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Philippines, 26 Apr 2024 |
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YEAREND RECAP: LOOKING BACK AT THE CEBU BOXING SCENE 2010 PhilBoxing.com Fri, 31 Dec 2010  The island traditionally known as the boxing capital of the Philippines continued to host big fights which drew sizable crowds. For a second straight year Cebu did not have a world title bout but interest in the fight game was still at an all time high. The Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino in Lahug has replaced the Cebu Coliseum as the venue for important fights. The Pacific Ballroom of the said hotel was the venue for ?Bakbakan sa Sinulog?, Philippines vs the World, ?Resbak: Hangad na Paghihiganti? and the Pinoy Pride Series. STANDOUTS: The biggest local boxing stories were two fighters based in the ALA Gym of Cebu: Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes of Bacolod City made a successful third appearance in Mexico last August, retaining his WBO minimumweight world title against Mario ?Dragoncito? Rodriguez by unanimous decision. He started the year by beating another Mexican, Jesus Silvestre by 10th round TKO in a non-title fight held in Pasay City. Milan ?Metodico? Melindo of Cagayan de Oro beat Anthony Villareal of the U.S. For the WBC Youth Intercontinental flyweight title and scored KO?s against Komrit Twins Gym of Thailand and Jin-man Jeon of Korea. Melindo finished the year with a bang, beating former IBF lt.flyweight champ Carlos Tamara of Colombia. Jun ?Flash? Entor of Mabinay, Negros Oriental deserves special mention because he has endeared himself to the Cebuano crowd who don?t really care if he wins or loses as long as he performs his comical ring moves. Four Cebuano boxers made waves overseas: Rocky Fuentes of Mambaling,Cebu City won the OPBF flyweight title in Japan plus three successful title defenses. Roli Gasca of Barili, Cebu ? won the Pan Asian Boxing Association (PABA) Bantamweight title with a stunning upset 6th round KO win over the defending champion from Thailand, Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat, who was previously ranked number 3 by the WBA. Mercito ?No Mercy? Gesta of Mandaue City went on a tear in the U.S., winning four bouts this year and the NABO Youth Lightweight title. Malcolm Tu?acao of Mandaue City won the OPBF Bantamweight title in South Korea and defended it twice in Japan. COMEBACK STORIES Jimrex Jaca ? the 27 year old from Negros Oriental is on the crest of a comeback wave after a three fight losing streak in 2008 and being inactive in 2009. He scored four stoppage wins in 2010 against Ramadhan Weriu of Indonesia (KO 5), James Kimori of Kenya (TKO 4),Pipino Cuevas, Jr. of Mexico (KO 1) and Han Hao of China (TKO 6). The southpaw called the ?Executioner? is now 32W-6L-3D, 17 KO?s and the best is yet to come. Florante Condes ? the 30 year old Romblon southpaw known as ?Little Pacquiao? had two losses and one win in his last three fights after winning the IBF world minimumweight title in 2007. Was inactive for 14 months before winning handily over Sofyan Effendi of Indonesia and stopping Kenichi Horikawa of Japan in the 7th round, both at Cebu?s Waterfront Hotel. EVENT OF THE YEAR - "THE DREAM" IS HOME 
They came by jeepneys, motorbikes, cars and even trucks. Z ?The Dream? Gorres was greeted by hundreds of well wishers at the Mactan Cebu International Airport when he arrived home on February 16, 2010. Gorres had emergency neurosurgery after winning his fight against Luis Melendez last November 2009 in Las Vegas. He and his wife Datches were pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of love and support by relatives, neighbors and friends. Gorres was greeted by the city and baranggay officials from Mandaue City who organized a brief tribute. ?I never expected this,? ALA Promotions Vice President Dennis Canete said, ?There were so many people who came to the airport to greet Z.It was incredible." This was in sharp contrast to the reception he got in our capital city. The Manila Times ran an editorial on February 18, 2010 entitled "Deadma-ing the hero Z Gorres" which tragically described what happened: ?to treat with unconcern, disinterest, or with feigned ignorance? or ?to act as if something or someone doesn?t exist. That is what the country?s sports officials?and political leaders, including those seeking to get our votes for the highest offices of the land?did to Cebuano boxer Z Celestino Oliveros Gorres when he arrived." But there are boxing fans from all over the country and abroad, who in the spirit of ?Bayanihan? assisted the Gorreses in their time of need. They gave what they could without thinking of any publicity. For those who are still wondering why Cebu is called the "country's heart of boxing", the reason was extremely clear on that day. We know how to treat our boxing heroes, with or without a world title. Cebu sportswriters met the Gorres family in a press conference a few hours after his arrival. On that day, he became "more than a world champion". Z Gorres was the recipient of the ?Presidential Award? from the Cebu Sportswriters Association last March for his efforts to bring honour to our country and as a source of inspiration to us all. He continues his miraculous recovery. MOST TALKED ABOUT ENDING AJ ?Bazooka? BANAL W DQ 7 LUIS ?El Demoledor? PEREZ - almost every Cebu boxing writer wrote a piece on this one. Fans wrote their opinions on on-line forums and the commotion even reached Facebook. DUBAI AND THE DIASPORA The continuing exodus of Filipino workers have made fight cards involving Pinoy boxers a potentially lucrative option. ALA Promotions staged a fight card in Dubai last April with Rey Bautista, Milan Melindo and Larry Canillas. THE UNIQUE AND THE HYSTERICAL EARTH HOUR - For the first time in the Philippines a boxing promotion was halted midway and the lights were switched off to celebrate Earth hour during SGG Promotions? ?The Next Prospects? held at the Mandaue City Plaza Square last March 27, 2010 ROUND CARD BOYS- Last February in Talisay City, Cebu, DTT Promotions thought it would be a good novelty idea to employ young men to carry the round cards in order to attract female spectators. They were booed by the predominantly male audience every time they got inside the ring. THE FANS The biggest crowd to witness a boxing match this year was not in Cebu but in neighboring Bohol. Thirty thousand people showed up to watch AJ Banal knock out Big Yoo of South Korea. If you need another reason to justify why Cebu is called the boxing capital of our country, I will take you back to that rain soaked night last July when Roli Gasca beat Jason Egera at the Gaisano Country Mall Carpark. 
It was an ALA-SUMMIT Boxing Tour outdoor event and it started to drizzle during the preliminary bouts. The canvas was getting wet and the sequence of the fights had to be interrupted on certain intervals. But many fans stayed not because Gasca and Egera are household names. It was not because they had nothing better to do; the fight was held in front of a mall with cinemas. The fight card was also free so they didn?t have to worry about throwing their money away. But they stayed and got wet because they were boxing fans, plain and simple. It is because of fans like them that boxing has remained alive and well in Cebu. THE FUTURE After a year of absence, Cebuano fight fans will get to see the boxers from the Braveheart Boxing Club of North Cotabato. They made quite an impact here in 2009.The New Year?s first big event will be the rematch between Rey ?BoomBoom? Bautista and Alejandro Barrera. Sports tourism is a potential money making venture considering the number of foreigners seen at ringside during big fights. We hope to see a world title fight in Cebu this 2011. (Topmost photo ? Jun Entor winning against Romano Gelig) 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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