ALLAN THE MAN

MANILA, Philippines – Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez will request for judges that are not affiliated with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) when he takes on rival Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao of the Philippines on December 8.

The two boxers will face off for a fourth time, with the bout being held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“I will request that the judges for this fight will be composed of one Mexican judge, one Filipino judge and one neutral judge,” Marquez told Boxing Scene.

The Philippines’ bid to host next year’s FIBA Asia Championship is not yet completely dead, according to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios.

“There’s still a chance,” Barrios said. “We’re still keeping an open mind about the hosting of the FIBA Asia Championship, but we’ve set a time table for this.”

Last week, FIBA Asia awarded the rights to host next year’s championship, which serves as qualifier to the 2014 FIBA World Cup, to Lebanon. This was even though the Philippine contingent pulled out all the stops for its bid, with SBP president Manuel V. Pangilinan leading the presentation.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine national men's football team will begin their campaign in the Philippine Football Peace Cup on Tuesday against Guam, but the tournament has been somewhat overshadowed by some issues off the pitch.

On Sunday, the Azkals management unveiled the team's roster for the Peace Cup, and many football fans were shocked to see that the influential Younghusband brothers, Phil and James, have been left out.

In a statement, the Azkals management and coaching staff explained that commitment issues led to their decision.

LOS ANGELES, California – After two days and six hours of workouts, New Orleans Hornets scout Don Sellers said he likes what he sees in Japeth Aguilar, but believes the former PBA top draft pick is not yet ready for the big show.

Sellers, an advanced personnel scout for the Hornets, likes Aguilar’s athleticism, agility and potential, but feels the 6-foot-9 Filipino needs to become more aggressive and develop “toughness” to play in the NBA.

“I think he’s a work in progress. I like some of the skills he brings to the table. Again, I want to reiterate this. He needs to become more of a Westernized player, which you saw today he’s made a commitment in doing,” Sellers said.

Bobby Ray Parks may soon get a chance to work out for an NBA team.

Sheryl Reyes, a top agent who represents American imports for teams from all over the world, said she’s hooking up with several American colleagues to give the National University star an opportunity to showcase his wares stateside.

“My bet as to who among Filipino players has a chance of making it to the NBA is Ray Parks,” wrote Reyes in a text message to InterAKTV. “I will recommend him to my agents [in the US] and sponsor him for camps.”

Brothers Phil and James Younghusband will not be part of the national roster in the upcoming Philippine Football Peace Cup.

Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss informed the brothers via text message that they will not be part of the team for the four-team mini-tournament organized by the Philippine Football Federation, which is slated from September 25-29 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team lost its final assignment, 76-63, against Qatar to settle for fourth place in the FIBA Asia Cup Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

The loss put SMART-Gilas out of the running for a top-three finish and the automatic berth to next year’s FIBA Asia Championships in Lebanon that comes with it.

MANILA, Philippines  – The University of the Philippines (UP) Pep Squad has won the Samsung UAAP Cheerdance Competition for the third straight year.

Sporting shaved heads, the UP cheering team bested the 7 other UAAP pep squads in front of nearly 20,000 spectators at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena on Saturday.

The Far Eastern University (FEU) Cheering Squad settled for 1st-runner up, while the National University (NU) Cheer Squadron ended up winning 2nd-runner up honors.

UP took home the P340,000 top prize and a trophy.

Having a problem finding an accessory that will complete your chic, classy look? Well, That's not a problem anymore. Thanks to the newly-launched Cotton Candy Accessories Shop. 

Cotton Candy Accessories is an online shop that caters to trendy fashion enthusiasts. It offers quirky and other cutesy fashion accessories at affordable prices!

Here's Cotton Candy's Available  Accessories:

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team lost its final assignment, 76-63, against Qatar to settle for fourth place in the FIBA Asia Cup Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

The Philippine side shot a miserable 2-of-18 (11 percent) from beyond the arc and 38 percent overall as it couldn’t sustain a second half comeback run.

SMART-Gilas was still in striking distance, 61-54, midway through the fourth quarter when Qatar unleashed hit four three-pointers in a 12-2 run to seal the game.

Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas president Manuel V. Pangilinan , popularly known as MVP, expressed disappointment over the choice of Lebanon over the Philippines as host of the FIBA Asia Championship next year.

