BRAVE CF PAYS TRIBUTE TO BOXING LEGEND MANNY PACQUIAO

Seef District, Bahrain - 01 October 2021

BRAVE Combat Federation, the fastest-growing mixed martial arts promotion in the world today with global presence in five continents, is paying tribute to Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao.

 

The 42-year-old southpaw from General Santos City, Philippines officially announced his retirement from the sport of boxing on Wednesday, September 29, which came on the heels of his decision to run for president in the 2022 Philippine national elections. 

 

Pacquiao walks away from the squared-circle with a professional record of 62-8-2 with 39 victories by way of knockout. 

 

He is the only pugilist in history to win multiple world titles in eight different weight classes and was long rated as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world by most sporting news outfits and boxing websites.

 

The Pinoy fistic sensation was hailed "Fighter of the Year" three times by both The Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).

 

In addition, the BWAA body recognized Pacquiao with the "Fighter of the Decade" citation for the 2000s.

 

From his professional debut in 1995 as a minimum weight competitor, Pacquiao rose up the scales to claim outstanding wins over the who’s who of boxing, including Lehlo Ledwaba, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley and Timothy Bradley Jr.

 

 

Transitioning from boxing’s best-kept secret to a global sporting figure, Pacquiao’s shocking eighth-round stoppage of De La Hoya in December 2008 made him a crossover star and a media darling.

 

Many in the combat sports community praised the legendary boxer for his successful and incredible career, including BRAVE CF President Mohammed Shahid.

 

“Manny Pacquiao is a legend of combat sports, not just in the Philippines, but worldwide. He has proven that a young kid full of dreams, talent, and perseverance can overcome adversities and march towards world titles, glory, and legendary status,” Shahid said.

 

“He deserves all the best in this new chapter of his life. We, at BRAVE Combat Federation, are working hard to make sure that Pacquiao’s story is not an isolated incident in the sport anymore. Manny will serve as an inspiration to many, many future world-class athletes from all around the world and all walks of life.”

 

Meanwhile, Filipino lightweight contender Rolando “The Incredible” Dy expressed his gratitude to Pacquiao's contributions to combat sports.

 

“Happy retirement, my idol. Thank you for paving the way for all of us. You are a true icon of combat sports. I will forever be grateful for the inspiration you've given us,” Dy stated.

Mark Striegl talks about Manny Pacquiao’s influence, training with Brandon Vera

ONE Championship bantamweight standout Mark “Mugen” Striegl (14-2) is set to face Brazil’s Rafael Nunes (10-1) when the promotion returns to the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, December 2 for ONE: Age of Domination. Streigl, 28, joined ONE Championship in 2015 and was recently named one of the hottest prospects in Asian MMA.

The Filipino-American stalwart splits his training between Evolve MMA in Singapore and the high-altitudes of Baguio City for his next matchup and says mixed martial arts is getting really big in the Philippines.

“Baguio is one of the best places to train in the Philippines because it’s high altitude. It’s 5,000-feet above sea level. It’s great for strength and conditioning,” said Striegl. “Manny Pacquiao also trained in Baguio in the past for some of his biggest fights. It’s been fantastic for my training.”

Striegl made his ONE Championship debut in April of 2015, defeating American Casey Suire impressively by first round submission. In his second bout months later however, he fell to Filipino-Australian prospect Reece McLaren.

Since his last bout, Striegl has been hard at work preparing for his return, training with none other than ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon “The Truth” Vera.

“Here in Manila I’ve been fortunate enough to train with Brandon Vera and AJ Matthews. Mark Munoz also came through one time so I got to pick his brain a bit,” said Striegl. “There are so many good gyms to work with in Manila. MMA is getting really big in this country. I’ve just been jumping around and training with Brandon and it’s been great.”

A well-rounded mixed martial artist with strengths in both striking and grappling, Striegl is one of the country’s top combat sports athletes. He began his career competing for various MMA promotions across Asia before landing a roster spot in ONE Championship last year.

As someone who has seen the rise of MMA as a sport in Asia, Striegl can’t help but feel in awe of the tremendous growth of combat sports in the region and credits a majority of it to eight-division boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao.

“MMA is getting really big in this country, thanks to ONE Championship. There’s a deeply embedded combat culture in this country with boxing. There are a lot of gyms all around and so many good places to train and so many good people to work with,” said Streigl.

“One of the greatest fighters of all time, Pacquiao, is a legend here and pretty much all over the world. He has put the Philippines on the map as far as fight sports are concerned. He’s a true global icon and one of my inspirations.”

