Vera makes heavyweight comeback

Arcilla, Tierro thwart rivals, forge title clash

Johnny Arcilla and Patrick John Tierro survived a pair of three- set thrillers to arrange an explosive title showdown in the fourth Olivarez Cup Open Tennis Championship at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque last Friday.

The top seeded Arcilla, who dropped just eight games and never lost a set on his way to the semis, bucked Fil-Italian Marc Reyes and cramps in the third set as he rallied from an opening set setback to win the next two, including a tense decider for a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory.

Facing his toughest challenge in the week, Arcilla actually surged to a 5-2 lead in the decider but sustained cramps after moving three match points at 40-15, slowing him down and enabling Reyes to fight back and make it a 5-6 game.

But Arcilla leaned on his experience and poise to break his 25-year-old rival on the 12th game, ending the three-hour and 20-minute encounter with a crosscourt backhand as he remained on track of his back-to-back title bid in the tournament held in honor of Philta president and Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez and presented by Palawan Pawnshop.

Unlike Arcilla, Tierro broke young Alberto Lim once to seize the opening set but faltered in the second before recovering his bearing and re-stamping his class over his 14-year-old rival to hack out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 decision in two hours, 10 minutes.

The third seeded Tierro also never dropped a set heading to the Final Four but found Lim a worthy challenger, needing to impose his will in the third to scuttle the promising Letran mainstay.

Arcilla and Tierro face off at 1 p.m. today for the crown and the top P40,000 purse staked in the week-long event sanctioned by Philta and backed by Dunlop as official ball.

Meanwhile, third seed Ronald Joven and Leander Lazaro upended No. 2 Arcilla and Vicente Anasta, 6-4, 6-4, to barge into the finals of the men’s doubles against the top-seeded pair of Tierro and Reyes.

Tierro and Reyes overcame No. 5 Jason Patrombon and Fritz Verdad, 2-6, 6-2, 10-7.

Fil-Am Brandon Vera returns to heavyweight action for the first time in five years as he faces the bigger, taller Ben Rothwell in one of the main cards of the UFC 164: Henderson vs Pettis in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today (Phl time).

Vera, who has gone 4-4 (win-loss) and a no-contest in nine fights at light heavy, hopes to rely on his speed and agility in his fight against Rothwell, who is taller and heavier at 6-4 and 262 lbs. The Fil-Am fighter stands at 6-3 with a 241-lb frame.

Rothwell, 31, will be a dangerous foe for Vera as the former has wracked up 32 wins including 18 on knockouts against nine defeats.

As an undersized heavyweight, the 35-yearold Vera has won his first eight bouts including a sensational TKO (elbows and punches) win over former heavyweight titlist Frank Mir in UFC 65 in Sacramento, California seven years ago.

It was a downward spiral for Vera from there, though.

With a promising career ahead of him, Vera ran into bigger foes like Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia, a former champion himself, at UFC 77 in 2007 in Cincinnati, Ohio where he broke a hand and Brazilian Fabricio Werdum in UFC 85 in London, England five years back.

Although he still struggled in the lighter class, Vera showed some promise when he lasted four rounds against light heavy contender Mauricio “Shogun” Rua before losing via KO (punches) in the UFC on Fox: Shogun vs Vera in August last year.

Vera, however, hopes to redeem himself in his return to heavyweight.