“We’re extremely disappointed with the FIBA Asia executive board decision last night, where the merits and demerits of competing proposals did not seem to have been fully considered and weighed,” Pangilinan said in his message to FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann, a copy of which he furnished to InterAksyon.com/InterAKTV.

This time, there was no fourth quarter magic for the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team.

Iran caught fire in the second half to down the Philippines, 77-60, and book the first finals seat in the FIBA Asia Cup Friday in Tokyo, Japan.

SMART-Gilas was down by just three points, 50-47, when Iran unleashed a 12-0 run to bridge the third and fourth quarters to put the game away. The Philippines’ woes were compounded by foul trouble on its big men. Marcus Douthit, Ranidel De Ocampo, and Sonny Thoss all missed either part or all of the fourth quarter because of foul trouble.

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team used a furious fourth quarter run to turn back Chinese Taipei, 75-68, in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Cup Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.

Lebanon, and not the Philippines, will host the FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship next year.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios disclosed the news to InterAKTV shortly after the FIBA Asia executive committee informed them that Lebanon was granted the hosting rights for the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier.

SMART Gilas 2.0 finds itself crossing path with Chinese-Taipei yet again as the Taiwanese drew the Filipinos as their quarterfinal opponents in the FIBA Asia Cup championship in Tokyo, Japan Tuesday night.

The Taiwanese banked on a perfectly executed alley-oop play which Lu Cheng-ju converted at the buzzer for a thrilling 75-73 win on the final day of the preliminaries at the Ota gym.

Former PBA import Denzel Bowles, who led the B-MEG Llamados (now San Mig Coffee Mixers) to the Commissioner’s Cup title last season, will be back in Asia to suit up for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in the Chinese Basketball Association.

Bowles posted on his Twitter account that he is in China to play hoops, but did not specify any team. But basketball reference site Asia-Basket.com lists him on the Zhejiang roster.

Watch Full Game Replay of Smart Gilas Philippines vs Macau National team in the preliminary round of 2012 FIBA Asia Cup being held in Tokyo, Japan. 

Gilas Philippines over-matched Macau by 52 points, with that Philippines has a record of 3 Wins and 1 Loss and ties for the top spot in the Group A.

The scores:

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team hardly needed naturalized center Marcus Douthit as they thumped an overmatched Macau side, 98-46, to close their Group A campaign with a 3-1 record and at least a tie for the top spot of their group in the 4th FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan.

Jeff Chan scored 18 points while Jay-R Reyes and Gary David scored 12 points apiece as the Philippines cruised for their third victory despite opting to give Douthit the day off.

SMART-Gilas showed they were clearly a class above their opponents, a team with an average age of just 20 years old and whose tallest player stood at just 6-foot-7, as they fired off a 14-0 run right off the bat.

Watch Full Game Replay of Smart Gilas Philippines vs Uzbekistan Here. Gilas Philippines defeats Uzbekistan by 35. 

Game Highlights:

-Jeff Chan led Smart Gilas with 20 points (4/7 from 3-point range)

-Matt Ganuelas Rosser with 8 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals

-Smart Gilas shot well from the field (44%) and in the 3-point area (8/20)

-9 players with 5 or more points

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team barely broke a sweat in dispatching Uzbekistan, 85-50, for its second straight victory in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan.

Jeff Chan led all scorers with 20 points for the Philippine team, which was never seriously threatened in the game. SMART-Gilas limited Uzbekistan to just five points in the second quarter to break away for a 39-21 halftime lead before cruising to victory in the second half.

Chan, who had only managed to score five points total in the Philippines’ first two games in the tournament, had a breakout performance with 20 points, including four three-pointers, in just 18 minutes of play while Jared Dillinger was the only other Filipino in double figures. Five others players scored seven or more points for SMART-Gilas.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr faces Sergio Martinez in one of the biggest and most heated fights of 2012.

Chavez (46-0-1, 32 KO) and Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO) have had an intense build to this fight, which many thought would never happen, but in the end, got done with pretty much no headaches. Now we've arrived at fight time, and either Chavez Jr is going to prove he belongs with the top fighters in the world, or Martinez is going to prove that Julio can't hang here. There are a lot of factors -- physical and mental -- that could play a big role.

