Inspirational Story

Unconditional Love

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!!!

There's a miracle called Friendship That dwells in the heart You don't know how it happens Or when it gets started But you know the special lift It always brings And you realize that Friendship Is God's most precious gift!

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

A Blue Collar Guy Returns to Work

Chicago's David Diaz has been away from the ring, but he makes his return later this month against Jesus Chavez.

It was the great fight writer A.J. Liebling who once wrote; “I'm impressed with the people from Chicago. Hollywood is hype, New York is talk, Chicago is work.”

So maybe that's why David Diaz fits in so well in The Windy City.

The former WBC lightweight champ has never been afraid of hard work and he puts you in mind of a blue-collar, lunch-pail, time-clock type of guy that toils long hours in order to improve his lot in life.

It may help to explain why Diaz, Chicago born and bred, has had a 13-year-long professional career while building a workmanlike record of 34-2-1, 17KOs. It also might help to explain why he fared better against Manny Pacquiao than either Oscar De La Hoya or Ricky Hatton.

To be sure, David Diaz is the type of guy that will downplay his accomplishments at every opportunity. The humble husband and father of three sons, David, Jr., Elias and Silas (just born in April) is not about hype - and he's not about talk.

So as the friendly and engaging Diaz prepares to return to the ring for the first time since losing to Pacquiao 15 months ago, he does so with the mindset that after some time off, he knows there's lots of work to be done.

“Well, I've just been enjoying the family, hanging around the house and enjoying myself,” said Diaz earlier this week from Chicago. “My wife got tired of me being around the house and asked me if I was going to get a fight. I said, 'Yeah, I've got something coming up.' So now I got this fight against Jesus Chavez that's going to happen here in Chicago.”


Diaz put forth a brave effort in an attempt to keep his lightweight title belt from Manny Pacquiao.

One would think that Diaz must have been quite pleased with his strong performance against Pacquiao. It was a fight in which he was extremely game and a battle in which he demonstrated tremendous toughness against the world's best pound-for-pound boxer. While he was ultimately outclassed and knocked out in the 9th round, Diaz went down swinging and he was there until the bitter end.

“It was OK, yeah, I did OK, but I still lost,” he said with some disappointment when he was asked to comment on his performance against Pacquiao. “I did better than De La Hoya and Hatton, but I still lost. I did better than them guys, but I still ended up on the short end of the stick. Now I've got to fight my way back up and win another world title.”

At the end against Pacquiao, Diaz was soundly defeated and he took a lot of hard shots. Some speculated that the reason for his lengthy lay-off may have been related to injuries suffered during the fight. But Diaz claims there were no serious problems.

“Everything was good physically and there was nothing wrong that way,” he says. “The ego was totally destroyed, but other than that I was OK. I was down for about two weeks before I finally snapped out of it. But I lost to a unique individual...a guy who has done a great job for himself and cemented himself as the top pound-for-pound guy.”

Promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank, Inc. and trained by Jim Strickland, “Strick has always been and will always be my guy,” says the loyal Diaz of his chief second. Along with co-trainer Mike Garcia, Diaz is getting himself back into fighting shape at the JABB Gym in Chicago and he'll take the first step in his comeback in front of a hometown crowd on Sept. 26th.


A light-hearted Diaz tries to explain to HBO blow-by-blow man Jim Lampley what just happened.

He wants to win another championship, perhaps at 135, or maybe at 140. But he's aware that a lot of those types of questions can only be answered after he faces Chavez at Chicago's UIC Pavilion.

“We don't know yet, we're going to see what the body allows,” says the 33-year-old Diaz of his future. “It's been a year since I made '35 so we have to see if the body can make it. There's a lot of things I've got to prove in this fight, a lot of tests. I've got to see if I can fight my fight and if I can carry the weight. I'll have to see how I feel at 135, if I can make the weight and still be strong. If not I'll have to step up to 140. I was 139 as an amateur and I always wanted to win a championship title at 140. If I have to step up I would. This fight with Chavez is at 136. Right now I'm about 10 pounds away. I got up to about 200 pounds during the lay-off,” said Diaz before laughing. “I got heavy – but not that heavy!

