Manny Pacquiao, the world-class boxer from the Philippines, began his life as the son of a very poor family. He hailed from General Santos City and grew up selling bread on the streets. That is where he earned his toughness and relentlessness. As a kid, Manny boxed in the streets to earn extra money. He was the same Manny we see now; he was as tough as nails, even though he fought opponents larger than him. That is where he gained his reputation as being one tough cookie. Many also noticed the speed and power of his left hand. To this day, that is what makes him the most exciting boxers of this generation.

Although he has gained the worlds respect, and boxing has brought him fame and fortune, his mother, who is also now a celebrity in the Philippines, does not agree with Manny fighting. Aling Dionisia, as she is famously called, is a very religious person and wished that Manny had joined priesthood. But maybe Manny knew something that his mother did not know; that one day, he would soon be destined for greatness.

Before reaching his iconic status, Manny set off to Manila and worked there for a living. His success was not given to him on a silver platter. He had to earn every bit of it. Manny worked as a construction worker and also as a janitor in the gym that he practiced at. That was how hard life was for him before. As a boxer, he won eleven consecutive fights before losing one. He considered quitting boxing during that time. but he told himself that he would not return home as a failure.

Hi determination finally paid off when he beat IBF Bantamweight Champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in six rounds. That is what kick-started his career, as the match was held in Las Vegas and Manny won it in convincing fashion. He then fought three Mexican legends, which he all beat. They are Marco Antonio Barera, Erik Morales and Juan Miguel Marquez. Also, he defeated Oscar Dela Hoya and he is now considered to be the number one boxer in the world. A fight with Floyd Mayweather is in the works and that match will be considered the fight of the century. If Manny beats Mayweather, he will hold the distinction of the only boxer to beat him. Also, that will tell you exactly who the greatest fighter in the world is now. As boxing fans, we hope and pray that the match pushes through.

The life story of Manny Pacquiao is not something to be envied at. He literally had to go through hell just to be where he is today. And now, he is a congressman in General Santos City and a world-class Filipino boxer all rolled into one. Who would have known that a poor kid from the streets of General Santos would be able to become what he is today. Maybe Manny knew; maybe he did.

Elaine writes on sports, sports handicappers, and topics like how to choose a reliable system of sports betting pick, including detailed explanations of how you can know if a sports picks site like http://www.megasportpicks.com/ offers a reliable success rate.

The first time watching this picture, there is only one question that comes to mind - Was This Necessary? It was not only unnecessary but also was pretty much cheap. The picture shows the level of obsession with Cesc Fabregas signing in the club squad itself. You expect Pique to do these kind of things as he is known for playing pranks but not from Puyol. Let's hope he was quite high in celebration and issue an apology soon or atleast a note of regret. What was Reina aiming to achieve by announcing cesc as the future of "the future of Barça, the future of Spain" is quite difficult for me to digest. Looks like it was a prank played by the team mates on Cesc, whatever it was absolutely stupid for FC Barcelona captain to get involved in this. The constant Fabregas transfer rumours has created a huge rift between the two clubs, and this action is not going to be viewed lightly in London.

For me this obsession to sign Fabregas amounts to madness. He is not going to come cheaply but the more important question is whether Barca absolutely needs him? I mean in Iniesta and Xavi we have the most brilliant midfield pair and to accomadate Cesc we have to shift Inietsa upfront. That's something which I strongly disapporve with. Iniesta is no traditional midfielder. He is kind of a floater and his unpredictability make the Barca midfield twice as dangerous. There is no doubt that Cesc is of top quality, but Xavi who is the heart of Barca and Spain had shown no signs of degrading in near time. Jonathan Dos Santos and Thiago have shown good talent and we can wait and watch they emerge as excellent mifielders. If they don't then we can go for Fabregas as a replacement for Xavi, but hopefully Xavi should play at this level for atleast another two years.

In all this obsession with Cesc, the management might be overlooking some essential position which need immediate reinforement. The first one is a replacement for Henry, who could compete with Pedro for a starting place. Second and the most important is the need to sign a quatlity holding midfielder. In all this non-sense we may once again forget to get the necessary reinforcement. Last season the obsession was to get rid of Eto'o (Guardiola, knows why!) and thsi season is to bring the kid who got away. It would be good to complete all the transfer before the team leaves for South Korea for pre-season friendlies. The first of pre-season friendlies will happen against Valerenga in Oslo. Guardiola also have to make sure that both xavi and Iniesta does not make any of those travels. Both have recently returned from injury and a gruelling World Cup campaign(in which everyone kicked Iniesta). A bit of rest could be what they need at the moment.

