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MANILA, Philippines – Purefoods stars Marc Pingris and James Yap are used to being idolized but they could not help but gush over Filipino boxers after watching the Pinoy Pride 30 fight card at the Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
Pingris and Yap were in attendance at the Big Dome and saw first-hand how Donnie Nietes and Nonito Donaire triumphed in their respective matches.
Donaire needed only two rounds to demolish Brazilian challenger William Prado and return to the win column, while Nietes battered Mexico’s Gilbert Parra in the eighth and ninth rounds, and forced him to quit on his stool before the start of the 10th.
“First time kong manood ng live. Lagi lang ako sa TV, so iba pala. Iba pala ‘pag live,” Yap said at the end of the event, while he congratulated Donaire inside one of the locker rooms.
Asked if he felt a new respect for the boxers after seeing them in action, Yap replied: “Yes, yes, of course. Grabe pala.”
Pingris, for his part, admitted he felt nervous while watching Donaire fight.
“Ang galing. Gusto ko suntukin kalaban niya kanina, pero kinakabahan ako,” he said.
“Pinakita talaga nila kung paano mag-trabaho ang mga Filipino boxers natin,” Pingris also said. “‘Yung puso nila, gusto talagang manalo.”
“So good job, at andito kami para sa kanila.”
Pingris and Yap returned to the Araneta Coliseum a day later as they and the rest of the Hotshots are now taking on the Alaska Aces in Game 2 of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup best of-three quarterfinals series. — Camille B. Naredo
Photo: Marc Pingris/Instagram
This story was republished with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com
