MANILA, 20 December 2002 — For their exploits in their respective fields, International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight titlist Manny Pacquiao and Busan Asian Games equestrian gold medalist Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski have been named the 2002 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA).
Pacquiao, the lone Filipino world boxing champion today, and Cojuangco-Jaworski, the country’s first Asian Games equestrian gold medalist in 16 years, were the unanimous choices for the prestigious awards given annually by the country’s top sportswriters’ organization.
In secret balloting held among regular members of the PSA last week, Pacquiao got 32 of the 53 votes cast, beating contenders Django Bustamante (20) and Efren “Bata” Reyes (1) of billiards and the pair of Paeng Nepomuceno and RJ Bautista in bowling.
Mikee swept all 52 votes in a landslide win over Liza del Rosario of bowling and Dottie Ardina of junior golf.
The two top awardees will receive the Philippines’ most prestigious sports award from no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has been invited to be the guest of honor and speaker during the PSA Annual Awards Night on Jan. 10 at the Holiday Inn Manila.
Bustamante, Reyes, Nepomuceno, Bautista, Del Rosario and Ardina are automatically included in the list of Major Awardees who will also receive trophies from the President. The 23-year-old Pacquiao won the IBF title over South African Lehlonoholo Ledwaba in Las Vegas last year and has defended it thrice over Dominican Agapito Sanchez, Colombian Jorge Eliecer Julio and Thai Fabbrakob Rakkiatgym.
Before a worldwide audience in the undercard of the Tyson-Lewis heavyweight bout at the Pyramid Arena I Memphis. Tennessee last June, Pacquiao knocked out Juli in 1:09 of the second round in the second defense of his crown.
In October, he made another spectacular defense of his title by flooring Fabprakorb thrice to win by technical knockout in 2:46 of the first round in Davao City.
Currently, it seems nobody stands a chance of beating Pacquiao in the super-bantamweight (122 lb) division.
This is the reason why the southpaw Pacquiao is planning to move up to the featherweight (126 lb) class.
The pride of General Santos City who will turn 24 on Dec. 17 has been campaigning, and ruling, the world’s 122-pound class with iron fists the last two years.
Pacquiao has dominated the world’s 122-pounders, having knocked out all but one of his nine opponents in the super-bantamweight division. Most of his earlier fights were in the flyweight class (112 lb).
For the record, the only time Pacquiao did not win as a super-bantamweight was when he was held to a six-round split draw by rugged Dominican Republic native Agapito Sanchez in their November 2001 brawl in San Francisco.
Pacquiao sustained a severe cut when he rumbled with the York-based Sanchez. Aside from the cut, Pacquiao was hit below the belt, laced and elbowed by the rowdy Latino.
A series of high-profile fights for Pacquiao on US soil is already in the pipeline. This year, Pacquiao has only racked up a total of three rounds in fights.
Earlier this year, Pacquiao was honored for his exploits last year in the second edition of the Gabriel “Flash” Elorde Boxing Awards at the Hotel Intercontinental.
He received the coveted Boxer of the Year award, the highest honor accorded by the prestigious Elorde Boxing Awards, which was launched last year and held annually by the family of the late Elorde, one of only two Filipinos enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in whose memory boxing’s greatest accolade is awarded.
On the other hand, Cojuangco-Jaworski led the Philippine team, the only all-woman squad in the showjumping competition, to the silver medal in the team event in last October’s Busan Asian Games.
A day later, she defied the odds to win over a South Korean favorite to clinch the country’s third and last gold in the Asian Games and its very first since the sport was included in the Asian Games calendar in 1985.
After her gold-medal performance in Busan, she won the hearts of millions of Filipinos. Mikee — who signs her name with a sketch of a happy horse — was the last pretty woman standing in Busan.
The sweet lady with a sweet smile and an obedient horse won the country’s third and last gold on the very last day of the regional competition, giving the Philippines its best finish in 16 years on overall medal count.
Thanks to Mikee’s scintillating triumph, the Filipinos surpassed their three-gold, two-silver, eight-bronze showing in Hiroshima in 1994 with a 3-7-16 harvest.
A true champion, the pretty, steel-nerved 28-year-old Mikee rode flawlessly aboard a horse she almost left behind and won the individual showjumping gold.
She upset some of the world’s finest riders while turning the Busan Equestrian Grounds into a field of dreams and blessing the departing Filipino delegation with glorious reason to celebrate.
It gave a late wave of euphoria back home that somehow wiped away tears from her countrymen after the national basketball team failed to bring home the medal that mattered most. For Mikee, the Asiad gold is the biggest and most satisfying of all since she began riding 18 years ago.
Mikee faced a course toughened further for the event and a shortened time limit, but she handled Rustic Rouge, an eight-year-old Australian thoroughbred mare she picked over Luisita, her horse in the 1998 Bangkok Asiad, expertly through the obstacles.
She rode the ride of her life in the deciding jumpoff point against her Korean opponent, and triumphed in the centerpiece event of the three-day equestrian action.
Such accomplishment though is more impressive with the fact that Mikee is already a mother of two, giving birth to her second child only last December. Rafael is now 10 months old, and growing up to be a truly smart, healthy, and fit child.
Mikee is also a pro-active mom who is able to balance her time between taking care of her kids, and accomplishing an impressive career as an equestrienne.
She has been riding since she was 10 at their hacienda in Tarlac, and had a string of victories abroad, including one last year in New Delhi. But she took time off from showjumping when she gave birth to her second child.
