for Spence's IBF and WBC welterweight titles. This was the week boxing fans had circled on their calendar as Manny Pacquiao was set to challenge Errol Spence Jr. Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. “I just have to be ready and stay active.” “I don’t know where I’m at right now but I’m just going with the flow with what my manager and trainer want me to do,” Dato said of his progress. His next fight is set for October 4 at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif., a headlining bout in his first eight round assignment. “Right now it’s hard but in the long run it’ll get easier.” “I will still be working because I love what I do,” said Dato, who is trained by Raul Anguiano and Antonio Ojeda, and managed by Andres Moreno Rodriguez. Having a high school athletic background and working full-time as a personal trainer has its benefits when it comes to moving tickets. Despite not having a promoter he’s stayed busy, in part because of his ability to sell tickets. He traveled to Mexico for his debut, and has fought there three more times since. He only had 12 amateur fights, which he says he won, before going professional in 2016. A friend told him about the Minami Boxing Club nearby, and one day he decided to give it a look. School wasn’t his thing, so he considered the military. His pole vault personal record of 7’0 is still listed among the best results in Pioneer Valley High School history, but Dato says wrestling was his primary sport.Īs graduation neared, Dato still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. In high school he competed in wrestling and track and field for four years, and football for three as a wide receiver. He moved to the United States at age 7, following his father, who had worked in Alaska for some time, and took to the world of scholastic sports. “His footwork, how he throws a lot of punches when he’s shadowboxing, I’ve been studying all of those,” said Dato.įor a prospect who was first turned on to the sport by watching Pacquiao’s clashes with Juan Manuel Marquez, it was an experience he couldn’t pass up.ĭato was raised in the Rissing section of Bangar, La Union, a rural beach area north of Manila. Pacquiao didn’t speak much (“I told him that I’m fighting a lefty and he just nodded his head”) but the 25-year-old was able to absorb more with his eyes. The victory was the culmination of a month-long process where Dato was able to run with the new WBA welterweight titleholder, and visited his home for lunch. John Leo Dato ends Juan Antonio Lopez's night with a fifth-round KD to kickoff #PacThurman!?Įight-division World Champion Manny Pacquiao faces World Champion Keith Thurman for WBA supremacy! BUY NOW: /H3MzO81MPI “Even Leo Santa Cruz said congrats, ‘you’re the first guy to stop him, it’s a big statement,’” recalled Dato, who sparred with Joseph Diaz to get ready for the fight. That changed in round five, when Dato bullied the more slender fighter to the ropes and planted a right hand to the ribs that left him unable to rise from his knee before the ten count. His opponent last Saturday in the curtain jerker was Juan Antonio Lopez (14-7, 6 KOs), a durable Mexican southpaw who had faced plenty of prospects but had never been stopped before. “It was time to show these people who I am and that’s what I did. “It’s an amazing feeling when I walked outside the ring and I saw all these people,” said Dato (12-0-1, 8 knockouts), a Filipino born, America raised featherweight. Though the vast majority of the 14,000+ in the house would show up much later, Dato had a little cheering squad of his own from the 200 or so tickets he sold from his home base in Santa Maria, Calif. Hours before Manny Pacquiao would step into the ring at the MGM Grand, John Dato got to wear his cape.
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