ALLAN THE MAN

Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 knockouts) defeated Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) by unanimous decision Saturday night at Mandalay Bay to claim the WBC middleweight title.

Alvarez, who was more aggressive than usual, was able to dominate most of the rounds with his heavy punches and uppercuts. Cotto, 35, tried to outbox the younger Alvarez, 25, but was often on the short end of exchanges.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is optimistic that the Philippines will be named one of the three hosts for an Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for a berth in the Rio de Janeiro Games next year.

The Philippines along with Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Serbia, and Turkey are in the running to host the three six-team OQTs, which will run for six days in July 2016, according to FIBA.

Gilas Pilipinas may be facing a tall order as it tries to grab one of the three Olympic slots in the qualifying tournament in July 2016, but veteran national player LA Tenorio strongly believes the national team has a big chance of making it back to the Summer Games.

And the speedy Barangay Ginebra guard points to national coach Tab Baldwin as the biggest reason for that.

Retired American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. completely shot down the possibility of a rematch with Filipino rival Manny Pacquiao, adding that the "Pacman" is simply using his name to draw interest in his future fight.

Mayweather defeated Pacquiao when they fought last May 2, in what was billed as the "Fight of the Century." Although it failed to live up to the considerable hype, the bout nevertheless became the richest in the history of the sport.

June Mar Fajardo was grinning from ear to ear as he made his triumphant return to Gilas Pilipinas.

The 25-year-old Fajardo is rejoining Gilas for the first time since being part of the national side during the 2013 Fiba-Asia men’s championships in Manila and the Fiba World Cup in Spain last year.

Gilas Pilipinas began their road to the Olympics anew with perfect attendance at their first practice on Monday night at Meralco Gym in Pasig City.

June Mar Fajardo, Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, Marc Pingris, Ian Sangalang, Troy Rosario, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Gabe Norwood, Marcio Lassiter, Jeff Chan, Ryan Reyes, Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, and LA Tenorio all arrived early for warm-ups.

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