("I'm sorry, what was your name again?" PicProps: Sherdog)

Thank God that Josh Barnett only did a couple of the things he threatened to do to Geronimo dos Santos at Impact FC in Brisbane last night.  Despite his threats to the contrary, reports from Sherdog’s Jordan Breen – who was cageside for the event -- indicate that Barnett’s short-and-sweet win over dos Santos in the main event of the upstart Australian promotion went strictly according to the unified rules. And no, that is not a euphemism.

The former UFC heavyweight champion took his enormo Brazilian opponent down and achieved full mount twice during the 2 minute, 45 second contest and eventually used a barrage of strikes from behind dos Santos to force John McCarthy to call the fight. Dos Santos attempted to protest the stoppage, but reportedly failed the “What the [sic] is your problem?” test with his unsure, rubbery legs.

Fellow UFC castoffs  Karo Parisyan, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Jeff Monson also recorded wins, while former champion Carlos Newton lost an ugly fight to Brian Ebersole.

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More La Masia Recruits for Barca

With Chygynskiy's and Toure's departure, Guardiola is looking to La Masia for defensive cover for next season. Atleast four Barca Atletic defenders may find more playing time with the first team next season. Barca is expected to release Marquez and Caceres and also is expected to send Henrique out on loan yet again. Caceres performance against Holland in the World Cup semi-final may force the management to think about a loan deal rather than selling the player. He still may fulfil all the promises he shown at a very early age. Marc Muniesa, Andreu Fontas, Marc Batra and Sergi Gomez all are expected to make the cut for the first team this season. Muniesa is widely regarded as the natural heir to Puyol's throne and he should see more playing time than others. Add to this, Jonathan Dos Santos and Thiago, we have two brilliant midfielders also emerging from the academy.

The current management has wisely decided to focus on La Masia to find reinforcements for the team. Many Barca fans has been shouting this for a pretty long time. In this back drop, is it wise for the Management to pursue Cesc Fabregas signing anymore? He is a quality player but he will not come any cheap. If we manage to secure his signing, we will have to part with atleast 40-45 million Euros. We already have Xavi and Iniesta in the midfield and Fabregas will find it difficult to break into midfield unless Iniesta is given a more attacking role, which I firmly oppose. last season, in the whole drama of getting rid of Eto'o, Guardiola and the management failed to find a quality reinforcement for the fading Henry. This season we are in the danger of doing it again in the whole mess of Cesc Fabregas pursuit. We need two definitive reinforcement at present. First the left side of the attack and next the defensive midfielder position. It looks like the management is banking on Fabregas signing to solve both the problem, which for me could be a huge blunder - both tactically and Financially.

Bleacher Report's Senior Analyst Gustavo Destro wrote a very good article giving many reasons on why the Brazilian Championship (aka Brasileirão) is indeed the most exciting and competitive national league in the world. (Read his article HERE)

In a country famous for having as many talented footballers as gorgeous women, exporting its best talents overseas has become a normal rule for every club. However the seed is strong, and each year more and more young players pop-up all over the continental territory.

The 2010 Brazilian Championship will be a very peculiar one. It started a few weeks ago overlapping with the final stages of the Copa Libertadores (the South American version of the Champions League), and it will be interrupted for 30 days so the whole country can turn their eyes to the World Cup.

How does that make this Brazilian Championship special?

Well, first of all we started the league with São Paulo, Cruzeiro, Corinthians, Santos, Grêmio, and Atlético-MG, Internacional as the most obvious candidates for the title because of their latest performances and the squads they have. However with the summer transfer window we might see some of these clubs coming back from the 30-day break without their main stars.

Vasco's youngster Philipe Coutinho has already signed with Inter Milan. I don't think Santos will be able to keep Paulo Henrique Ganso and Neymar if they keep showing the great football that has taken Santos to the regional title and the semifinals of the Brazilian Cup. Cruzeiro is a club known for not refusing good money for their players.

The same might happen to any team mentioned above and any other on the league.

The other issue that might cause the list of favorites to be dismantled is the fact that during the break, some teams lose momentum while others sign new players and come back re-energized for the rest of the season.

It's really hard for the Brazilian League to compete in popularity with the marketing and international names of the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, or Bundesliga. Most of the players in Brazil are unknown to the rest of the world. But I suggest you to at least mark my words and follow this humble scribe and I'll keep you posted on new players, ups and downs of the table, and maybe even some highlight videos. If I can figure out how to embed them here.

