Federico "Magnifico" Catubay, who almost gave the country a major honor after a close decision loss for the OPBF title, has just been stripped of his RP 112-lb crown by the Games and Amusements Board following what the agency termed as "a violation of the GAB rules concerning title defenses."
The decision came the other day, after Catubay failed to defend his title after one year since winning it last January 3, 2005.
GAB chairman Eric Buhain, in his letter denying an earlier request by Catubay's manager Sammy "Don King" Gello-ani to reschedule Catubay's title defense to January 15 for the Sinulog Festival, cited Article 23 of the GAB rules, which states: "A champion must defend his title within six months after acquiring or successfully defending such title, provided there is a worthy challenger...if there is no worthy challenger and promoter willing to stage the contest, an extension of another six months may be granted. In NO CASE shall the period for defending a title exceed one year from the date of acquiring or successfully defending such title. Failure to so defend the title shall be sufficient ground for the Board to declare the title vacant."
Gello-ani, in an interview, informed that last December 20, he had submitted to the GAB-Cebu office his proposed January 3 card featuring Catubay's defense against Louie Bantigue. However, according to Gello-ani, the local GAB personnel had told him that they would be unable to supervise such card stating that it was too close from the long holidays. Moreover, the boxers would not have been allowed anyway to fight on January 3, as their licenses had not yet been renewed.
Hence, Gello-ani sent another letter to GAB-Makati on December 29, re-scheduling the fight to January 15, 2006 which falls on the annual Sinulog mardi gras, as an offering to the Sto. Nino, the Cebuanos' patron saint.
GAB, however, wrote a rejoinder on January 2, just a day before the original schedule, denying his request.
Last Wednesday, January 4, Gello-ani again sent a letter to GAB-Makati, requesting that since Catubay has been stripped of his title, that he be given the courtesy of being included in the eliminations for the vacated title on January 15 "against any contender your office will designate, considering that though he was stripped of his title, we believe he is still qualified to regain his crown."
Yesterday, the GAB sent another letter to Gello-ani, regretfully denying his request.
GAB Commissioner Alex Paglumotan, who signed the letter, said he did so "with a heavy heart" considering that Gello-ani is an esteemed promoter and Catubay a worthy champion.
Catubay, in an interview conducted by a crew of ABS-CBN at the ALA Gym yesterday, said he was hopeful he can still fight for the crown, as he believes there's only one way to lose it: inside the ring, and not off it.
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