MANILA, Philippines – Smart Gilas Pilipinas crushed the Lebanon Cedars to notch their first win, 78-68, in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday.

Marcus Douthit led the Filipinos with a double-double performance of 25 points and 21 rebounds.

Douthit also received scoring support from his teammates and this enabled Gilas to upset Fadi El-Khatib’s high-scoring game.

Fadi El-Khatib led Lebanon with 24 points.

Naturalized center Marcus Douthit showed exactly why he’s such an important member of the SMART-Gilas national team as he dominated on the floor to help the Philippines defeat Lebanon, 78-68, in their Group A clash in the 4th FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan.

Douthit posted 25 points, 21 rebounds and one crucial block on longtime Lebanon star Fadi El-Khatib with under a minute to play as SMART-Gilas notched its first win of the tournament.

Gilas trailed Lebanon after a very tight first half that saw neither team lead by more than five points. Behind El-Khatib, who had 15 points and six rebounds in the first two periods, and their own naturalized player Garnett Thompson, who had 13 and seven, the Lebanese held a slim three-point edge, 41-38, at the halftime break.

Philippines, represented in FIBA Asia Cup 2012 by Smart Gilas, suffered defeat Friday, September 14, from the hands of a tall but inexperienced team from China.

The Filipino squad wasn’t able to hold on to an eight-point lead they built off a strong second-half, missed 10 of 24 free throws and seven straight three-point shots going to the final minutes of the game.

SCORES PER QUARTER: 18-15, 40-33, 54-56, 71-68

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas fell just short against a taller China squad, 71-68, in their opening match in the 4th FIBA Asia Cup Friday in Tokyo, Japan.

China, playing with a young team with an average age of just 20, grabbed a lead early after hounding the Philippines to bad three-point shooting and taking advantage of foul trouble on SMART-Gilas center Marcus Douthit.

But SMART-Gilas cut loose after the break, turning a 40-33 halftime deficit into a 56-54 advantage in the third quarter.

Here's Smart-Gilas Pilipinas LIVE Game Schedules:

Superstar guard Mark Caguioa has welcomed LA Tenorio to Ginebra San Miguel with open arms, but he doesn’t see it as a sign that bosom buddy Jayjay Helterbrand is on his way out.

“LA is a real competitor, he has leadership quality and can set direction inside the court,” said Caguioa, adding that it is an opportunity for Helterbrand to show what he’s still got.

“I see LA’s inclusion as a big challenge for him (Helterbrand). I’m sure everyone will be felt challenged when someone is about to take your spot.”

The Azkals - Philippine national men’s football team’s heated match against Laos Monday night turned out to be not an official international friendly match after all, which means that the Azkals’ 2-1 loss would have no effect on their world rankings.

In an email to InterAKTV, FIFA confirmed that it withdrew consideration for the game after learning that referees who officiated the game were not recognized by the world governing body.

“Indeed, not all four referees were from FIFA which is a must for an official A-match,” FIFA wrote in an email Tuesday night.

Jessica Sanchez brought the house down on the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday (Thursday morning, Manila time).

Backed by a choir, the “American Idol” runner-up wowed delegates with a soulful rendition of “You’re All I Need To Get By”, the classic duet by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.

“I might not be old enough to vote, but I’m so honored and excited to perform at @BarackObama’s big party in Charlotte next week!#DNC2012!” the 17-year-old Filipino-Mexican-American had tweeted over the weekend.

Bigas ka ba?

Bakit?

Kasi ang sarap mong isako eh.

-----------------

Turnilyo ka ba?

Bakit?

Kasi sa tuwing umiikot ka sa isip ko, lalo kang bumabaon sa puso ko.

-----------------

MANILA, Philippines – Juan Manuel Marquez is reportedly close to reaching a coveted fourth fight against Manny Pacquiao, according to the Mexican’s boxing promoter.

"Verbally we can announce that on December 8, we will have this fight, but nothing more because I am being conservative. I say that 95% it is closed [a done deal]," Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions said in Boxing Scene. 

The Philippine national men’s football team failed to take advantage of a less-experienced Cambodia side and settled for a scoreless draw Wednesday night at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

With Cambodia playing its first international match since last year, the Azkals were expected to dominate the hosts. However, things didn’t work well for the Filipinos.