For now I leave you with some links to YouTube videos of  Philipe Coutinho (almost ex-Vasco, future Inter Milan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1vpOl-wTXw&feature=related  and the super offensive 2010 Santos FC of Neymar and Ganso. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlCz-6lOAmM

Football is a passionate sport. Every emotion from joy and anger to jealousy and hatred can be experienced once that ball gets rolling, on and off the field. 

Back in the day, when a Scotsman called Charles Miller first brought back a couple of footballs from England and started kicking them around in Brazil, the local media would describe this activity with specific reference to emotion.

There were articles which read, "They kick around a strange bladder and whenever it goes through some uprights placed on either side of the playing area it seems to bring great joy to some but at the same time rife sorrow to others."

Paulo Henrique Ganso is a player of great class. Just a couple of nights ago he did it again versus Gremio in the Brazil Cup. Pure magic, as Santos lost away to Gremio 4-3, but individually Ganso could only be described as pure magic.

It takes generations for such a player to come around. He has that special touch which reminds us of Zidane, Riquelme, Socrates, or any of the other great midfielders with the ability to dictate entire matches.

So what's the reason for him making me feel really down then?

Well, Brazil coach Dunga has not called him to the 23-man squad heading for South Africa.

The reason said Dunga was because Ganso only started to shine recently and has not been tested on the Brazilian national side.

Allow me a second to take apart that flimsy excuse for an excuse.

The World Cup is 30 days away, which allows ample time for a friendly test versus any team in the world. Putting Ganso on the 30 man list and then testing him would have been very easy.

It appears that Ganso is on the 30-man list, but Dunga has made his 23-man squad clear and also hasn't made any attempt to have a friendly with Ganso playing.

In other words, Ganso is on the 30-man list just merely for appearances and nothing more, and he won't be tested even though there is ample opportunity.

At first I was angry. However, strangely anger has been replaced with profound sorrow. Sorrow because Brazil will not play their best team in South Africa. Win or lose, Brazil will not play their best team.

Dunga's Brazil won the Confederations Cup beating teams like world champions Italy to a frazzle and this was exciting to watch. However, it came with great effort and struggle.

The "beautiful game" has been replaced by the "struggling game."

As a fan of Brazilian football, I could accept the "struggling game" in the Confederations Cup because those players were the best Brazil had at that particular time. So they played with what they had and won.

Since that time players like Neymar, Andre, and Ganso have taken Brazil by storm and "beautiful game" abounds in the land of football.

Most Brazilians will tell you that the 1982 Brazil team was the best produced. Ironically,  this team lost but still boast of unanimous local and great international popularity.

The thing that Dunga does not realize is that in Brazil it really is how you play the game that matters.

The entire nation is upset with Dunga's selection of robotic players he calls "warriors."

Every journalist and football celebrity on every channel has expressed some sort of outrage, ranging from the passive criticism of Pele to aggressive retort from Paulo V Coelho of ESPN.

Pele said he liked Dunga's team' however, there is no creative midfielder and every top Brazilian team ever has always had a creative midfielder.

Pele went on to explain that Kaka plays his position as a third striker but isn't a true creative midfielder. So in fact, according to this football legend, Brazil is playing without any midfield artistry whatsoever.

Paulo V Coelho went a step further and decided to call up Felipe Melo live on TV and ask him if he would really make a difference on the Brazil team coming off a horrible season for Juventus, indeed the worst season for this club in 44 years.

So some journalists are taking it a step further and calling up the Brazil midfield players  to see if they have a conscience and the good sense to admit that Brazil desperately needs a man like Ganso.

In the meantime, this particular football fan/writer is just depressed. Too depressed to even watch Santos play Gremio and only taking a peak at the highlights sadly to see Ganso shine again.

To be honest, I wish Ganso would have a bad match play ordinarily or even horribly, also get sent off for punching the ref, and spit on a camera while going to the dressing room.

For only then would the world make sense to me again.

As it stands, Ganso not going to the World Cup for Brazil is like the Jamaicans deciding to leave Usain Bolt home for the next Olympics or the Americans deciding that Michael Phelps just isn't good enough to swim on their team any more.

Santos-Vs-Gilbert-Yvel_0.jpg" height="266" alt="Stefan Struve Junior Dos Santos UFC" width="400">

(Dos Santos knocked out Stefan Struve in 54 seconds. Nelson knocked out Struve in 39 seconds. It'll be a stretch, but we're confident that the UFC can somehow twist that into a "grudge match" angle.)

