Clottey is a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion and a very sturdy welterweight who has a size advantage and power to upset the Filipino Superstar.

Meanwhile, Coach Freddie also talked about the current status and progress in Pacquiao’s training camp.

“He has sparred twice, he looks really good, he knocked out one sparring partner and we have four other sparring partners in here at the moment.”

Manny Pacquiao’s diet and conditioning Guru Alex Ariza added that PacMan is “very sharp and looks like he’ll be ready to fight next week.”

During today’s weigh-in, “The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire Jr., of the Philippines weighs in at 115 lb while his opponent Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion of Panama came in over weight at 119.5 lb. The extra 4 lbs makes this fight a non-title bout that the WBA interim world Super Flyweight is not likely at stake.

Despite of their weigh-in controversies, Donaire still wants this fight to prove each one of us that he can bring his speed and power in heavier weight class. Nonito said he is definitely going for a knockout but if the complexion of the fight leans toward a war of attrition, a win by decision will be just as fulfilling. The Filipino warrior revealed that the fight against Concepcion is not an easy task because he (Concepcion) is a great body puncher and has a heart too but Nonito is very confident to dethrone the Panamanian tomorrow.

“I feel good,” said Donaire on the eve of the weigh-in for the bout. “My weight’s good and I’ve trained really hard. With my new training, I feel I’ve gained more muscle mass so it feels like I’m still going down to 112. I do feel a lot better at 115. Definitely, the extra three pounds are a big help. I’m really confident. I’m out to use my speed and power to take care of business.”

Meanwhile, fellow Filipino boxer’s Bernabe Concepcion and Mark Jason Melligen will also take an action as an undercard on Pinoy Power 2 against their respective opponents. Bernabe Concepcion tries to upset the WBO Featherweight champion Steven Luevano while Mark Jason Melligen will do battle against Ernesto Zepeda in a 10-round welterweight war.

They later stretched the lead to 27 points at halftime 44-17 score. RP coach Yeng Guiao told his players not to put their game on a show but to play basic basketball game for them to win against powerhouse team China.

In the 2nd half, Powerade Team Pilipinas played their game seriously which they scored a thunderous 42 points in the 3rd quarter alone. Give credit to Arwind Santos as he hit several three point shots as the game continues.

Meanwhile, Jared Dillinger led RP with 21 points, Arwind Santos had 16 and Asi Taulava, Aguilar and Cyrus Baguio each had 15 in the win which coach Yeng Guiao described as a “good way to prepare against Japan and Korea.”

Coach Yeng Guiao was very impressed on his player’s performance. “The real test for us is Japan and Korea. We’re looking forward to playing against them in the next two days,” said Guiao.

The Nationals schedule to clash with the Japanese tomorrow (Friday) at 9 p.m PST.

The scores:

Team Pilipinas 115 – Dillinger 21, Santos 16, Taulava 15, Aguilar 15, Baguio 15, Thoss 11, Norwood 8, Helterbrand 5, Miller 5, Raymundo 4, Pennisi 0.

Sri Lanka 31 – Rajapakshe 8, Fernando 8, Danawansa 7, Senanayake 4, De Silva 2, Perera 2.

Quarterscores: 28-9; 44-17; 86-26; 115-31.

In college, before he went to the United States, he played for the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines in 2004. However, his first season stint was cut short due to appendicitis.

Japeth bounced back from a disappointing first season on his sophomore year as he averaged 5.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots per contest to help lead the Blue Eagles to an 11-5 finish in 2005. He got a high 55.4 percent shot from the field for the season and he was credited with multiple blocks in 12 of the Blue Eagles’ 16 games that included a career high of seven as well as two other contest with five or more.

On his junior year, Japeth transferred to Western Kentucky University, where he is currently seeing action with the Hilltoppers in the NCAA. He was able to post eight points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and two steals in just 32 minutes of action in 2 games, before being sidelined by injury.

Recently, Aguilar is a member of the Philippine National Team, the Powerade Team Pilipinas campaigning for the FIBA Asia as it, the team attempts to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Fresh from winning NBA championship against Orlando Magic, Bryant and reigning pound-for-pound king Pacquiao recently met during a commercial shoot for Nike in Los Angeles.

Bryant admits that they have great bonding with our own boxing icon hero Manny Pacquiao. It’s definitely not because they share the same sports apparel brand but both of them has a heart of a champion, a winning attitude and dedication to their respective sport.

“I love him,” Bryant said of Pacquiao during Tuesday’s press conference for his 2009 Asia Tour: Philippines for Nike in Makati City. Meanwhile, Manny was all praises and accolades for the LA Lakers superstar on his return from the commercial shoot, admiring Bryant’s humility and warmth while declaring his self as a Laker fan though he rooted for the Celtics before.

However for Bryant, the feeling is mutual. “I enjoy being around with people who are just as competitive, who have the same passion and work ethic,” the “Black Mamba” said. “It’s an honor to meet him because you can tell by watching him perform when he boxes that he truly loves the sport and I have the tremendous amount of respect for him. I wish him all the best.”

Now a “Pacfan” himself, Bryant would love to see Pacquiao clash with Miguel Cotto live on November 14 – if only his tight schedule would allow.

