FUTURE Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao is lending his hand in the 24th anniversary celebration of the biggest annual boxing awards night in the country.
The boxing superstar will be collaborating with the Elorde family when it holds the Pacquiao-Elorde Awards Night (formerly the Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde Boxing Awards Banquet of Champions) on March 25 at the Okada Hotel.
Pacquiao honored to continue Elorde's legacy
The retired, 45-year-old Pacquiao expressed his intention to be part of the great deeds of the Elordes, who for the past two decades have been honoring Filipino boxers by holding the annual awards night.
“I am deeply honored to continue the legacy of Flash Elorde, not only in boxing but also for providing hopes and inspirations for upcoming and current Filipino boxers, athletes who continuously fight abroad to bring glory to the country,” Pacquiao said in a statement.
“Known for their love and appreciation to Filipino boxers which I also do with MP Promotions, I think the collaboration with the Elordes are going to be huge in the long run not only with boxers but also with other Filipino athletes,” the former senator added.
Awards to non-boxers eyed
Liza Elorde, wife of Johnny Elorde, son of the late great Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde, said they are eyeing to give recognition also to other sports starting next year although boxing will always be prioritized.
“It’s about time to collaborate with Pacquiao since he’s the greatest boxer of the new era, while dad Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde reigned in the old era. So people will always remember not just only their accomplishments and names, but also their generosity to the people,” Elorde said.
This year she said Pacquiao and the Elordes will still focus in giving awards and citations like Boxer of the Year, Fight of the Year, Most Promising Boxer, Best manager, trainer, referee, judge, Special Awards to benefactors, boxing’s most influential people and best amateur fighters, among others.
But next year, the event will already recognized selected non-boxing athletes who did well in either the world competitions or in the Olympics.
“We decided to give recognition next year to the other athletes to inspire more the younger generation of athletes to persevere and give their best for the country,” Elorde explained. “Most generations today are inspired by Pacquiao who was also inspired by the great story of Flash Elorde.”
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