According to a report published this morning on MMA Junkie, a heavyweight tilt between Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson is being targeted for UFC 117 (August 7th, Oakland). Nelson was previously slated to fight Cheick Kongo at UFC 116 in July, but Kongo won't be able to make that date because of a back injury, and since Dos Santos had been stuck in a holding pattern without an opponent, it seems that the UFC will have Cigano and Big Country square off against each other. Dos Santos has already stated that he'd be down to fight the TUF 10 winner, and Nelson would also welcome the matchup:

"That might be a fight that might happen. I'm hoping, all you can do is hope...If you think about who's out there fighting for the belt, or getting ready to fight for the belt it would be Brock (Lesnar) of course and Shane (Carwin), and then right underneath them it's Dos Santos and Velasquez. So those are the four guys I'm looking for that can kind of catapult me right into belt contention."

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Brazilian presidential candidate Jose Serra has officially joined the chorus for Ganso and Neymar to be called to the 23 man squad to represent Brazil in South Africa.

The football fanatic politition threw his two cents into the pool as practically an entire nation pleads with coach Dunga to play Brazil's best players in the World Cup.

The PSDB candidate was at a political rally to promote Geraldo Alckmin for governor of Sao Paulo at the Expo Center Norte in the capital.

Serra called for the inclusion of "the boys from the Vila" in the list of players to represent Brazil.

"I think that the Santos trio of Robinho, Ganso, and Neymar are practically on the list. The 1950 seleção, which was a great team, was based on the Vasco club. I see no problem is basing an important part of the seleção on an important club like Santos."

The official list comes out this Tuesday at 12:45 Brasilia time.

In other related news, veteran of two world cups Ronaldinho once again reaffirmed his interest in also being on that list.

According to the Milan midfielder in his last conversation with Dunga almost a year  ago, he was told that he would not be called to be on the bench, and that he should do what he had to do in Europe.

Ronaldinho went on to say that since then he had done what he had to do, improved greatly, and was anxiously awaiting Tuesday for his name to be called.

Good luck with that Ronney. One word from this writer to you is "Ganso."  Brazil is all stocked up on talent.

Dunga has said that we must not repeat the errors of 2006.

That year, Brazil fielded its most European based team in history, and payed the price as the players looked more like models on high heels than footballers hungry to win the most coveted trophy in world football.

Santos lifted their 18th São Paulo state championship on Sunday after beating Santo Andre 3-2 in the return leg of the state finals

Santos won the final with an aggregate score of 5-5 and the advantage of having the best record of the competition.

Santo Andre showed they deserved to be in the final netting three times versus the Santos super-squad as they went after their improbable dream of winning by a two-goal margin in the return leg.

However, despite having three players ejected from the match, Santos managed to fend off Santo Andre's offensive assault and guarantee their state title.

Santo Andre came close to grabbing a late winner as Rodriguinho blasted a ball that slammed off the goalpost, giving the home crowd a scare. However, Santos would eventually hold on to win the title.

Wonder-kid Neymar hopes that his two-goal performance in the final, 14 goals in 17 matches, and the title will help to put his name on Brazil's World Cup list.

Paulo Henrique Ganso was impeccable as usual, and showed great maturity in running down the clock in the second half as he appeared in every sector of the field plus assisting in both Santos goals in the final.

Robinho struggled to keep up at times with the level of the match and lost the ball on many occasions. One such loss of possession led to a Santo Andre counter attack and goal.

Robinho did, however, play a role in both goals and seemed well synchronized with Ganso and Neymar most of the time.

Brazilian top dog, Dunga, will make the official announcement of his selected players on May 11 as the land of football go after their sixth title in South Africa, and the unique opportunity to have won the World Cup in every continent on earth.

*Please visit FiveKnuckles.com for more mixed martial arts media*

Following the success of the first show, the Versus network will host a second UFC event on Aug. 1 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Utah State Athletic Commission confirmed the booking with MMAJunkie earlier today, although it has not been officially announced by the UFC.

FiveKnuckles.com previously reported that the Aug, 1 event would take place in Oakland, Calif., as confirmed by Versus president Jamie Davis last month.

UFC on Versus 1 was an instant hit, as headliner Jon Jones put forth a great showing by TKO-ing Brandon Vera half-way through the first round. Junior dos Santos also cemented his name as a top heavyweight contender when he KO'ed Gabriel Gonzaga in the first round. Another first-round win came to Alessio Sakara, who defeated James Irvin via doctor's stoppage after a punch in the eye inhibited Irvin from continuing. The only three-round fight on the main card was between Paul Buentello and Cheick Kongo, who walked away with the victory.

The only match up currently slated for UFC on Versus 2 is Jake Ellenberger vs. John Howard.