“Just to box. The object is to throw as many punches at your opponent without getting hit. We are looking for big things,” Julaton told 8countnews.com’s Brad Cooney of her game plan.

Julaton will take on Villalobos at “Rumble at Rama XII” at the Casino Rama, in Rama, Ontario, Canada on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).

“She’s pretty strong. She has a good strong right hand and she had a nice knockout awhile back. She is going to bring it to me, and I feel like I am ready,” the Fil-Am said of her opponent.

The two female pugilists will fight for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight title.

Villalobos has 6 wins (with 3 KOs) and 3 losses while Julaton, a 2-time world champion, currently has 6 wins (with 1 knockout), 2 losses and 1 draw.

The Fil-Am will aim to bounce back from her unanimous decision loss to Canadian Lisa “Bad News” Brown in March.

Julaton, a former WBO and International Boxing Association (IBA) champion, also said that Roach has been working on the game plan since Day 1 of their training.

“It’s been great,” she said of her renewed partnership with Roach. “Ever since the first day he’s been working on a game plan. We have been working great on the mitts as well. His communication with me is excellent, and it’s been great being back at the Wild Card gym around fighters that have the same goals that I have.”
She was full of praise for her trainer, a 4-time Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Trainer of the Year recipient.

“The way that Freddie explains things, and the way that he sees things is pretty incredible. It’s amazing how he just puts it all together. That’s why he’s a 4 time trainer of the year, and I feel very honored to have him in my corner,” she said.

DLNHS hosts the junior league (13-14 yrs old) and senior league (14-16).

The authority granted for these student-players was timely as they are facing many problems for their participation in the said regional softball tournaments after topping the Little League Philippine Series held after the Palarong Pambansa in Daet, Camarines Norte last April 19-27, 2010.

“This is a breakthrough for Ba-Neg softball teams to move forward, despite being beset with financial problems worth nearly a million, just to give honor to the city and the province as well as the country in this international softball competition,” multi-awarded coach Antonio J. Oquindo said.

The 15-time Palarong Pambansa champion, DLNHS, and the reigning Palaro champion in elementary girls, Educational Training Center School, badly need $9,000 registration ($3,000 for each team) and airfares going to Indonesia and back home.

The teams had appealed for financial assistance from Bacolod City Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia and newly-elected Bacolod Lone District Congressman Dr. Anthony Golez, as well as governor-elect Alfredo G. Marañon, Jr.

The teams are set to leave on July 6 from Bacolod City and schedule to fly to Indonesia the next day. The tournament proper will start July 9 to 15 and the teams will go home July 16.

The senior and junior teams will be mentored by multi-awarded coach Antonio J. Oquindo, Jr., while the Major League by Tess Himpolaran.

The senior league is composed of catcher Clariz Palma, pitchers Michelle Lentija, Glesyl Opjer, Shareen May Garcia, Rhea Sevilla, Rachel Ann Secor, Cristine Sebuan, Herjea Faye Sinogbuhan, Charmaine Joy, Lovely Mae Monsanto, Ma. Dianne Treyes and Jonalie Almonia.

Meanwhile, the junior league is composed of Lorie Mae Lisbo, Edna Mae Severino, Vanessa Zaragoza, Nancy Benjamen, Gelyn Lamata, Judy Ann Cauntoy, Arlene Francis Areglado, Twiddle Gee Samson, Geialyn Dechosa, Queeny Sabobo and Babylyn Hermoso.

Thai ace Pornthip Santrong took charge of Lyceum’s offense in the final set to finish with a game-high 35 points as the Lady Pirates beat the Tigresses for the first time in 15 meetings since the league’s inaugural season in 2004.

Nica Guliman, who recorded six blocks, and Joy Cases helped the Lady Pirates recover their bearing in the last two frames to wind up with 17 points each.

The Lady Pirates’ breakthrough win—which pushed the back-to-back champion Tigresses on the brink of elimination—came three days after the death of Cayetano “Tanny” Gonzales, Lyceum’s team manager and athletic director.

“We were all surprised [with Gonzales’ death] and we’re all hurting,” coach Emil Lontoc said in Filipino. “But I reminded the players that it shouldn’t be a reason for us not to play well.”

San Sebastian College pounded out a straight-set victory, 25-21, 25-18, 25-18, against an Ateneo de Manila University squad playing minus team star Charo Soriano in the other semifinal match.

Thai import Jaroensri Bualee fired 20 points and Joy Benito delivered the match point to finish with 18 points for the Lady Stags.

“We know they’re psychologically down; they’re affected by the absence of Charo,” said San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb.