“I've been back in the gym since April, off-and-on. I was in the gym in May, June, July. I was a little heavy, but now the weight is coming off pretty good. I'm getting the rhythm back and getting the feel of it back. I'm beginning to adapt to making the weight.”

It's an all-Chicago main event as Chavez, whose real name is Jesus Gabriel Sandoval Chavez, lived in Chicago during his youth and teen years.

“Jesus Chavez, when I first heard of him, I said, 'I don't know no Jesus Chavez,' said the comical Diaz. “But then when I seen him, I said, 'Oh yeah, man, that was Tom O'Shea's (Chavez' amateur trainer) boy.' When I finally saw his face, we know him here as Gabriel. When people would say Jesus Chavez, I should have put two-and-two together with the 'Matador' name and all of that.”


Diaz is the type of fighter who isn't afraid to take a few lumps in order to get the job done.

Although they both fought in the Chicago amateur scene, Diaz and Chavez have never faced each other in the ring as over three years in age separate them. Diaz says he does know Chavez, but only in a casual way.

“He's OK, I know him. His brother, Jimmy Sandoval, I have more of a friendship type of thing with. We're the same age and went up together in the amateurs. It was through Jimmy that we found out what his brother was up to. So there has been a friendship with the family, I guess. Like me, Chavez is a Chicagoan. He made his bones out here and he has a lot of family and friends in the city. It's like he calls this fight - it's a family feud.”

The fight is a nice attraction for Chicago and it pits former world champs in a fight that will propel the winner forward. Chavez is also returning from a stoppage loss, as in April he retired in the corner after eight rounds with Michael Katsidis. Diaz gave his brief scouting report on Chavez.

“He's a guy that comes in there and wants to get down and fight,” he said. “We have similar styles. I think it's going to be a great fight, a throwback fight. I saw some of his fight against Katsidis, but I need to see more of it. I need to find out what Michael did to him to make him quit and see if I can do the same thing. I gotta' look at that. He must have done something. But I'm coming off a year layoff. I got knocked out in my last fight and have been away for a while. Chavez is probably still in decent shape because he just fought in April.”

During the past year, Diaz took time to enjoy the fruits of his laboriously long slog through the pro game. The Pacquiao fight gave him his biggest career payday which allowed him the chance to take a little break. After Pacquiao's win over Oscar De La Hoya last December, Diaz told the story of an interesting telephone call he received.


When the dust settles on Sept. 26, Diaz hopes he will be striking this same pose.

“Well, I was with my wife and kids, we were getting ready to go sledding and the phone rang,” explains Diaz. “It was Pacquiao and he was inviting me to his birthday in the Philippines. First, one of his guys called me, and then Manny got on the phone and asked me if I'd like to come over. I said, 'Yeah, sure, I'd love to go.'

“It's a very beautiful country. It was a very humbling experience. I met a lot of people and I felt very welcome from the time I got off the airplane at the airport. All the people over there recognized me. It was very humbling and very unexpected. I stayed with a fried of Pacquiao's for five days. Manny paid for the trip over and the whole thing. I went by myself. My wife gave me my passport and said, 'You can go,'” he chuckled.

Diaz also decided to buy himself something nice. Before he faced Pacquiao, he joked with this writer that he was driving a '91 Honda that didn't have air conditioning. But soon after the Pacquiao fight, he bought a new ride.

“I bought a little car,” laughed Diaz. “A 2007 Infinity M45. It's a very nice car. It's very comfortable and it feels good driving it.”

And it has air conditioning.


September 2009

BAGUIO CITY : 100 years in the Making

When the Americans first came to Baguio in 1900, it was not yet even a town. It was then only a"rancheria" whose dominant feature was a large, low-lying area called Kafagway. There were only a few houses and there were no roads. The rancheria was owned by Mateo Carino who was at that time the wealthiest man in Benguet Province. During the dry season it was a pasture for herds of cattle and horses, but much of the year, it was a marshland with a shallow lake where residents hunted for ducks and snipes. Kafagway roughly covered the same area as the present city.

