Cambridge in Manny’s bandwagon

It won’t only be Oxford welcoming Sen. Manny Pacquiao to its hallowed halls but Cambridge is also in the UK tour where the WBA welterweight champion is delivering speeches before two prestigious debate and free speech societies.

Pacquiao was scheduled to leave Manila for London yesterday. He’s booked to speak at Oxford tomorrow and Cambridge on Tuesday. The list of previous speakers in both campuses doesn’t include a Filipino so it’s likely Pacquiao will be the first from the Philippines to make the breakthrough.

While the Oxford and Cambridge Unions have featured athletes as speakers, there aren’t too many in the record books. At Oxford, the roster includes runner Roger Bannister, football’s Diego Maradona, tennis’ Boris Becker and boxers George Foreman, David Haye, Vitali Klitschko and Chris Eubank. At Cambridge, Pacquiao could be the first fighter to speak as the list of previous athletes to appear before the Union named only car racer Jackie Stewart, runner Lord Sebastian Coe, football’s Fabio Capello, rugby’s James Haskell, football’s David Moyes, cyclist Mark Cavendish, lawyer and Formula 1 leader Max Mosley, football’s Clarke Carlisle, sprinter Dwain Chambers and football’s Roy Hodgson.

Pacquiao will be in elite company when he takes to the stage in Oxford and Cambridge. Among the previous Oxford speakers not involved in sports were Winston Churchill, Robert Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein and Margaret Thatcher. Among the previous Cambridge speakers were John Major, Jesse Jackson, Dalai Lama, Theodore Roosevelt, Jawaharlal Nehru, Helmut Kohl and John Howard.

The Cambridge Union was established in 1815 and the Oxford Union in 1823 so the societies have clearly withstood the test of time. “To be invited to these beacons of higher learning to speak to their students is a tremendous honor,” said Pacquiao. “I treasure moments like these where I can share my story and my culture as well as exchange ideas with the next generation of leaders.”

Pacquiao has been known not only to unite rival factions in the Philippines but also to bring heads of state together. When Pacquiao wrested the WBA welterweight crown from Lucas Matthysse of Argentina in Kuala Lumpur last July, President Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohammad watched at the Axiata Arena, marking the first time two national leaders attended a boxing event.

Pacquiao was supposed to fly to New York City from the UK to kick off a two-city US press tour to promote his coming fight against Adrien Broner, penciled to take place in Las Vegas on Jan. 19. But arrangements couldn’t be confirmed on time and Pacquiao has decided to return to Manila instead to begin serious training for Broner.

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In a continuation of last Thursday’s column, here are profiles of two more Filipino fighters who are ranked No. 1 in the world – WBC lightflyweight Jonathan Taconing and WBO minimumweight Robert Paradero.  Taconing, 31, was frustrated in two attempts to win a world title, losing to Kompayak Porpramook on a fifth round technical decision in Thailand in 2012 and to Ganigan Lopez on a 12-round verdict in Mexico in 2016, both for the WBC lightflyweight crown. Taconing has now won six in a row and is once more knocking on the champion’s door for a third title crack. His record is 28-3-1, with 22 KOs. 

Paradero, 22, has a 17-0 record, with 11 KOs, and is the WBO Asia Pacific Youth 105-pound king. He may need a little more seasoning before making a bid for the crown jewels. Paradero has never fought abroad and never battled a foreigner, feasting on Filipino journeymen. Of his 17 wins, 12 were over fighters with losing records.

Other contenders coming close to the No. 1 spot are WBO No. 2 superflyweight Palicte, WBO No. 3 superbantamweight Juan Miguel Elorde and WBC No. 3 minimumweight Melvin Jerusalem. Also in the fringes are WBO No. 5 superbantamweight Albert Pagara, WBA No. 5 minimumweight/WBC No. 7 lightflyweight Rey Loreto, WBO No. 5/WBC No. 6/WBA No. 6/IBF No. 9 Edward Heno, IBF No. 5 bantamweight Kenny Demecillo, WBO No. 6 superbantamweight Marlon Tapales and WBO No. 7/WBC No. 9/WBA No.9 flyweight/IBF No. 13 lightflyweight Giemel Magramo.