Soriano watched from the Ateneo sidelines in crutches after tearing her right anterior cruciate (knee) ligament in Thursday’s game.

Lyceum and San Sebastian will shoot for finals berths in Game 2 on Tuesday.

The Lady Pirates wore black wristbands as a tribute to Gonzales, a constant bench figure who died last Thursday due to a heart attack. He was 58.

But the Lady Pirates kept their emotions in check as Pornthip, Cases and Guliman spearheaded a Lyceum breakaway from a 6-6 deadlock in the deciding set.

Pornthip, who registered seven service aces, rattled four consecutive kills to wrap up the grueling two-hour match.

A pair of Pornthip kills also sandwiched a Syvie Artates hit to cap the fourth set, 25-23, and forge a decider.

Aiza Maizo, the reigning MVP, led the Tigresses with 26 points.

“I had Federer against the ropes,” Falla would say later.

Eventually, the unheralded Falla succumbed to some jitters, and six-time Wimbledon champion Federer called upon his experience, summoned his customary excellence, overcame the daunting deficit and pulled away to win 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0 in the event’s opening Centre Court match.

“You definitely feel, you know, uncomfortable, because if you’re used to being down the whole time, your whole life, it’s something that’s kind of normal. For me, it’s not normal to be down two-sets-to-love, especially at Wimbledon and early on in Grand Slams. It’s something I’m not quite used to,” said the top-seeded Federer, who hampered himself with seven double-faults. “But still, I was able to find a way. That’s most important right now. Doesn’t matter how I felt out there. Didn’t feel great, that’s for sure.”

Had Falla finished off Federer, it would have been one of the most stunning upsets in the history of tennis — perhaps THE most stunning, taking into account the participants, the setting and the round.

Not sure? Consider the players’ resumes entering the day:

_Federer was 92-13 for his career on grass, including 76-2 since 2003; Falla was 7-11.

_Federer was 51-5 for his career at Wimbledon, with those six championships and a record seven consecutive final appearances; Falla was 3-5 and never got past the second round at the All England Club.

_Federer was 199-28 with a record 16 titles in Grand Slam action and reached the final at 18 of the past 20 major tournaments; Falla was 11-14, only once making it as far as the third round at a Slam.

All of that is why this match was the talk of Day 1 at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament, with players gathering around televisions in the locker rooms to catch a glimpse.

“I don’t think anyone expected it,” said No. 5 Andy Roddick, a three-time Wimbledon runner-up who beat Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 later Monday. “Everyone was pretty surprised, especially when it became very, very real there in the latter stages.”

Indeed, Falla’s near-defeat of Federer generated much more buzz than any of the upsets that actually occurred.

The seeded men who exited were No. 11 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Ivan Ljubicic, No. 20 Stanislas Wawrinka and No. 30 Tommy Robredo. No. 3 Novak Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion, appeared on his way to joining them, but he came back to beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that finished at about 11 p.m., with the Centre Court roof closed and the lights on.

There was one surprise of significance in the women’s draw: No. 5-seeded Francesca Schiavone lost 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-1 to 47th-ranked Vera Dushevina of Russia, making Schiavone only the second reigning French Open women’s champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon in the 42-year Open era.

“I didn’t have a lot of energy today,” said Schiavone, who became Italy’s first female Grand Slam champion two weeks and two days ago. “It was very close, but she took advantage of her chances, and I didn’t.”

The only other time a French Open champ bowed out in her opening Wimbledon match was in 2005, when it happened to Justine Henin. The Belgian began a 20-month hiatus from tennis in 2008, and returned to Wimbledon for the first time in three years Monday, advancing with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.

Also returning: Kim Clijsters, who hadn’t played at the All England Club since 2006. The two-time US Open champion, away from the tour entirely for 2 1/2 years while getting married and having a daughter, had no problems in beating Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 6-0, 6-3.
Not surprisingly, Henin and Clijsters — neither of whom has won Wimbledon — were thrilled to be back.

“We breathe tennis, we live tennis, over here. You feel the tradition of the game,” Henin said, then added: “Playing in white is a good feeling.”

Venus Williams adhered to Wimbledon’s strict dress code Monday, switching from the black lace outfit that drew so much attention at the French Open to more traditional attire.

“Here it’s all about white,” Williams said after eliminating Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay 6-3, 6-2. “There is no illusion this time. My dress was inspired by Tina Turner. … It’s just a fun, elegant dress.”

Her bid for a sixth Wimbledon championship got off to a much more straightforward start than Federer’s quest for a record-tying seventh.

Only twice in the Open era has the defending Wimbledon champion lost in the first round, but Federer appeared to be heading in that direction against the left-handed Falla. Here’s one additional reason why the tightness of their match caught everyone off-guard: These guys met four times previously, and Federer won each time, taking all 11 sets.