The Americans found Baguio an ideal site for a future city and a summer retreat from the sweltering heat of the lowlands. The hills were grassy and studded with pine trees and above all it had a cool and pleasant climate. The Americans also found a good source of water to supply the needs of a city. Gov. William Howard Taft and other officials did not hesitate to proposed that this be the location for the summer capital and health resort of the Philippines.

In November 1900, the Americans established the first civil government in Benguet. Kafagway was designated as the capital and was later renamed to Baguio.

Baguio City became the second chartered city in the Archipelago in September 1, 1909 and the townships were later reduced to 13 municipalities. The city prospered in the years before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Session Road 1950`s

Session Road Present

Lourdes Grotto

Kennon Road`s Lion Head

Phil. Military Academy

Baguio Houses

Baguio Cathedal 1950`s

Baguio Cathedal Present

Camp John Hay Horseback Riding

Baguio`s Centennial Commemorative Plates

Baguio Poster

Session Road Present

Baguio at Night

Burnham Lake

Bridal Veil Waterfalls along Kennon Road

Roger Mayweather Says Skills Pays the Bills

Roger Mayweather is a man with strong opinions - and he's not afraid to express them.

Roger Mayweather says that come Sept. 19 in Las Vegas - no matter what Juan Manuel Marquez is able to bring to the table against his nephew Floyd, Jr. - it won't be enough.

“Skills pays the bills,” said Roger on Wednesday afternoon from Las Vegas. “ Marquez is a good fighter, but it's the guy with the skills that win fights. Floyd got the skills and that's it.”

When asked how Floyd was holding up after being away from an actual fight since meeting Ricky Hatton in Dec. 2007, and also recovering from a training injury, Roger claimed none of that was a concern to him.

“Do you remember when 'Sugar' Ray Leonard fought Marvin Hagler?” asked Roger. “He was off for over five and a half years and he came back and beat Marvin Hagler, so there you go. Anytime a guy is off it's going to have some effect. It will make it different, yeah...but Floyd really ain't been away like people say. He was always around, doing little stuff, playing around in the gym, this and that.”

Roger indicated that Floyd was never too far out of fighting shape and that during the time he was “retired” his weight never rose more than 10-15 pounds above where he usually fights.

“When he came back here to the gym he pretty much weighed the same he did the day he left two years before,” he claimed.


Roger works on his nephew's skills. Together they have seen Floyd become one of the best fighters in the world who has won numerous world titles.

Roger Mayweather was a two-time world champion in his own right at 130 and 140 pounds and he was a top contender for years in the 80s and 90s. In sizing up Mexico's Marquez, Roger does so with a keen eye as he faced and beat a host of Mexican fighters during his own career. Aside from being known as the “Black Mamba” he was also known as the “Mexican Assassin.”

“Look, there ain't nuthin' wrong with Marquez,” he said. “The dude can fight and he's got skills, too. But he ain't the biggest puncher in the world and he ain't the fastest cat out there. So you gotta' ask yourself what's he gonna' do when he gets in there with the best fighter in the world?”

Roger is usually very critical in his assessment of Floyd's opponents, but he was not as blunt in his assessment of Marquez.

“He's tricky, yeah. He fought Pacquiao, might have beat him” he said. “But like I said, he ain't a big puncher and he ain't as fast as some other guys Floyd has fought. He ain't the most aggressive guy you'll find out their either. Now, I don't know if Floyd can knock him out or not, but we gonna' find out.”


September 2009

Inspirational Story

Paid In Full

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told
him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in
business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and
regret filled his heart.

He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

Ticket Prices Tell the Story in Vegas

With less than three weeks to go, there are signs that fight tickets for Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez are not exactly a big seller.

With Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr's return to the ring only 17 days away, the true story of his success against Juan Manuel Marquez may well end up being measured in the ticket prices that his comeback bout are garnering.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, are both on record as calling Mayweather's return against Marquez “the biggest fight of this year.”

