By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asia Weekly
Welcome to another edition of Layup Training. This month, let’s take a look at various news from Manny Pacquiao, Naomi Osaka, and Jeremy Lin.
The age of Pacquiao’s loss
Manny Pacquiao was hit by Youdenis Ugas in a welterweight boxing match on August 21. (AP Photo/John Rocher)
Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring two years after his last appearance. He was originally scheduled to play against top contender Errol Spence, Jr. in August, but an eye injury caused Spence to withdraw. In order to keep dating and fighting, Pacquiao accepted Cuban Yudnis Ugas, who was originally scheduled to fight on the hole cards, but stepped up to participate in the main event.
Unfortunately, for Pacquiao, Urgas is a bigger opponent than Spencer, with a better range to stop Pacquiao’s series of fists. In the end, Urgas dominated the game and Pacquiao looked slower and was affected by Urgas’ continuous jabs and counterattacks. Ugas won by unanimous decision.
At the end of the fight, Pacquiao was not sure whether he would return to boxing. The 42-year-old Pacquiao does not look like the boxer who entered the ring two years ago. Although Pacquiao has a political career and may become the president of the Philippines, he is more willing to return to the game after a few days of fighting.
“In my heart, I want to continue fighting,” Pacquiao told Sports Illustrated.
Osaka leads in salary and faltering on the court
After Fernandez defeated Osaka on September 3, Laila Fernandez shook hands with Naomi Osaka. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
According to a recent report by Forbes, tennis star Naomi Osaka is the highest-paid female athlete of all time. The 23-year-old has earned US$37.4 million in bonuses and endorsements in the past 12 months—US$1.4 million more than Serena Williams, the previous highest paid female player. Osaka is known as one of the most marketable athletes in the world. She uses her platform to express opinions on civil rights and mental health issues.
Osaka spent a turbulent summer. She withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon to focus on her mental health. However, she returned to Tokyo to participate in the Olympics and lit the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. As she represented Japan in the summer tennis games, she lost the first few rounds of the game and did not win a medal.
Osaka returned to competitive competition at the US Open in September this year, but was defeated in the third round by 18-year-old Filipino-Canadian Laila Fernandez. After her defeat, Osaka accepted a media interview and said she might suspend the sport.
Jeremy Lin admitted to the hospital
Social media from Jeremy Lin
Former NBA basketball star Jeremy Lin was discharged from hospital after contracting COVID-19. Despite being vaccinated, he was still infected. Lin Zheng returned to China from the United States and tested positive during quarantine. Lin played for the Golden State Warriors’ Development League members this season, trying to return to the NBA. His career is currently up in the air, although he said he will return to China to play.
In a social media post on August 9, Lin pleaded with others to get vaccinated. Although he initially stated that his symptoms were mild, Lin spent 30 days fighting COVID-19 in a Chinese hospital. On September 2, he posted on social media that his test result was negative and thanked the Chinese frontline staff for “living for one month at a time, not going out, looking for family members, not going out, and quarantining for 14 days” (sic). “
Football team posts racist photos
Twitter snapshot
The Italian football club Juventus apologized after posting a tweet on the official account of its women’s team, which showed a player wearing a red training cone on his head and retracting his gaze with his finger. The post also includes emoticons that mimic eye-catching gestures.
Social media posts are deleted more than 20 minutes after being posted. It was strongly opposed because of “blatant racism.” The team apologized for this tweet, but did not answer questions about why and how to allow this photo to be posted.
This is not the only time the team has shown a hint of ethnic insensitivity to Asians. In 2008, the promotional photos of the Spanish Olympic basketball team all mocked Asians with their fingers close to the eyes. NBA basketball player Paul Gasol apologized for this gesture and said it should not be offensive, but interesting.
Gold medalist Li was selected to participate in the dance with the stars competition
With the victory, the spoils came. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Suni Lee will start her college career at Auburn University this year. She is expected to take advantage of new rules that allow college athletes to profit from their names, images and portraits.
In addition to numerous sponsorship deals and opportunities, Li was also selected to participate in ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”. The show pairs celebrities with dancers and judges their performance every week.
Transgender football players come out
Japanese professional football player Kumi Yokoyama announced that they are transgender and they participated in the National Women’s Football League. The 27-year-old decided to reveal his gender identity while living in the United States. This status is not legally recognized in their home country, Japan. They announced the news on the YouTube channel of another teammate. They said that after finishing their football career, they wanted to live like a man. President Biden praised this statement. In addition, their team’s Washington spirit announced their support.
“Thank you for showing the world that it is okay to embrace yourself!” The team praised in a tweet. Yokoyama prefers to use the pronouns “them” and “them”.
Yokoyama represented the Japanese team in the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Jason can be at info@nwasianweekly.com.