“I’ve never seen him fight in person but if I don’t have a game in his next fight, I’ll be there,” he said.

Asking about what he feels in Pacquiao’s chances against Cotto, Bryant said: “Manny Pacquiao all the way. I think it’s not even a question” to the applause of everyone in the ballroom.

Recently, Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal also said that “a premium” would likely carry Manny to accommodate Cotto’s request that the scheduled 12-rounder be fought at 145 lbs. It had originally been planned that Pacquiao, Koncz and Gacal would fly to Los Angeles but Koncz said there would be no more need for such a tiring and costly trip since Pacquiao has already agreed.

“Bob is expected to make an announcement about this fight within the week,” said Koncz. Arum is coming off a three-week vacation in Europe. Meanwhile, Manny’s itinerary in the coming days and weeks remains tight owing to his showbiz commitments.

The Nationals started strong in the few minutes of first quarter and only trailed by two points 17-15 at the end of this quarter. It has been a very close game until Jordanian’s 6-4 point guard Rasheim Wright started to play a tremendous game in both offense and defense by cutting the Nationals’ defense in shreds, setting screens that set up their outside shots clearly breaking Team Pilipinas’ man-to-man defense.

He was the same player who terrorized Chot Reyes’ RP team during the 24th FIBA Asia Olympic qualifier in Tokushima, Japan two years ago. It ended the Philippines’ bid of qualifying in the 2008 Beijing Olympics following an 84-76 victory in the preliminary round of the 24th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship.

Powerade Team Pilipinas players have difficulty to set up their momentum in this game. They trailed by as many as 79-45 halfway into the fourth quarter.

“We have to learn how to beat this team if we hope to make the Turkey tournament (World Championship),” said RP team coach Yeng Guiao, who hinted of a major adjustment when the team returns.

In other opening day games, Lebanon, with the veteran Fadih El-Khatib outscored Taiwan-B, 93-61, while South Korea, which is bracketed with the Philippines, Japan and Sri Lanka in Group A in the FIBA Asia tournament, edged Kazakhstan, 75-73, despite getting out rebounded by 42-32.

“This game could have gone either way. Both teams played well kaya kahit sino deserving manalo,” said San Miguel head coach Siot Tanquingcen.

“To be honest, we’re not getting any breaks from the referees,” said an obviously disgusted San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen. “Ganun talaga pag kalaban mo ang Ginebra. I’m not taking anything away from them, but that’s the reality and we have to deal with it.”

“We just gave up too many offensive rebounds,” said Gin Kings coach Jong Uichico, who 22 points each from Noel and Jayjay Helterbrand.

Game 5 will be played on Monday after the league decided to take a two-day playing date break because of the unavailability of the Big Dome. No games will be played on their normal schedule on Friday and Sunday. If the series stretches into a Game 6 and 7, both these matches will be played on July 15 and July 17, respectively, at Araneta Coliseum.

Former President Erap Estrada has intimidated his desire to have Pacquiao in his camp for the upcoming 2010 elections following their meeting in General Santos on the past 2 weeks. Even former US President Bill Clinton admired and had photographed beside Manny in Las Vegas hours before Pacquiao knocked Ricky Hatton out on their May 3 fight.

On June 14, Manny was crowned “fighter of the year” again by the American Boxing Sportswriters Association in New York. According to Forbes, Pacquiao take $40 million in the last 12 months. He now stands alongside 2009 NBA MVP LeBron James and American golfer Phil Mickelson.

Having that huge amount of money, at his age of 30, would be a more than enough reason to call it a day. He becomes successful as a boxer and still hopes to become a future Congressman in 2010 to serve his countrymen. Wishing you luck Manny and hope your dreams will come true!

Roach, who added predicting how his prized ward’s fights would end to his resume, said Pacquiao’s May 2 (May 3 in Manila) fight against Ricky Hatton would end early when asked by reporters during “The Battle of East vs. West” promotional tour in Hollywood.

“I told Manny that if he doesn’t knock (Hatton) out in three rounds I’ll be disappointed. (Manny’s) training hard always and watching the tapes and dissecting Hatton’s style,” said Roach, who correctly predicted Pacquiao’s last two wins.

The hall of famer coach boldly predicted Pacquiao would beat David Diaz in the ninth round by way of knockout. His ward did not let disappoint his trainer and on June 28, 2008 Diaz went down by KO in the ninth.

He also predicted that Oscar De La Hoya would lose by a ninth round KO against Pacquiao. Prior to the fight, Roach said that De La Hoya could no longer pull the trigger and reiterated that De La Hoya’s height and size advantage against Pacquiao would not be a factor.

Roach’s predictions came true. Although the Filipino boxing superstar won by KO, he missed one round since the match ended after eight rounds with the “Golden Boy” deciding not to continue with the fight failing to catch up with a speedy and elusive Pacquiao.

In an interview with FightType.com, Roach said Manny knows the game plan very well. “We had some really good sparring partners and Manny’s doing well. We have the game plan down. Manny knows how to fight this guy.”

He added that Hatton would have a hard time using his left hook. “You know what Ricky Hatton does best he throws punches kind of holds you, ties you up and then sinks that left hook into the body, his best punch. We’re not going to be there. He’s not even going to be able to find us. We’re just way too fast for him.”