However, rumors abound that one of the reasons for the postponement of the original date of the fight, which was initially slated for July 18, was not necessarily due to a training injury suffered by Mayweather, but because of sluggish ticket sales.

Even Shane Mosley, a partner in Golden Boy Promotions, suggested that after several weeks of availability – less than 3,000 tickets had been sold for the original date of Mayweather vs. Marquez.

However, Schaefer, Ellerbe and even Oscar De La Hoya himself have made various statements to this writer and others over the past few weeks that nothing could be further from the truth.

De La Hoya and Schaefer have both said that “activations” of various sponsors are strong and that all signs point to robust tickets sales and a strong pay-per-view showing for Mayweather vs. Marquez. All associated with the promotion continue to state that ticket sales are not a concern and that there are no problems.

But there is some evidence to suggest otherwise.

Tickets for this fight, either the original July 18 or rescheduled Sept. 19 date - have been on sale since late May. Seats are still widely available at all price ranges in the MGM Grand Garden Arena which holds in the vicinity of 17,000 for boxing.


During the press tour for their fight, Mayweather and Marquez decided to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Ticket sales may not reach such lofty heights.

Hotel rooms at the MGM Grand are also plentiful on the weekend of the fight. The MGM is offering deeply discounted packages for hotel room and fight ticket combinations. The “VIP” packages include fight tickets, a complimentary limousine ride to and from McCarran International Airport, as well as credits that total $200 for food, beverage, and use of various extras the hotel offers.

Contrast that with ticket sales for the Nov. 14 mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, (which will take place in the same venue) and the picture of what match-up is the bigger draw for the fans becomes much more clear.

Tickets for the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight became available to the public on Aug. 17. Within a matter of hours, Bob Arum, chairman of Top Rank, Inc. announced that the arena was a virtual sell-out. Arum indicated that advance bulk orders of tickets had been placed by the Las Vegas casino operators and “only 2,100 would be sold to the public.”

Tickets had been on sale less than 24 hours when Top Rank announced that approximately 1,000 seats remained and those were in the highest price ranges - indicating that a sellout is a virtual certainty – nearly two months in advance of the fight.

A check of available accommodations at the MGM Grand on the weekend of Pacquiao vs. Cotto show some scarcity, with only the higher priced rooms and suites still remaining.

But the strongest evidence in comparing the drawing power of the Mayweather vs. Marquez and Pacquiao vs. Cotto fights would seem to be found in the ticket prices themselves. They are purely market driven and, as they say, the numbers don't lie.

A popular on-line ticketing service is currently selling a ringside seat to Mayweather vs. Marquez for $4,590 each. The exact same seat for Pacquiao vs. Cotto is currently priced at $10,943.


September 2009

Like the Big Fights? Thank Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

When Floyd Mayweather, Jr. walked away from the sport of boxing in June of 2008 he did so while at the top of his game. He was the universally recognized number one pound-for-pound boxer on the planet. He was (and still is) undefeated with a record of 39-0, 25 KOs. He had won titles in five separate weight divisions and was number one at the box office. His May 2007 fight against Oscar De La Hoya shattered all of boxing's established pay-per-view records. His bout against Ricky Hatton later that year grossed millions here and in the United Kingdom.

At age 30, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. went out on top as the King of boxing. And now he's ready to return, “...to reclaim my throne” he wrote on his Twitter page yesterday.

In the short time that Mayweather was away, several big fights came together involving Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito. All those fighters engaged in high-profile, money-making fights that allowed them to move up in the pound-for-pound rankings, win titles, and occupy the slots that Floyd once did.

Now that he is 22 days away from facing Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, Mayweather and his team feel that those fighters should be thanking him for those fights and that it was because of his absence that they were able to flourish.

