Sports Roundup: July 19, 2011 - basketball, football, boxing

The Ultimate All-Star Weekend added NBA superstar Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA selection, which will compete against a selection of PBA players and the Smart Gilas national team. Durant replaces DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers and will now join Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, and Chris Paul against a pool of local talent. The event will be held at the Araneta Coliseum from June 23 to 24.

In football, the Philippine Azkals dropped their second straight match against Bahrain’s Under-23 team. The Bahrainis whipped the Azkals, 1-3, even if the Philippines reinserted Angel Guirado, Phil Younghusband, and Angel Sabio back in the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, reigning WBO and WBC bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire cannot wait to get back into the ring after five months of inaction. Donaire was involved in a bitter tug-of-war between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, after he signed a contract with Golden Boy that Top Rank took to the court.

Basketball: Durant replaces Jordan, joins Ultimate All-Star Weekend

Things have become even more exciting as far as the Ultimate NBA All-Star Weekend is concerned. Aside from Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, another superstar will set foot here in Manila on Saturday—two-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant, who led the Thunder to a Western Conference finish against the Dallas Mavericks, will replace DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers. Jordan had some trouble with his passport, and because of that, Durant will take his slot.

Bryant will coach the NBA selection and apart from Rose, Paul, and Durant, the team includes veteran point guard Derek Fisher, shooting guard James Harden, and forward Derrick Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The NBA selection will play two exhibition games against a team composed of PBA players on July 23 and the Philippine national team the very next day.

The PBA players will be coached by former national team mentor Chot Reyes while the national team will be led by no less than Rajko Toroman.

The Smart-Gilas national team is deep in their preparation for the FIBA-Asia Championship that will serve as a qualifier for the 2012 Olympics. Aside from that, the team is also looking forward to joining the annual William Jones Cup that will be held in Taiwan next month.

Football: Azkals lose to Bahrain booters once again

Even if they already have their starters, the Philippine Azkals still could not solve the riddle of the Bahrain Under-23 team.

After losing against the Bahrainis, the nationals lost their second straight match against the same team less than one day later. The Azkals succumbed to the Bahrainis, 1-3, dropping their second match in an exhibition series that is meant to prepare the Filipinos for the second leg of their World Qualifying match against Kuwait on Saturday.

National team coach Michael Weiss re-inserted Angel Guirado, Phil Younghusband, and Angel Sabino back in the starting lineup. In spite of the lineup change, the Filipinos still couldn’t figure out the Bahrainis.

Bahrain nailed an early goal courtesy of Ahmed Jume in the 36^th minute, putting the Filipinos on the defensive. Minutes later, Hesham Nayem made a shot into the roof of the net that scooted past Eduardo Sacapano.

Saad Almer set up Nayem’s goal by drawing Sabio, Aly Borromeo, and Anton del Rosario before giving up the ball to Nayem for an easy goal.

In the 41^st minute of the first half, Chieffy Caligdong made a goal to cut the deficit down to one before halftime.

The Azkals were trying to go for the equalizer in the second half, but Bahrain’s Sayed Alawi put the match out of reach by hitting the third goal for the Bahrainis.

The national team will take a flight to Kuwait to prepare for the match that will be held on Saturday. The second leg of the qualifiers will be held in Manila on July 28.

Boxing: Nonito Donaire ready to get back to action

After several months of inaction, reigning WBO and WBC bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire can’t wait to fight inside the boxing ring again.

Donaire claimed the WBO and WBC titles after knocking out Fernando Montiel last February. Many people thought that his stock was about to skyrocket, but he later found himself in a bitter contract dispute between Golden Boy and Top Rank.

Donaire thought that he was already a free agent and took the opportunity to sign with Golden Boy. However, Top Rank took the matter to the court, claiming that his contract was still binding.

With the deadlock between two giant promoters, the Fil-Am’s career was stalled until the contract dispute was resolved. Donaire’s camp claims that Top Rank committed a breach of contract because it failed to give him at least three fights a year, which was stipulated in the contract that he signed. Top Rank, on the other hand, stated that Donaire wasn’t 100 percent healthy from 2008-2010 and that prevented the promotion from giving the fighter three fights per year.

After almost five months of inactivity, the 28-year-old champion is back on track, reuniting with Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotions last week. Donaire was supposed to fight Anselmo Moreno of Panama for the WBA bantamweight title last May. However, the contract dispute prevented the fight from happening.