The Philippine national men’s football team, Azkals, has named players for its friendly match in Cambodia on Wednesday.

Tapped to suit up for the Azkals are Marvin Angeles, Misagh Bahadoran, Jeffrey Christiaens, Rob Gier, Patrick Reichelt Carli de Murga, Denis Wolf, and David Basa of Global FC; Roel Gener, Eduard Sacapano and Nestorio Margarse Jr. of Philippine Army Fritz & Macziol; Ref Cuaresma, Anto Gonzales and Phil and James Younghusband of the Loyola Meralco Sparks; Jason Sabio and OJ Porteria of Kaya; Jason De Jong of Penson Stallion Giligan’s; and Ian Araneta of Philippine Air Force Phoenix.

The NCAA is the most-watched Philippine collegiate basketball league on television, according to Nielsen television data.

Since its transfer to AKTV this season, NCAA games have averaged 200,000 viewers from games on June 23 to August 18, according to Nielsen’s national urban television audience measurement (NUTAM) data. This translates to 13 percent more viewers for NCAA over UAAP.

After their victorious campaign in the William Jones Cup 2012 held in Taiwan, the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas will play in the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup 2012 (former Stankovic Cup) Preliminary Round to be held on September 14-22, 2012 at the Ota Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan.

Below are the Gilas’ game schedule in 2012 FIBA Asia Cup Preliminary Rounds:

September 14 at 4:30pm – Philippines vs China

September 15 at 7:00 pm – Philippines vs Lebanon

September 16 at 2:00 pm – Philippines vs Uzbekistan

September 17 at 11:30am – Philippines vs Macau

Facebook today announced that it categorically disliked the willful buying of Facebook Likes and will start cracking down on FB Pages.

Facebook has always been doing some automated means to reduce the number of fake accounts and made-for-sale FB Likes.

What they’re doing now is ramping up on their efforts. 

As such, FB Pages will be affected with the clean accounts only experiencing less than 1% decrease in FB Likes.

This year’s annual Star Magic Ball was a black-and-white themed affair that Kapamilya artists look forward to as a time to relax and celebrate with their fellow Star Magic artists. Each celebrity had their own unique experience while at the formal affair. 

Celebrity couples were all around as PUSH spotted many who were literally inseparable all night. This year’s list of lovebirds included Kim Chiu-Xian Lim, Zanjoe Marudo-Bea Alonzo, Daniel Padilla-Kathryn Bernardo, Paul Jake Castillo-Melissa Ricks, Paul Salas-Ella Cruz, Billy Crawford-Nikki Gil, Gab Valenciano-Coleen Garcia, Maricar Reyes-Richard Poon, and PBB Unlimited’s Pamu Pamorada-Kevin Fowler. 

What is Oppa Gangnam Style ? Who is PSY ? Probably, that are the questions playing in your mind after you discovered that Oppa Gangnam Style is trending on the micro-blogging site, Twitter. Don't worry if you still don't know what it is because I made a short research about it, so I hope after you read this post of mine, you will not asked those questions anymore.

Without further ado, Here it goes...

Gangnam Style is a 2012 dance pop single written and performed by Korean pop singer Park Jae Sung, better known by his stage name PSY. Since the release of the song and its highly entertaining music video in mid-July 2012, the video has gained more than 8 million views in the span of two weeks and spawned numerous parodies and copycat dance videos on YouTube.

SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national coach Chot Reyes has named his lineup for the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup slated in Tokyo, Japan.

Ginebra San Miguel’s LA Tenorio, who won Most Valuable Player honors in SMART-Gilas’ title run in the 34th William Jones Cup, leads the lineup along with holdovers Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine, Gary David of GlobalPort, Larry Fonacier and Ranidel De Ocampo of Talk ‘N Text, Enrico Villanueva of Barako Bull, Jay-R Reyes of Meralco, Sonny Thoss of Alaska, Filipino-American Matthew Rosser and naturalized center Marcus Douthit. Talk ‘N Text forward Jared Dillinger will be the only new addition to the team, with Meralco guard Sol Mercado being rendered ineligible because of FIBA Asia rules concerning foreign-born citizens.