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Philippines, 20 Apr 2024 |
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Pio Solon: ALA Boxing's New Secret Weapon PhilBoxing.com Sat, 23 Apr 2011  There is an apparent new rhythmn in the movements of boxers who belong to Cebu City's ALA Gym whose big name fighters in the past -- like Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ "Bazooka" Banal -- also gave Filipino boxing fans the biggest frustrations as they wilted under pressure in the most important fights of their career. While before, most ALA boxers were notorious for fading and tiring out towards the mid rounds of important fights and highly-skilled boxers like Donnie Nietes and Milan Melindo were known as fighters with powder-puff punches, recent performances indicate a discernible improvement in both their stamina and strength. Bautista displayed an improved breathing and muscle rythmn in his rematch against Alejandro Barrera while world miniflyweight champion Nietes, who has moved up to the junior flyweight division, and Melindo have suddenly found power behind their punches. ALA Boxing vice president Dennis Canete, scion of a Cebu political family whose involvement with boxing is mainly because of his friendship with ALA Boxing president Michael Aldeguer, was initially mum on the real reason behind the apparent improvement in both the stamina and punching power of the boys from Cebu. "Just call him our trade secret," Canete said in jest when pressed on the identity of the person behind recent positive changes in ALA Boxing. But it was a secret that cannot be kept forever. The boxers themselves, feeling a sudden change in their stamina and strength, were the ones who spilled the beans. Jason Pagara, the 19-year-old phenomenon from Cagayan de Oro City who is a product of a boxing program initiated by Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno, publicly acknowledged during his last two knockout victories that the improvement in his strength and stamina is the result of a physical conditioning program engineered by a young Cebu sports science graduate, Pio Solon. And who is Pio Solon? No one among the ALA people was willing to give people an idea who Pio Solon was and I have to thank my goats (I'm a breeder of Boer, Anglo Nubian and La Mancha goats and a member of the American Boer Goat Assn. and the American Dairy Goat Assn., just in case you didn't know. Check out http://roosterraiser.multiply.com and http://www.braveheartfarms.com ) for helping me uncover and discover Philippine boxing's upcoming physical conditioning guru. At the airport in Silay city shortly after Pinoy Pride 5 in Bacolod City April 9, a tall young man of Spanish descent in his early 20s approached me and asked me about my goats. "I am Pio Solon," he replied when I asked him who he was. It turned out, he wanted to set up his own goat farm. After answering his questions on my goats, we talked about boxing. Pio, 23, who also belongs to a Cebu political clan, used to be a varsity swimmer for the University of the Philippines where he enrolled he said to be in the same school with a beautiful girl that he was pursuing. "Nothing came out of that but that decision led me to taking up sports science," he related with a chuckle. His involvement with boxing came as an accident. One of the sons of ALA Boxing patriarch Don Antonio Aldeguer, Jay, is a friend of Pio. A bit heavy, Jay asked Pio to be his sports therapist. When his formula worked on the young Aldeguer, he was asked to try his physical conditioning program on the ALA boxers and the results were positive. "I focus more on strength and speed exercises because boxing is a strength and speed sport," he said explaining the 6-week conditioning program that he implements for boxers with important fights. He dismisses the traditional long runs and roadwork as a thing of the past and says it should only be done once or twice a week. "It is something that has been done in the past but its relevance to a speed and strength sport like boxing has greatly been reduced," Pio said of his views on the long road work. He said that while long runs build up stamina, it could also develop the slow muscles in the boxer's body. This could be a radical change in the boxing conditioning program and some old time boxing trainers may question this because even boxing icon Manny Pacquiao does long and hard runs in the Griffith Park in California. But given the obvious improvements in the movement and strength of the ALA boxers lately, this formula could be working. And it looks like ALA Boxing president Michael Aldeguer is happy with the results to the point that part of the arrangement with Solon is that he exclusively trains ALA boxers only. In the fights to come, it will be revealed if Philippine boxing will finally have its own Alex Ariza or Justin Fortune, physical conditioners who made a name by helping transform Manny Pacquiao into an explosive and fast boxer. I believe that what Philippine boxing really needs and has been searching for a long long time, is somebody who could improve the physical conditioning of Filipino boxers. With Pio Solon's success in the field of boxing, other sports science practitioners may finally venture into the sport and help mold a new breed of well-conditioned and powerful Filipino boxers who I believe will dominate the lower divisions of boxing in the years to come. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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