FILIPINO BOXERS CAN NO LONGER USE FOREIGN FAMILY NAMES

The Games and Amusements Board has approved a resolution that prevents Filipino boxers from using foreign family names instead of their own family names.

This is the result of efforts by the Manila Standard to get the GAB to act on the anomaly of several fighters using the name of Thai businessman Singwancha who reportedly buys the right to have boxers enter the ring using his name, from their respective managers.

The issue came to a head in ALA Promotions and ABS-CBN?s ?Pinoy Pride XIX? in Davao City when the TV commentators were asked to use the family name Singwancha for Rex ?Wakee? Salud?s boxer Marco Demecillo in his OPBF super flyweight title fight against Arthur Villanueva, but were refused.

GAB chairman Monchu Guazon told the Manila Standard that under the resolution ?basically we will not tolerate any foreign names anymore.?

He also told us that while the Singwancha name was attached to several boxers in the latest GAB ratings, in subsequent GAB ratings the name Singwancha will be removed.

In pressing for the removal of foreign names attached to Filipino boxers we said that ?to Filipinos, like other peoples with a sense of history and heritage, their family names are previous and not to be trifled with? which prompted a positive response from chairman Guanzon.

Photo: Naris Singwancha (R) congratulates Marco Demicillo.