Thanks to the luck — or, from Falla’s perspective, the bad luck — of the draw, they were playing each other for the third time in the past four weeks.

“Everybody wants to play Federer,” Falla said, then broke into a wide grin before delivering the laugh line: “But three times in one month is a lot.”

In this case, familiarity did not breed contempt, but rather confidence. Falla felt he had a pretty good idea of what to expect, even sketching out something of a game plan for success against Federer, saying it was vital to go for it on returns, particularly on second serves, and to be aggressive by moving to the net whenever possible. Falla did all of that quite well for long stretches, backing up his strong serving and booming groundstrokes off both wings.

Also, Falla realized he was having a hard time dealing with Federer’s sliced backhands in their recent encounters. To better prepare for that, Falla practiced with Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, who won a grass-court tuneup event in the Netherlands last week and often slices the ball.

Asked if all of the recent time on court together might have helped Falla on Monday, Federer grinned and joked, “It shouldn’t have. … He should have known that I was going to beat him. But he forgot.”

There were two pivotal moments Monday.

Serving at 4-4, love-40 in the third set, Federer faced three consecutive break points — had Falla won any of those, he would have served for the match in the next game. Instead, Federer won all three, erased a fourth break point later en route to holding serve, then broke in the next game for the first time all match to take the set.

And then, at 5-4 in the fourth, Falla served for the match.

“A big chance,” said Falla, whose left leg was massaged by a trainer during third-set changeovers.

So close to a breakthrough result, the 26-year-old Falla admitted he doubted himself a bit, and he could get no closer than three points from victory — at 15-30 and 30-40. On the last, Federer ripped a big forehand that forced an error by Falla to make it 5-all. Federer roared, as did the crowd, and that pretty much was that.

When Federer delivered a groundstroke winner to end the tiebreaker, then broke Falla’s serve to open the fifth set, order was restored.

Officials from African Football Confederation president Issa Hayatou down and former stars like Abedi Pele and George Weah expected at least one of the sextet to make the semi-finals.

That seems a distant dream as even powerful contenders Ghana and Ivory Coast face elimination while 1990 quarter-finalists Cameroon suffered the humiliation of being the first country eliminated from the month-long tournament.

Here is the state of play with one group match left for each African team in a competition where the best performances have been last-eight places for Cameroon and Senegal 12 years later.

Algeria

Only victory over the United States on Wednesday will offer a chance of second round action for the Anther Yahia-skippered ‘Desert Foxes’, who held England goalless after losing 1-0 to lesser force Slovenia.

The sight of the Three Lions shirt was always going to be a massive motivator and they were rarely troubled by far higher-profile opponents, but the failure to get anything from Slovenia could return to haunt them.

Cameroon

Clashes over team selection and tactics between French coach Paul le Guen and senior players spelt trouble and so it proved with losses to Japan and Denmark rendering the last game against The Netherlands on Thursday meaningless.

Le Guen started well with Indomitable Lions, salvaging a sinking qualifying campaign, but a tame quarter-finals exit from 2010 African Cup of Nations proved a taste of things to come.

Ghana

A draw against three-time champions Germany on Wednesday and the Black Stars go through, but that is easier said than done against proud rivals fighting for survival.

Have not set Highveld on fire despite leading standings with both goals coming from Asamoah Gyan-converted penalties against Serbian and Australian teams that had a player sent off.

Ivory Coast

Must defeat North Korea on Friday to have chance of surviving ‘Group of Death’ after holding Portugal in a dour Port Elizabeth duel before falling 3-1 to Brazil with inspirational captain Didier Drogba back in starting line-up.

They often matched Brazil, whose striker Luis Fabiano handled the ball twice while scoring second goal, but at other times were made to look ordinary as the South Americans carved openings with slick passing.

Nigeria

Although bottom of the table and pointless after losses to Argentina and Greece, Super Eagles can squeeze through on Tuesday by defeating the Asians if Greece suffer an anticipated loss to the group leaders.

Like Algeria, the Nigerians seem to perform better when facing stronger rivals with a good showing against Argentina followed by Sani Kaita losing his head and getting sent off when leading the Greeks.

South Africa

Goal-shy team must win handsomely on Tuesday against fellow strugglers France to have any hope and even a 10-goal victory will count for nought if leaders Uruguay and Mexico draw.

After a good second-half showing against Mexico, were brutally exposed by Uruguay in a 3-0 Pretoria drubbing with two-goal Diego Forlan granted the freedom of the park and South Africa took 70 minutes to get a shot on target.