LOOK: Pacquiao and Diaz Challenge Each Other in Alaxan Showdown

History-making athletes Manny Pacquiao and Hidilyn Diaz challenged each other to swap sports in Alaxan FR’s Showdown of the Year.

Manny Pacquiao and Hidilyn Diaz have some things in common. They are both world-renowned Filipino athletes, they are history makers for the country’s sports landscape, and they are helping to shape the next generation of athletes.

But, they do not share the same sport, as Manny Pacquiao is one of the greatest boxers of all time, and Hidilyn Diaz is an Olympic and World Champion in weightlifting.

Even with two different passions, earlier today, March 29, Pacquiao and Diaz proved themselves as athletes at Alaxan FR’s Showdown of the Year in Unilab Bayanhian center, where the two athletes challenged one another to swap sports.

Filipino athletes Manny Pacquiao and Hidilyn Diaz faced one another in Alaxan's Showdown of the Year

The Showdown!

To kick off Alaxan’s Showdown of the Year, Manny Pacquiao and Hidilyn Diaz came onto the stage, ready to take on a new challenge for the day.

Starting with Hidilyn, the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist, the boxing champ challenged her to throw as many punches as she could in the span of one minute. Before she started, Pacquiao wrapped her hands with boxing wraps — a truly special experience as he is famous for wrapping his own hands for every fight.

Once she got going, the weightlifting champ showed her strength and speed, as Pacquiao counted over 100 punches in the span of a minute after only expecting around 50.

Moving on to the next phase of the showdown, Hidilyn challenged Manny to perform a clean and jerk with an Olympic weightlifting bar — the Olympic gold medalist’s specialty.

After teaching him the proper form and technique for the clean and jerk, Manny was determined to get it right, repeating the movement multiple times with Hidlyn’s expertise.

Though when asked if Pacquiao thinks he could take on weightlifting in the future, he responded, “Mahirap. Magaan pa lang ‘yan, may nararamdaman na ko. Paano pa kapag mabigat?”

(“It’s hard. This bar was light and I already started to feel something. What more if it was a heavier weight?”)

No pain, no gain

Pacquiao and Diaz are two legends in Philippine sports, and their physical abilities allow them to take on new challenges. And the two emphasized that they have been able to get past struggles in their respective sports with the help of Alaxan FR, a pain relief medicine from UNILAB.

“Alaxan FR ang naging kaagapay ko for the past 22 years,” Pacquiao shared with the crowd in the Alaxan Showdown event.

(“I have been using Alaxan FR for the past 22 years.”)

Pacquiao further reflected on his experiences as a professional boxer, explaining that after every fight, his entire body would be in pain, to the point where just moving his fingers proved to be a struggle for him already. Because of this, using Alaxan FR for years has helped him get past this aspect of his sport.

Sharing her own experiences, Hidilyn also shared, “Kapag weightlifter ka, hindi talaga maiiwasan ang sakit ng katawan. I’m sure marami rin sa atin ang nakakaranas ng ganito araw-araw, kaya importante na mayroong trusted companion gaya ng Alaxan na tumutulong labanan ang body pain at magpatuloy sa laban.“

(“As a weightlifter, you can’t avoid body pain. I’m sure many of us have experienced this, which is why it is important to have a trusted companion like Alaxan that helps you fight body pain so you can continue training or competing.”)

Now preparing for the Paris Olympics, Hidilyn is leveling up to a heavier weight class. In doing so, she has been following a diet regimen and strength training program to build muscle mass, and she shared that feeling sore is a part of the process.

A trusted companion

One of the main reasons why athletes like Pacquiao and Diaz trust Alaxan is because it combines 200mg of Ibuprofen and 325mg of Paracetamol.

At the event, Dr. Jonas Policarpio shared that these two, Ibuprofen and Paracetamol, work complementary to one another, thus resulting in a good safety profile when taken in the proper dosage.

Manny Pacquiao emphasized the reliability of Alaxan in his personal experiences, as he has been using it since 2001 to fight body pains from training.

Adding to this, Dr. Policarpio also explained that experiencing body pains, especially from exercising or playing sports, is a normal phenomenon, and he reminded the crowd that pain is the brain’s way of signaling that something in the body has taken place. Further, he shared that if pain persists for long periods or if it continues to worsen, then it would be wise to have it checked by a doctor.

In terms of Alaxan’s effectivity, Valerie Ifurung-Siquian from UNILAB Consumer Health also cited a study wherein the use of Alaxan showed to be effective among over 70% of users, a higher rate than other over-the-counter drugs.

Indeed, Alaxan has been a part of the lives of these two athletes on their paths to the top of their respective sports, for which they expressed their utmost gratitude.