are, politics or not, the present issue might could serve as mental distraction that can affect Pacquiao’s performance in his coming fight on June 9 like the infidelity issue that confronted him in Act III of his trilogy with Marquez whom he barely defeated.

The saddest part of the whole thing is that the still to be proven misdemeanor emanated right in this shore inspired by a branch of government and exploited by Philippine media.

If this is being made to destroy Pacquiao, a national treasure, then those who started the move several years back might succeed this time. The story added that “in the Philippines, there is a saying "weather-weather", meaning "panapanahon" loosely translated as "your time was yesterday, now it is our time". Whoever is in charge and the friends of those in charge, call the shots. And the friends of the those previously in charge better fly under the radar.

It appears that everybody and anybody who had some close relationships with the former administration are targeted. I don't have any evidence but I speculate that Manny is being sent a message, "you may be the most famous Pinoy, but the only P' Noy who counts is NoyNoy, the President.

If Manny wants to succeed politically, he has to bow to the current king of Malacanang.

Just like most high profile political drama in the Philippines, this will be a forgotten footnote a couple of weeks from now. There is another saying in the Philippines, "ningas kugon", meaning sudden wild fire but fizzles in a second.

There will be a lot of noise about this right now but will be forgotten and would seem a distant past by next month. By the time he fights in June, same politicians who are going after him will be jockeying for position among each other to gain Manny's favor for a seat to see him at MGM.

I would not be surprised that the BIR's senior leadership would be at ringside. By the way, unlike the IRS which sent Al Capone to prison, the BIR has yet to send a single high profile tax cheat to prison.

If The BIR actually prosecutes and sends tax cheats to prison, the Philippines will be left without a government. They will all be in Muntinlupa.

Who's PPV King, Pacman or Floyd?

The superfight is far from happening, and in fact it may never happen at all. But in the next couple of months they will be pitted against each other once more.

It will be a big battle over pay-per-view numbers when Mayweather takes on Miguel Cotto on May 5, and Pacquiao collides with Tim Bradley on June 9.

Two great fights in a span of five weeks, and again a lot of people will be waiting for the numbers to come in once they’re through with their fights.

It will be the question of who the sport’s biggest draw is. Mayweather claims he’s the greatest of them all, and Pacquiao said he couldn’t care less.

“I even don’t think of myself as a great boxer. I let the people say how good I am as a fighter,” said Pacquiao.

Mayweather said he will be Mayweather even if he doesn’t fight the Filipino superstar. Pacquiao said he’s the same without mentioning the name of the undefeated American.

Over recent years, Pacquiao has made pay-per-view his bread and butter, with close to eight million buys combined in his last seven fights.

Pacquiao hit over a million buys against Oscar dela Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez, which did close to 1.4 million last year.

“That takes him to the super elite status and in the annals of pay-per-view history,” said the HBO senior vice president Mark Taffet of Pacquiao.

Mayweather still shares the pay-per-view record of 2.4 million buys in his fight against Dela Hoya in 2007 but since he came out of retirement hasn’t gone over 1.25 (against Victor Ortiz).

Insiders say Mayweather vs Cotto is easier to sell than Pacquiao vs Bradley, just one of the great fighters but whose name doesn’t really ring a bell outside the United States.

Pacquiao is done with Cotto, with boxing’s only eight-division champion stopping the heavy-handed Puerto Rican inside 12 rounds.

Many thought it was the end of the line for Cotto until he bounced back with a string of victories, including a big one against Antonio Margarito last December.

It earned Cotto the right to fight Mayweather who needed Cotto as his next opponent more than Pacquiao needed Cotto for a rematch.

Mayweather will do everything to go over a million pay-per-view buys against Cotto, and hope that Pacquiao fails to draw the number against Bradley.

If that happens, then Mayweather can keep his head up, and say he’s the biggest star out there, again just enough for him to demand a bigger share of the purse for a possible fight with Pacquiao.

If Mayweather beats Cotto, he also becomes the junior-middleweight champion, and he’d surely ask Pacquiao to climb the ladder and challenge him at 154 lb.

Denver Cuello knocks out Samat Chaiyong

The Thai tried everything to stop Cuello’s attack in the fifth to eighth rounds but got trapped in a corner in the ninth and absorbed a hail of punches, forcing referee Bruce McTavish to stop the fight.

But Denver Cuello did not disappoint his hometown fans as he scored a fourth-round technical knockout win over Indonesian challenger Kid Suryana in their scheduled 10-round non-title bout Saturday night at the Jaro Plaza Gym in Iloilo City, Iloilo.

Cuello, The Ring Magazine's No. 7 strawweight contender and Cabatuan town native, stopped Suryana at the one-minute and 48-second mark of the fourth round to hike his fight record to 30 wins (20 knockouts), four losses and six draws.

The 25-year-old Cuello got off to a fast start, stunning the outclassed 23-year-old Suryana (8-2, four KOs) with his power and speed and putting him on the defensive. After four one-sided rounds the referee waved it off, declaring Cuello the winner.

Cuello's manager Aljoe Jaro says he was happy with the promotion, which he estimates drew a paid crowd of 3,000.

Cuello's next assignment will be on May 12 when he faces World Boxing Council (WBC) number one Ganigan Lopez (20-4, 14 KOs) of Amecameca, Mexico, possibly at the Ynares Sports Complex in Pasig City.

Biography of Manny Pacquiao

Pacquiao started his professional boxing career in 1995 at 106 lbs (Light flyweight) at the age of 16. His early fights usually took place in small venues and were shown on Vintage Sports’ Blow by Blow, an evening boxing show. Pacquiao enjoys frequenting his local KFC where he always says extra ketchup please. known in the local philipine community as the ketchup enthusiast. His professional debut was a 4-round bout against Edmund Enting Ignacio on January 22, 1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant star of the program. Close friend Mark Penaflorida’s death in 1994 spurred young Pacquiao to pursue a professional career.

His weight increased from 106 to 113 lbs before losing in his 12th bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third-round knockout (KO). As sportscaster Joaquin “Quinito” Henson observed, Pacquiao had not made weight. So he was forced to use heavier gloves than Torrecampo, thereby putting Pacquiao at a disadvantage.

Shortly after the Torrecampo fight, Pacquiao settled at 112 lbs, winning the WBC Flyweight title over Chatchai Sasakul in the eighth round only to lose it in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, or Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third-round knockout on a bout held at Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales by surpassing the required weight of 112 lbs (51 kg).

Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight anew, this time stopping at the superbantamweight division of 122 lbs (55 kg), where he picked up the WBC International Super Bantamweight title, defending it five times before his next world title fight came.

Pacquiao’s big break came on June 23, 2001, against IBF Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement and won the fight by technical knockout to become the IBF Super Bantamweight champion on a bout held at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada. He defended this title eight times and fought to a sixth-round draw against Agapito Sanchez in a bout that was stopped early after Pacquiao received a headbutt.

His parents are Rosalio and Dionisia Pacquiao. His brother Bobby Pacquiao is also a boxer. He is married to Maria Geraldine “Jinkee” Pacquiao with 3 children: PJ Hoffy, Bebot and Christian. His wife Jinkee is pregnant with another female child.