“When Floyd decided to retire, that is how the other guys came into prominence,” explains Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather's business affairs. “They need to be thanking Floyd because he's the one that made the opportunities for them to make their money. De La Hoya – Pacquiao would never have happened if Floyd didn't retire. The Pacquiao fight would never have happened for Ricky Hatton. But Floyd didn't mind, he was stepping down. But they should be thanking him for giving them the opportunity because he had them all boxed out.”


Would Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao have had their success if Mayweather had still been in the picture?

It's an interesting theory and there may be some truth to it. I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it, but one has to think that if Mayweather hadn't retired, that the boxing landscape would look much different than it does today.

“The press tries to downplay all of what Floyd did,” says Ellerbe. “Some of them are just idiots out there and they want to talk about another guy – another fighter – I don't even want to use his name. But we just deal with the facts and it's not a popularity contest.

“The facts are the revenue. Floyd's the first fighter ever to generate a quarter-billion dollars in revenue in one year. The two fights with De La Hoya and Hatton did that and that has never, ever been done before. In their last two fights they fought the same two opponents. Floyd generated twice as much revenue as the other guy did - and that’s a fact. That’s not me saying it, it’s a fact. HBO will confirm that remark and Mark Taffet (Senior VP Sports Operations & PPV) will confirm that Floyd is the first athlete ever to do that.”

While Mayweather's monetary success is indisputable, there isn't too much one can argue about when it comes to Mayweather's record in the ring, either. A certain segment of hardcore boxing fans often try to argue that Mayweather hasn't fought the toughest available competition. They believe that Mayweather has avoided Margarito, Cotto and Mosley and that he would never fight Paul Williams.

But Ellerbe counters those arguments by reiterating what Floyd told him when he decided to return to the fight game.

“When Floyd told me he was coming back he said, 'I want to fight in the biggest fights out there and we’ll line them up one-by-one and knock 'em down.'”


In his return, Mayweather will meet Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

It would seem certain that in this new world economy, if Mayweather is going to continue making the sort of money he has become accustomed to, that he will have no choice but to face the marquee names that now inhabit the welterweight division. Mayweather has not said what his plans may be after he meets Marquez, but the boxing world is craving for a superfight with Manny Pacquiao.

“There is no timetable,” Ellerbe said, on how long the now 32-year-old Mayweather may continue with his boxing career and who he could face in the future.

But one thing is clear, and that's the fact that the man who now goes by the nickname “Money” is all about the Benjamins. His rumored paycheck for the Marquez fight is a cool $15-million.

“He’s a very successful businessman,” says Ellerbe. “We’ve been able to use boxing as a platform to build his business portfolio to take the Mayweather brand to a whole other level. We’ve gotten the exposure on Dancing with the Stars and the WWE which has expanded his fan base to a whole other level. That's made it possible for him to become a mainstream superstar with more visibility. He’s a global superstar.

“Five thousand fans in England waited outside for ten hours just to get a sight of him. He’s been able to transcend the sport and establish himself. He has a short window of opportunity to be successful and to parlay boxing into being a mainstream superstar. But I feel he has established the business model for boxers of the future, elite fighters, to be in control of their business.”


Being Floyd Mayweather, Jr. means having a license to print money - in this case - his own.

To be in control of his own destiny, Mayweather purchased the remainder of his contract from his former promoter, Bob Arum in 2006. Since then, Ellerbe claims that Mayweather's career took a turn for the better and the $750,000 he paid Arum was the best money they could have ever spent.

“After he bought out his contract from Arum he became his own boss,” says Ellerbe. “In the three fights since he left Arum he has made almost sixty million dollars. He made more in those three fights than he did in his whole career. Floyd’s the only fighter active out there that’s in control of his own business. He gets one-hundred percent of his own money. Promoters and managers are not ripping him off. He’s the first fighter, him and Oscar De La Hoya, ever to do that.”

So now that Mayweather is back in the game, and as long as he gets by Marquez on Sept. 19th, there could be bigger paydays and bigger fights down the line for him against names like Pacquiao, Cotto, Margarito and Mosley.

And in the world according to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. - since all of those same fighters should have thanked him for retiring – his stance would be that they should all now be thanking him for unretiring, too.


August 2009