During his time in Manila, Striegl says he just recently met Pacquiao for the first time in person. Pacquiao is training for his highly-anticipated return to boxing against WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas this November 5. He is also a full-time politician who owns a seat at the Philippine senate.

“I went to one of [Pacquiao’s] senate hearings and met him afterwards,” said Striegl. “Super nice guy, super down to earth guy. Just a humble, nice guy and I think that’s why he has so many fans. He’s the people’s champ. Everyone can relate to him.”

Pacquiao’s unique style, Striegl says, is something he tries to emulate in the MMA cage. And just like Pacquiao, Striegl aims to bring a world title back to the Philippines.

Against Brazil’s Nunes this December, Striegl has the opportunity to get back on the right track in his pursuit of ONE Championship gold. It won’t be easy, but Striegl says by channeling his inner- “Pac-Man”, he hopes to be able to make his people proud by becoming a world champion.

“One thing I love about Manny’s fight style is that he’s an action-packed fighter. He just keeps going and going and moving forward. That’s something I try to do in my fights,” said Striegl.

“You’ll never see me in a boring fight. I always press the action, I always come forward. I’m not a point fighter. Sometimes I put myself at risk by doing that but it’s better than being a point fighter, like a Floyd Mayweather-style kind of fighter.

“My goal when I entered this sport was and is to win a world championship title for the Philippines and bring it back here to Manila. That’s what I think about and it’s been my goal since I was young.”


*This is Press Release

WSOF Global MMA Fighter from Gensan Mario Sismundo, More than just Manny Pacuiao's Doppelganger

Mario Sismundo, who will fight on July 30 for the World Series of Fighting Global Championship 3: Philippines vs. the World card at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, says that he is more than just Manny Pacquiao’s doppelgänger.

Mario, who once doubled for Manny Pacquiao for a TV commercial, and also hails from General Santos City, also has plans of his own to be a world-renowned fighter.   

The resemblance is striking, in fact, when he trains at Fitbox Gym in Makati, he is often mistaken as Manny Pacquiao.

Sismundo says, “Sobrang na inspire ako na kamukha ko si Manny Pacquiao kasi yung kamukha ko o kahawig ko ay di ordinaryong tao, kungdi, sikat sa buong mundo dahil sa kanyang galing sa boxing, at isa pa siyang Senador ngayon.  Baka sa pagtiyatiyaga at sipag sa mga laban ko, isang araw, masundan ko rin ang yapak ng idolo ko.”

Sismundo continues, “Malaking bagay na nakasali ako sa ganitong kalaking organization, na galing pating Amerika.  Tulad sa akin, na galing sa General Santos City na matagal nang naghintay ng pagkakataon makalaban sa malaking audience, malaking bagay po talaga.  Matagal ko po itong pinangarap at dinasal.”

           

This will be Mario Sismundo’s biggest fight in his entire boxing and MMA career, fighting for the first time in a 15,000-seater stadium in Quezon City, alongside fighters from all over the world.

Sismundo says that his family, specially his father, has been supportive of his career all this time.  

It is bittersweet though that at the biggest fight of his life, wherein his fight will be the co-main event on July 30, that his father won’t be able to watch it since he passed away just weeks ago. 

“Sa pinakamalaking laban ng buhay ko, na matagal niyang hinintay, wala na siya…pero hindi iyon hadlang para ako manghina o mawalan ng gana lumaban, bagkos, lalo ko pang pag-iigihan ang training ko para manalo sa laban na ito, dahil inaalay ko sa kanya ang laban na ito”, Sismundo says.

“At alam ko kahit wala na ang aking ama, manonood siya kahit nasa ibang mundo na siya”, adds Sismundo.

WSOF-GC will host WSOF-GC 3 Philippines at Smart Araneta Coliseum on July 30, 2016. Tickets start at PHP300 with ringside seats available for PHP4000. Tickets are now on sale at http://www.etix.com/ticket/p/2988982/wsof-global-championship-3philippines-quezon-city-smart-araneta-coliseum. Smart Araneta Coliseum has been host to many great events over the years, but is most notably known for Ali vs Frazier III ‘The Thrilla in Manila’.

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A lucky member of the audience on July 30, 2016 at Smart Araneta Coliseum will win P1,000,000.00.  Visit www.wsofgc.com/raffle for details.  Promo period June 16 - July 30, 2016, DTI-NCR PERMIT #6130.

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ABOUT WSOF GC:

                World Series of Fighting Global’s ultimate mission is to bring together the best athletes from countries and organizations across the world to compete for a true, globally-recognized world champion.  Follow them on Twitter @WSOFGlobal.

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